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It's been more then two years now since Joe Torre decided to leave as manager of the Yankees. I was never angry with Joe for leaving. I wasn't happy. I was even-tempered with him going out on his standards. After all, he did earn it.

Thinking about the Yankees upcoming series with their old rival Dodgers, I remembered how much I used to love Torre. Don't get me wrong, I have always been and will always be a huge Joe Girardi supporter. But in this world where we never look back and are always looking forward I never really took the time to appreciate what Joe Torre did in his time with the Yankees.

The more I thought about it, the more goosebumps I seemed to get.

Think about it. In ten or twenty years when they show “old” Yankee clips of Torre crying as he is carried off the field at Shea Stadium in 2000 after winning his third straight title. Or when, back, in 1999 he returned to Fenway Park of all places, after recovering from cancer and received a huge standing ovation from Red Sox fans!

I think the most dramatic moment Yankee fans will always remember about Torre is that first title at the old Yankee Stadium in 1996. Enter dramatic music in the background as the clips are being shown and I think you will start to get goosebumps too.

But before 1996 there were few Yankee fans who supported the decision by The Boss to hire Torre. The New York Daily News infamously dubbed him "Clueless Joe" and were convinced Torre couldn't handle the job in the city that never sleeps.

The Yankees were a seasoned removed from their first postseason appearance since 1981. Even after Torre brought the crown back to New York in '96, a first round exit in 1997 to the Indians and a slow start to the 1998 season got people off the bandwagon just as fast as they hopped on.

Well, I think we all know what happened after that. Torre, cool as always, guided the team to the first of three straight World Series titles, and never missed the playoffs during his entire stint as Yankees manager from 1996-2007.

Joe Torre did something that not even Billy Martin could do in New York. He became bigger than George Steinbrenner. Joe Torre never had to worry about his job again after the 1998 season. Now, of course, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it sure seemed like Torre's job never was in jeopardy again.

Before Torre, Steinbrenner was notorious for changing managers as often as parents have to change their baby's diaper. After Torre, Yankee Universe once again became a stable organization, not only in terms of winning, but with everything else too. Pride, respect and the best fan base in the entire world became a constant that was lacking at times during the Steinbrenner era.

Torre will always be remembered for his cool demeanor no matter what the situation. He has now brought that trait with him out to the more laid-back West Coast and brought stabilization again to another franchise steeped in pride and history. Under Torre, the Dodgers have made the playoffs in both his seasons in L.A., reaching the NLCS before losing to the Phillies both times.

It could be a long time, maybe never again, that we see a manager have the longevity and the success with the Yankees that Joe Torre had. Lets not take for granted the foundation Torre planted and left for his former catcher, and bench coach, Joe Girardi. And just like his predecessor, Buck Showalter, Torre left New York on a high note with the opportunity to win every season.

In case you missed it, ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer performed a very interesting “All-Time” Yankees vs. Mets Subway Series. The players for each team were chosen by fans during a vote a few months ago on ESPN.com.

After failing to sweep the Mets at the old Shea Stadium on Monday, the Yankees got a late lift from World Series MVP Joe DiMaggio, who hit a two-out, three-run, ninth inning homerun driving in Mickey Mantle and Alex Rodriguez. Three outs later Mariano Rivera recorded his first save of the series and the Yankees celebrated again, taking the series four games to one, much like their real life matchup in 2000.

Ironically, the Mets only victory came in Game 4 courtesy of a stellar pitching performance by ex-Yankee David Cone.

Here is the link: espn.go.com/new-york/rivalry/_/id/529016...

Check out the great cartoons while you are at it!

Back in reality the Yankees hope Andy Pettite returns to form after losing for just the second time all season in his last outing. Not only do the Yankee want to win the game and rebound after another terrible outing by A.J. Burnett, but I’m sure they will also take some length from Pettite who has gone late into the game in the majority of his starts this season.

Look for more homeruns to be hit tonight, with the majority hopefully coming from the Yankees. However, it’s the young D-Backs squad that leads the league in homeruns, jumping from third to first last night.

The Yanks need to take the last two games in Arizona before heading to L.A. where they presumably will face much stiffer competition.

The Yankees return to the desert tonight, their second trip back since the rain and wind - and journeyman Luis Gonzalez - came out of nowhere and helped the D-Backs steal Game 7 and the 2001 World Series, their first and only title in the twelve year team history. The Yanks took 2 of 3 in their trip to Arizona back in 2004. That's two more games then they took in Arizona during the entire 2001 series!

Unfortunately, for Yankee fans, Ian Kennedy pitched and lost again yesterday to the Tigers. So the Yankee bats won't get to beat up on the former top-prospect some "experts" said was better then Phil Huges (who will be in Anaheim for the All-Star Game this year). Instead they will face Dan Haren tonight who is undefeated in his career vs. the Yankees. That includes starts from Haren's time in Oakland.

It has been nice to see Tex get himself going lately with that bat. So the only question that remains is when is A-Rod going to be A-Rod? Being a HUGE A-Rod fan I still have some hope deep down that he will have one of his monthly tears and be right back on track. Hopefully sooner than later. But I cannot ignore the fact that he is older, he is off steroids (or so he says) and does potentially have a pretty serious hip injury. I hope that's not the case. If it is, then as much as I love watching him play every day, I wish he would shut himself down long enough to get back to 85-90% before the dog days of August. He isn't going to be the starter at the All-Star game and you can bet Joe Girardi will give him the three days off and not bring him along as a reserve player. But that's just one man's opinion. Robbie is having an MVP-like season and if the three of them are hot through October the Yanks, with their stellar starting pitching staff, have a serious chance to defend their crown.

A few fun facts before I sign off:

- Mo is in the midst of the longest consecuitive batters out streak of his CAREER - 21. Hopefully his struggles after coming back from his April injury are behind him.

- Speaking of Mo, Yankee fans all remember when he threw the ball into center field bafore blowing the save, and later the game, that windy and rainy night in Arizona nine years ago. If you watch replays of the play you will notice the dirt from the pitcher's mound extending to the home plate area. It's a rare sight to see on a Major League field anymore, but it was in fact former Yankee's manager Buck Showalter who had the field designed that way. See, Buck was the first manager of the D-Backs from 1998-2000 and when the stadium was built for the new franchise he wanted it to be "unique" and that's why the dirt is there. Who really knows if the different than grass bounces the ball took to Rivera, who seemed handlocked when he fielded it, caused him to rush his throw to second and air-mail Derek Jeter?

Final Word: The Yanks should sweep the D-Backs, who let's face it, just plain stink again this year.

Welcome to my blog and thanks for reading!

Since I don't have much on here right now I will leave a quick post that can hopefully lead to a bit of discussion...

There are 23 games remaining, including the rubber game tonight vs. the Phillies, before the All-Star Game in Anaheim, CA. The Yankees realistically should go 15-8 - I predict a win tonight and a SWEEP of the Mets before they run into some trouble in "Mannywood" and then later in Oakland (with an A-Rod-Braden rematch!). That should put them at 56-31, 25 games over .500 and in great shape for the second half of the year.

I'll be back with more later, but until then feel free to leave your own predictions and/or comments!