Baseball: A Class Act Prepares to Exit

Back in my youth when the New York Yankees were on an unprecedented post-season roll -- appearing in an extraordinary 13 World Series in the 15 years from 1950-1964 and winning eight of them -- I considered myself to be a Yankees Hater.

But with the mellowing and acquired wisdom of the years, I became a Yankees Disliker and finally a Yankees Respecter, which is to say that I have never rooted for the Bronx Bombers but as someone with a pretty thorough knowledge of the game have come to respect the great teams that George Steinbrenner has fielded since he became the Yanks' primary owner in 1973.

That so noted, as my bad feelings for the Yankees have diminished, my disaffection for their owner has grown and I am now a card-carrying Steinbrenner Hater.

That is not hard to do, and I have plenty of company. Steinbrenner is an obnoxious bully of an owner in the Al Davis mold: Filthy rich, spoiled rotten, meddlesome to a fault and almost singlehandedly responsible for driving player salaries into the stratosphere to the detriment of small market teams.

While Steinbrenner is worth billions, the one thing he will never have is that most precious of commodities -- class.

That is the elusive quality of having a style, and even an elegance, in how one conducts themself that in sports earns the respect of teammates and opponents alike.

Now Yankees manager Joe Torre has class, which is a big reason why Steinbrenner is expected to fire him after the Yankees -- who have suffered through an extraordinary number of injuries this year -- fell to the Cleveland Indians 3-1 in the American League Division Series and failed to advance further into the post season, let alone to the World Series.

Torre, you see, has never complained and never talked back to "The Boss," as Steinbrenner is called, no matter how insulting the owner could be and no matter how knuckleheaded the decisions made in the front office have been. (There is a good argument to be made that it is time for Torre and his $7 million salary to go, but that's another story.)

In his 12 years at the helm, Torre led the Yankees to postseason berths every year, won 10 American League East titles, six World Series appearance and four world championships.

But the Yanks haven't won the World Series since 2000, and that's a disgrace to the petulant Steinbrenner.

And so it is probable that shortly after you read this, a man with no class will have fired a man who exudes it.

Photo by Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency