Torre sticks around
BALL BUZZ Chat on plane convinced him Pedro hopes to play in Classic
When Joe Torre arrived to board a private plane that would take him to his meeting with George Steinbrenner, he wasn’t sure of his future.
“If I sensed that they were thinking something different than I was, we were going to have to find a way to split up,” he said yesterday.
Then, while Monday’s takeoff was delayed for an hour by mechanical problems, Yankees president Randy Levine told him: “ We want you back.’’
“ That sort of broke the ice,” Torre said.
After meeting with Steinbrenner for 45 minutes to an hour in Tampa, Fla., Torre was sure he wanted to return for his 11th season as manager of the Bronx Bombers.
“ We didn’t use the word love, but it was pretty warm,” Torre said. “ It was something more than cordial.’’ Leaving New York’s minor league complex yesterday, Steinbrenner praised Torre.
“ It makes me feel very good. It really does,” Steinbrenner said. “ He’s a good man. I like him. I understand him. I understand what he’s after. I’m very happy to have him.’’
Steinbrenner hopes general manager Brian Cashman stays, too. PEDRO TO FACE WORLD:
New York Mets ace Pedro Martinez hopes to represent his native Dominican Republic in the inaugural World Baseball Classic after rehabbing an injured toe.
Martinez dealt with a number of injuries this season, the most bothersome being an injured toe. He went 15- 8 with a 2.82 ERA and pitched 217 innings.
If all goes well with the rehab, Martinez said he’d play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The 16nation event starts March 3. TWINS SUE STADIUM:
The Minnesota Twins sued the operator of their stadium in a bid to secure a year- to- year lease instead of a long- term agreement to use the 23- year- old Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. The team says a 1998 lease with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission that the authority used to keep the Twins from being folded by majorofficials before the 2002 season ran out in 2003.
Roger Magnuson, the team’s attorney, said that the suit, filed in Hennepin County District Court, isn’t a first step to moving the Twins out of the state they’ve played in since 1961. KING DIES:
Longtime Oakland Athletics radio voice Bill King, whose signature call of “ Holy Toledo!” was a household phrase for decades in the Bay Area, died early yesterday from complications following hip surgery. He was 78.