Yankee Manager Joe Torre Hits a Home Run For Safe Homes
..."Whether we like it or not, we are role models"...
...Torre said he was grateful for his baseball talents, but particularly proud of his work in raising domestic violence awareness. "It's been very satisfying, if that's the proper word," Torre said. "You realize you are making an impact for a lot of people"...
Yankee Manager Joe Torre founded the Safe At Home Foundation
Torre: Sports world in denial over domestic violence
Yankees manager says athletes sending mixed messages about agression
11/14/06
BY ROB JENNINGS
DAILY RECORD
Yankees manager says athletes sending mixed messages about agression
11/14/06
BY ROB JENNINGS
DAILY RECORD
BASKING RIDGE --Longtime New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose advocacy against domestic violence stems from his own traumatic childhood, charged Monday that baseball and other sports remain "in the dark ages" about the problem.
Torre, 66, started as Yankees manager in late 1995 --around the time he confronted long-repressed memories and founded the Safe At Home Foundation with his wife, Ali.
"It's a matter of understanding you're not the only one going through this," Torre, the keynote speaker at a national domestic violence summit hosted by Verizon Wireless, told 125 people in the room.
Torre said that athletes "sometimes spread mixed messages," by using rhetoric and imagery about aggression on the field that all too often carry over at home.
Asked about the arrest last summer of a Phillies pitcher for allegedly punching his wife, Torre said leaders in baseball and other sports need to speak up.
"There are a lot of people living in the dark ages,"Torre said.
Regina Braham, director of community relations for the Jersey Battered Women's Service in Morris County, said in an interview afterward that she struggles to convince people about the extent of domestic violence in the region.
"Regardless of income or ethnicity, anybody can be a victim of domestic violence," Braham said.
Torre, who had a successful 17-year career as a player, said baseball helped him reclaim confidence that was lost during his turbulent childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The youngest of five children, Torre recalled hearing whispers, and thinking that he must have done something wrong. He felt guilt, and shame, about things over which he had no control.
"There may be abusers out there who do not realize the scars they are leaving," Torre said.
Torre's scars remained hidden for decades -- long after both his parents died.
Avoidance ended in Dec. 1995 when Torre attended a symposium at the request of his wife, Ali, who was eight months pregnant with their first child.
Crying with strangers
Torre -- who, the following year, would start his first season as Yankees manager and win the first of his four World Series titles -- said he was stunned to end up "crying your eyes out" in a room of strangers.
Joe and Ali Torre's Safe At Home Foundation funds "Margaret's Place," which gives children from troubled homes a chance to open up about their problems at school.
Margaret's Place is named for Torre's mother -- a public acknowledgement of her private pain that she likely would not have wanted, Torre said somewhat ruefully.
Taking questions from the audience, Torre was asked by Karen Jeffreys about a high-profile incident last June.
A pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies was arrested for allegedly punching his wife on a Boston street. The team let him pitch the next night, amid a chorus of criticism. Charges were later dropped at his wife's request.
Jeffreys, project coordinator for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, asked Torre whether baseball could be more responsive on the issue.
Some in denial
Torre responded that baseball, to an extent, was in denial -- and that the ignorance had to end.
"Whether we like it or not, we are role models," Torre said.
Torre said he does not interfere in the private lives of his players but encourages them to speak to him about any problems.
Ali Torre interjected that said she was encouraging baseball to help sponsor domestic violence awareness efforts.
Verizon Wireless' chief executive officer, Denny Strigl, spoke before Torre and outlined the company's long commitment to combating domestic violence.
Since Oct. 2001, the company's "HopeLine" program has given $2 million in grants and nearly $10 million in wireless phones and service to domestic violence prevention organizations.
"It is our nation's silent epidemic, yet its effects are anything but hidden or silent,"Strigl said.
Workplace cases
Strigl added that the Verizon had been inspired to reach out, in part, by what it was witnessing in the workplace.
"We came to realize that domestic violence came to work, every day, with some of our employees," he said.
Torre said efforts aimed at deterring domestic violence must focus on children.
"If you're going to end the cycle in domestic violence,"Torre said, "you got to go to the next generation -- the ones who might possibly say, 'My Dad did it,'" Torre said.
Torre was not asked about his baseball career, or his near-firing last fall when the Yankees failed to reach the World Series for the third straight year.
Torre -- who was spared, but criticized, by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner after the latest disappointment in October -- gave a playful, knowing glance when somebody alluded to "tough bosses."
A large contingent of local police officers were on hand --ostensibly to provide security, though many appeared eager to interact with the baseball legend up close.
Torre said he was grateful for his baseball talents, but particularly proud of his work in raising domestic violence awareness.
"It's been very satisfying, if that's the proper word," Torre said. "You realize you are making an impact for a lot of people."
