SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Joe Torre said when he retired from managing last fall that he still wanted to do "something significant."
He found a job that he says "fills the bill - no question about it."
Commissioner Bud Selig has hired Torre as MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations. Selig made the long-anticipated announcement on Saturday before the dedication of the new spring facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
In what Selig called "a very critical appointment," the 70-year-old Torre will oversee major league operations, on-field discipline, umpiring and other areas. He also said Torre would be one of baseball's representatives to general managers and field managers.
Torre won four World Series titles with the New York Yankees during a 29-year career as a manager. He retired after last season following three years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played parts of 18 seasons in the majors, with nine All-Star appearances. He was the National League's MVP in 1971, when he led the league with a .363 average for the St. Louis Cardinals.
"As I thought of this a lot over the past year, he's really uniquely suited in this position," Selig said.
The commissioner said he has known Torre since 1958, when Torre's older brother Frank played for the Milwaukee Braves.
"He was just a shy kid, if you can believe that," Selig said.
Wearing one of the four World Series championship rings he won as a manager, Torre said his decision to take the job "shuts the door" on a return to managing. He acknowledged he had left that door open a crack when he announced his retirement, but said that when February rolled around, the time he would usually start communicating with his coaches, "I didn't miss it."
