A New York terror alert ends..for now

Yes, indeed, after a week of silence in which the city's inhabitants held their collective breath, the terror alert for New York City has been lifted.

Joe Torre arrived at the parking lot on Steinbrenner Drive in Tampa, Fla., on Monday, precisely when the street's namesake showed up. "Hi, Joseph," said George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' principal owner, and Torre instantly felt at ease.

This was not a shadowy presence in a luxury box, a clipped voice on the telephone or a gathering threat from afar. This was the outsize personality that Torre has come to know - and endure - for 10 years as the Yankees' manager. Over an hourlong meeting at Legends Field, Torre and Steinbrenner forged a détente in their cold war.

"We didn't use the word love," Torre said at Yankee Stadium yesterday. "But it was pretty warm. I felt very, very comfortable. It was something more than cordial."

Assured that Steinbrenner still wanted him, Torre announced he had decided to stay on as the Yankees' manager. But, Torre revealed, he had been so worn down by Steinbrenner's sniping that he considered resigning in the days after the Yankees lost their division series in Anaheim on Oct. 10.

"It was a waffle; it was going back and forth," Torre said, adding later, "It certainly came to mind: do I want to continue to do this?"

After returning to New York on Oct. 11, Torre waited a week before speaking publicly. He was exhausted and disappointed, he said, and he needed time with his family to gather his thoughts.

"My words to him were, 'If you're going to do this, you have to manage the stress well,' " Torre's wife, Ali, said yesterday at Yankee Stadium. " 'My only concern is your health. I think you need to take a look at that and make sure you're able to handle the stress management, because I want you around for a long time.' "

With two years and $13.2 million left on his contract, Torre, 65, had leverage. But he did not want to come back simply for the money. He had trouble sleeping. He told his wife that his brain felt like scrambled eggs.

There are a great many Torre critics who probably assumed Torre's always had scrambled eggs for brains, but for most of us, this is surely a relief. It isn't that Torre is the greatest Yankee manager since Casey Stengel, though with four World Serious titles, he has to be considered as such. No, it's because the alternative was scary. On a club full of stars, at least four future first ballot hall of famers, Lou Piniella would be an uncomfortable fit. The veterans tend not to be impressed with the on-field temper tantrums of old men.

None of this surprises me, of course. Torre's popularity in the city intimidates -- and annoys -- Steinbrenner, as does the $13 million the manager is still owed. But there was one bit in the story I was unaware of.

They spoke no more than five times after spring training, and there was much left unsaid.

Steinbrenner criticized the pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre in a newspaper article in May, and Torre privately seethed. In August, Steinbrenner questioned Torre's decision to let a left-hander, Alan Embree, pitch to the right-handed-hitting Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox. Konerko homered in a game decided by a run.

Torre explained the decision by saying that Konerko hit worse against left-handers. Yesterday, Torre said the Konerko criticism bothered him because of what he perceived as its underlying message. "It wasn't like I wasn't paying attention," Torre said. "I think that's what probably bugged me more than anything."

In his meeting on Monday, Torre acknowledged that he raised the issue of Steinbrenner funneling questions to him through reporters for the YES [Yankees Entertainment and Sports] Network. Torre said he asked for no guarantees that Steinbrenner would change, but he encouraged Steinbrenner to call him more often if he had a problem. Torre pledged to make more calls, too.

To laugh. Steinbrenner's Yankees must be the winningest, most screwed up organization in the history of baseball. And the YES network's "reporters," having little credibility to begin with, now have quite a lot less.