Mattingly interviewed for Yankee's manager
MIAMI: Former New York Yankees player Don Mattingly became the second person interviewed to replace Joe Torre as the team's manager on Tuesday.
"I knew from the beginning what I wanted," Mattingly told a conference call after meeting with Yankee club officials, including owner George Steinbrenner, in Tampa, Florida.
"I just wasn't willing to talk about it publicly. I was trying to take it all in."
Former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi was interviewed on Monday and Yankees first base coach Tony Pena, the former Kansas City Royals manager, is due to talk to the club on Wednesday.
Mattingly is the only one of the three without managerial experience. The former Yankee great has been a coach with the team the last four seasons, three in charge of batting and one as Torre's bench coach.
"If I get the opportunity to manage this club, it's about going forward," he said. "It's about winning games and doing whatever you can to win. If I don't do that, and I don't do my job and I get criticisms, that's part of it."
Meanwhile, team captain Derek Jeter broke his silence with his first public statement since Torre rejected a one-year offer to return to the club last week.
Jeter said he had been quiet until Tuesday because he wanted Torre to have the chance to state his views first.
"In my eyes, Joe Torre is more than a Hall of Fame manager," Jeter said in a statement. "He is a friend for life, and the relationship we have shared has helped shape me in ways that transcend the game of baseball.
"His class, his dignity and the way he respected those around him - from ballplayers to batboys - are all qualities that are easy to admire but difficult to duplicate," Jeter added.
"I have known Mr. Torre for the good majority of my adult life, and there has been no bigger influence on my professional development. It was my privilege to play for him on the field and an honor to learn from him off the field."
Agencies
(China Daily 10/25/2007 page23)
