KEVIN GREENE-ILLUSTRATOR

Well, as my dad used to say, it's all over but the shouting. The Yankees are done. Fini. Oh well. I'm a Mets fan but I don't hate the Yanks. I actually like the team. I'm a New York fan so I want to see all the local teams do well. I really like Joe Torre. He's pretty cool under pressure and just seems to do the right thing. My wife always comments on how you can't tell what's going on in the game when you look at "Ol' Stoneface" as she calls him....I have a lot of respect for him. Plus he used to manage the Mets. But I have a nagging feeling that we just saw Joe Torre's last game as Yankee manager. I think the boss may pull the plug on him. Sweet Lou Pinella is waiting in the wings; the curtain may be ready to close on ol' Joe. Hey, there's precedent for this. In '95 Steinbrenner fired Buck Showalter after the Yanks lost to the Mariners in the playoffs. And in '80 I think it was, he fired poor Dick Howser after the Yanks lost to the Kansas City Royals...they won like 104 games that year. The Yanks haven't won in a few years and I think George has bided his time, letting some anti-Joe feelings stew while he plots. He knows there would be a public backlash against him but now that they haven't won since 2000 ( that's what they get for beating the Mets...hah!) he has some ammo. It wouldn't be cool but that's business. Derek Jeter said earlier this year that he couldn't imagine playing for another manager. Well, Derek, you may have to fire up that brain pretty soon...