New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly will be replacing Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre at the end of the season. This ends a disappointing fun for Torre as the Dodgers manager.
Torre started his Dodger career with a 5-0 victory and kept on winning right into the 2008 playoffs. There, he managed his team to a 3-0 sweep over the Cubs.
This was the Dodgers first postseason series win since their championship season in 1988. The postseason victory would be short lived as the Dodgers were beaten by the Phillies four games to one.
He would lead them to success again in 2009 with a 95-67 record which clinched them the top seed. They would beat Torres’ old club the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 and rematch the Phillies.
Despite having the best record they were again bested by the Phillies. They were beaten in five games this time around.
2010 has not gone so well for the Dodgers and Torre felt it was time to step down. He leaves behind an interesting legacy with the Dodgers.
He was far from a failure as he went to the playoffs two out of three years and had the best team in the league one of those years.
Despite all of that he had a very poor postseason record and that is where he made his name. It is hard to really get a feel for someone when they only spend three years there.
It is suffice to say that he wasn’t the same manager that laid waste to baseball in the later 1900’s and early 2000’s
Are the Dodgers happy about what he did? I would say yes and no. He got them on the winning track but couldn’t get them to the promised land.
Mattingly will take over at the start of the 2011 season and face a difficult task. The Dodgers are going through a tough year and the owner situation is far from figured out.
Attracting key free agents this off-season will be hard and the current team seems to be the underachieving type.
Mattingly has been with Torre his whole managerial career and it would seem like he isn’t going to be much of a change from what Torre brings to the table.
He will surely bring different elements to the table but how different is a question that only he can answer. At any rate Mattingly will be the head of this team next year.
Where Torre will go from here is anyone’s guess. It is already rumored that he may be the top choice for the Florida Marlins job.
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