Tough, gritty, but always fair and honest, Torre vividly reveals how he
turned a potentially volatile mix of talented youngsters such as Andy
Pettitte and Derek Jeter, seasoned veterans like Wade Boggs and Paul
O'Neill, and so-called "problem" players like Darryl Strawberry and
Dwight Gooden into a cohesive unit that cared more about winning than
personal egos. He explains how he played his hunches and earned his
team's confidence and respect as he focused his players from spring
training on toward one goal: the World Series. And he did it all in a
pressure-filled sports city that expects nothing less than a champion.
But how he did it is only part of this remarkable story. For at the same
time that Torre was overcoming the odds on the field, his family was
facing much greater hardships off the field. He speaks candidly and
emotionally of the tragedy of his oldest brother Rocco's sudden death,
and the agonizing ordeal of his other older brother, Frank, who waited
for the heart transplant that could save his life. It was his wife, Ali,
who gave him the faith to believe anything was possible. Together with
his sisters Rae and Sister Marguerite, a nun from Queens, they dared to
dream the impossible. In a fairy-tale ending not even the best Hollywood
scriptwriter could imagine, Frank Torre got his new heart the day before
the Yankees won their first World Series championship since 1978 - and
Joe Torre won his first ever.
