The new manager is looking and sounding calm, but his words are revealing something else.
Joe Torre admits he didn't spend as much time with the nucleus of his club as he would've liked, that he's relying on the eyes and ears of his coaches more than usual to make decisions. He has no clue when his wounded players will return or how much of a problem their bodies will give them over the next six or seven months.
And though Torre's face is on billboards around Los Angeles and owner Frank McCourt has trumpeted his signing as the start of a new era in the franchise's history, the man himself has repeatedly said he didn't do much differently compiling a losing record with the Atlanta Braves than he did managing the New York Yankees to four World Series titles.
With the Dodgers opening the season against the San Francisco Giants on Monday on the 50th anniversary of their move west from Brooklyn, Torre seems to have far more questions than answers. Even for a 67-year-old manager who frequently talks about the unpredictability in baseball, this level of unpredictability is unusual.
When asked two days ago how his team was shaping up, Torre raised his eyebrows and said, "I've never been this close to the end [of spring training] and not knowing the makeup of the club."
Nor has he ever traveled so much in a single spring.
Torre left camp in Florida with a split squad for the first major league games in China, two exhibition contests against the San Diego Padres in Beijing two weeks ago. He reunited with the part of the team that stayed behind in Florida -- and had most of his projected starters -- a week later in Arizona.
After a 2-2 tie against the Angels in an exhibition game in Anaheim on Thursday night, General Manager Ned Colletti drew laughs in Torre's office by cracking jokes about the history made by the Dodgers.
"We tied in China, California, Arizona and Florida," Colletti said. "Nobody's ever done that before. Nobody."
Said Torre: "I knew I wanted to make my mark here."
But on a more serious note, the travel cost Torre a week with Blake DeWitt, a 22-year-old prospect who probably will start the season at third base because of injuries to Nomar Garciaparra, Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu.
How much time Garciaparra will miss because of a microfracture in his wrist is unknown. LaRoche will be out until at least May and Abreu is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.
