Hangin’ Out with Joe Torre & Friends

Hey baseball fans!

I’m back from camp and I have lots to tell.  So today’s post is going to be pretty long, but it’s worth your time. While I was at camp, I was invited to go to  Joe Torre ‘s Safe At Home Foundation Charity Golf and Tennis Classic. I was involved in the golf portion of the event and got to meet and interview a lot of awesome people. Torre did not have time to answer the questions live, but I emailed them to him and the answers should be in a future post very soon. Anyway, before I get to the interviews, let me tell you a little bit about the foundation and why Joe and his wife, Ali, started it.

Joe Torre grew up the youngest of five children in Brooklyn, NY. His father, Joe Torre Sr., ruled his home very violently. He was an abusive husband and father, physically and emotionally. Joe kept the abuse a family secret for a long time. However, in December 1995, Ali and Joe attended a seminar called Life Success. As a result of their participation in the seminar, Joe began to reveal the secrets of his childhood experiences with domestic violence. Ali and Joe wanted to teach kids and adults about the issue of abuse in households. In 2002, they started the  Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation . The mission of the Foundation is to educate people on how to stop domestic violence and save lives. In 2005, the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation opened its first school based program called Margaret’s Place in the Bronx, NY. Margaret’s Place, a tribute to Joe’s mom, is a program which gives students a safe room in a school where they can meet with a professional counselor trained in domestic violence. Currently, the Foundation has ten fully funded Margaret’s Places in NYC, L.A., Westchester County, NY and New Jersey.

Matt:  What team did you root for as a kid? Who were your favorite players growing up?
Rob:  I was a Yankee fan. My favorite players were  Mickey Mantle  and  Bobby Murcer . In my first trip to a Major League game, I saw Mantle hit 2 HR’s in Yankee Stadium.

Matt:  If you could’ve attended any World Series in baseball history, which one would it have been and why?
Rob:  1978, Yankees and Dodgers. As I said, I grew up a Yankee fan. I watched every minute of this series on TV and was captured by the match-up of two iconic franchises.

Matt:  Do you have any cool baseball mementoes in your office at MLB? If so, what’s your favorite?
Rob:  I have a few things. My favorite is a drawing of Fenway Park given to me by John Harrington, with whom I had and have a long professional and personal relationship.

Matt:  Since you went to law school, how did you end up at MLB, and not at some place like a law firm?
Rob:  I was a partner in a big law firm before I joined Baseball. The MLB was a client of the firm and that is how I ended up working for the Commissioner.

Shout out to Rob for answering my questions. I really appreciate it, especially given how busy he must be in the middle of baseball season.

Bob Gibson

Finally, the last interview! The following interview is with a Hall of Fame pitcher. (Note from Matt: This is my ninth interview with a Hall of Famer!!) He pitched for the Cardinals in the ’60s and ’70s. He won two World Series rings and destroyed the Yankees in one of them to receive his first ring. In 1968, this pitcher had an ERA of 1.12 as a starting pitcher, one of the lowest ERAs ever! Now, ladies and gentlemen, here is the interview I conducted with Hall of Famer… Bob Gibson !

Bob:  Makin’ baskets!

Matt: Did you ever challenge fellow HoFer  Fergie Jenkins , who also played with the Globetrotters, to a one-on-one basketball game?
Bob:  Fergie was a little after my time so no.

Matt:  Do you think any starter will have a 1.12 ERA again?
Bob:  Probably not. The problem is that pitchers don’t pitch as many innings now, which makes it harder to get such a low ERA.

Matt: If you could pitch against anyone in baseball history, who would it be?
Bob:  YOU!!!!

Well, that’s all the interviews. Thanks to Bob for answering my questions. Not sure how fast he pitches today, but I’d love to try to hit against him. Anyway, thanks for reading this post. I hope it was enjoyable. Check back in a couple of days for more of “all the buzz on what wuzz.”