The Yankee Years

By: Joe Torre, Tom Verducci

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

A dramatic and revelatory account of Joe Torre’s 12 years as manager of the New York Yankees.

Joe Torre is the most successful - and most respected - baseball manager of the modern era, steering the Yankees to six American League pennants and four World Series championships. When he left the team in 2007, it was front-page news around the country. Famously diplomatic during his tenure with the Yankees, Torre finally speaks out about what it was like building and managing the dynasty during those 12 glorious and tumultuous years. Written as a third-person narrative with Sports Illustrated Senior Baseball Writer Tom Verducci, The Yankee Years is a thoughtful, utterly honest, and gripping behind-the-scenes look at the Yankees organization from top to bottom.

©2009 Joe Torre (P)2009 Random House

Really Good, But Not Great

I am a huge Yankee fan and it was great to get a behind-the-scenes look at the teams I grew up with. There is such detail in describing certain games and moments. I can remember these vividly and they are some of the best parts of the book. The narration is very difficult to enjoy, it is monotone and is what costs this review the most stars. There were times when I thought of swapping this book out for another because it was hard to listen to. It took me until about halfway through the book to get used to the narrator.

The stories and insight are well worth the listen. However a lesser Yankee fan or baseball fan may not be as patient with this audiobook.

Insider's look at one of the best Yankee Managers

I am a Yankee fan and had wanted to read this book, expecting it to be a first hand account of Joe Torre's tenure as Yankees manager. As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book is not even close to being written by Torre: Tom Verducci wrote it and included quotes from Torre throughout. I thought the input from David Cone was the best. I had always liked Cone and hearing more about how he was in the clubhouse and as a competitor was interesting to me. I thought his comments about the teams during the 90s were very insightful and were probably better than most of the other players comments. I found that Verducci often went on tangents that had little to do with what was supposed to be the overall concept of the book: Torre's years as a manager. There were large chunks of the book that discussed in depth the actions of Theo Epstein, the Red Sox, and the Indians involving Carmona. When he began going into some of these details I kept asking myself, "How does this relate to Torre other than it was about players he managed against?" He could have summarized the Red Sox approach to signing players in a few sentences but instead chose to rant about it for some time. Overall I did enjoy the book but I think it was just because I am a Yankee fan and baseball fan. Those not as interested in the team or the sport might find this to be somewhat boring as the juicy, controversial issues supposedly brought up in this book really aren't there.

Big fan of Torre, big fan of Verducci

First of all, anything written by Tom Verducci is going to be well organized, intensively researched and of course beautifully composed. This book was no exception.

As for the story itself, Joe Torre is a truly compelling character. He’s such a genuine person; honest, straightforward and tall in the saddle. I’ve never been much of a Yankees fan, but I’m a fan of Torre and many of his players, particularly Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill. It’s difficult not to root for men like them.

Overall, the book is great and I’d definitely recommend it. It was well written with lots of information not previously known. My only complaint is that it occasionally got bogged down with stats and play-by-play. The performance was very good, dramatically read in a comfortable style.

More Joe Please

Liked Torre’s personal experiences and perspectives and also Tom Verducci’s take on steroid-era and rise of “money ball.” Didn’t like that it read like two books - the Joe Torre Yankee year story and the Tom V reporting on the era. Also felt like the book was inevitably headed towards the END of Torre’s time with the Yankees, rather than digging deeper into the Yankee Years which seemed to go by way too quickly, and also focused a lot on negatives associated with this player or that. The low, rather monotonous voice of the moderator did not help. Fans looking to relive and fondly remember the euphoria of these years will be disappointed.

GOOD WORK ON YANKEE, MLB LEGEND

Well-written and performed. Honestly, my only real problem with the book is the Narrator sounding too startled and/or melodramatic. The narrator has a voice not unlike Joe Yorre, though.
B+work!

A must-read for any baseball fan

Don't let the name fool you: this is much more than a look at Joe Torre's Yankees. an outstanding story of all that went on in baseball during the late 90s and early/mid 2000s, from the juice-ball era to the rise and domination of Sabermetrics.

awesome read

very good story audio is good . good insight into dumb red Sox too

Great listen

After all of the uproar over quotes that were erroneously attributed to Joe Torre I thought that I would listen to this book myself and decide.

This is not a book that is written by Joe Torre. Rather, he is a major contributor. It is a story ABOUT the 12 years that he managed the Yankees. There are plenty of stories about the players and other Yankees. The sole source is not Torre. Many of the quotes are directly from the people involved.

There are many fascinating sub-stories in this book. For example, the concept of the economics that drove the Moneyball craze are discussed. The teams that did well, and those that did not do well, are analyzed.

There are some great lessons in the book about life taught by Torre. His principles on leadership, trust and honesty shine through in all that he did. The way that he uses his principles in dealing with players, owners, the press etc should be a pattern for all people in business and other phases of life.

It is true that Alex Rodriguez does not come across in a favorable light. But the light is cast by Alex's actions and his own words. It is not done in a malicious manner.

Baseball must read

Ever wonder what really went on... Beyond the headlines ,,behind the rumors. Great book. Paul T.

Not just for Yankees fans.

I've been looking for a baseball related audiobook so I decided to give this one a try. Even though I'm a Cubs fan, I always liked Joe Torre and figured this might be interesting. I was right. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the behind the scenes of a Major League Baseball team. The chapter on steroids is a real eye opener.