Wedge and Torre

Say what you will about Eric Wedge, and most of us have, but you’ve got to give him high marks, and a lots of credit, for where he’s taken the Indians this season.
Counting the Division Series win over New York, the Indians have won 99 games this year, and they’re not done yet. Through it all Wedge has been a beacon of consistency.
He may not be the most colorful manager in the league, or the most quotable. But he’s one of the most consistent and most true to himself. That’s probably one of the reasons why Wedge is such a staunch supporter of Yankee manager _ for now, anyway _ Joe Torre.
The two men share a lot of the same principles, one of the main ones being you’ve can’t try to be someone you’re not. Torre talked about that before Game 4 Monday night.
“I know when I first came in here (as Yankee manager) in '96,’’ he said, “I started thinking I was trying to be somebody a little bit different, because it didn't seem to work in all the other places (I’d managed).
“I remember picking up Bill Parcells' book, and I started thumbing through it. I saw this one little passage where it said ‘If you believe in something, stay with it.’ And that sort of locked me back into who I was. Because you try to be somebody else. You try to be a (tough guy) or you try to do something a little bit different, eventually it's going to be exposed because you're here every day.
“So what I try to do is make sense. Try to be as honest as I can possibly be and be able to communicate. I think that's the most important thing. Whether you're managing a baseball team or running a business. I think it's all about people. Moves are one thing. You can say you put on a hit-and-run that didn't work. Those things anybody can do, and you're lucky when they do work. When you change a pitcher, you hope it works, too. But I think it's all about people, because they have to play the game, and the game belongs to the players.
“I'm one of those managers that likes to stay out of the way and let the players play. I think it certainly gives the fans a better show, and it gives them a lot more freedom.’’
Torre was speaking about himself, but that’s also a very accurate description of Wedge and his managerial style.