For the first time since the 1995 season, Joe Torre put on something other than Yankee pinstripes when he showed up for work:
LOS ANGELES — Joe Torre had barely nestled into his new perch, the top railing of the third-base dugout at Dodger Stadium, when Dave Roberts singled and took off for second base.
If Torre had any flashbacks, to 2003 when Roberts’s ninth-inning steal of second base started the Red Sox on their trip back from a three games-to-none deficit in the American League Championship Series, it lasted only an instant or as long as it took Dodgers catcher Russell Martin to fire a strike to second baseman Jeff Kent, who tagged out Roberts.
From start to finish, Torre’s debut as Dodgers manager was as picture perfect as the weather on a sun-kissed Monday afternoon, his new team welcoming him with a 5-0 win over the Barry Bonds-less and punchless Giants before a sellout crowd of 56,000.
Kent belted a two-run homer in the first inning, Brad Penny pitched a flawless six and two-thirds innings and Rafael Furcal did a fair Derek Jeter impression with his bat and his glove, collecting three hits and doing a 360-degree pirouette on a grounder up the middle.
Good work Joe.
By the way, you may notice Tommy Lasorda to the left in the picture above. The guy hugging Torre is none other than the legendary Sandy Koufax
