Manager Joe Torre of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He won four World Series managing the New York Yankees. Now he's looking for a title in Tinseltown as the new manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Joe Torre will now take your questions
After all those years in Yankees pinstripes, what did it feel like when you first put on a Dodgers uniform? —Mike McGillicutty, Echo Park, Calif.
You don't feel it until you look in the mirror and all of a sudden people are starting to make comments that "boy, you don't look the same." I knew what the Dodgers uniform represented, as a kid growing up in Brooklyn. But it certainly felt strange.
How will you adjust your managing style to work with the type of talent we have here in L.A.? —Angelique Tapia, Los Angeles
We have a lot of fine young players, [but] you have to make sure you take nothing for granted, as far as what they know. I have to keep reminding myself that. You have to make sure you do chapter and verse with all of them.
In March your team traveled to Beijing for exhibition games. Do you think the pollution there is going to affect the Olympics? —Ian Kachemov, Highland, Md.
The pollution is pretty bad over there. I think it could really have an effect unless they clean it up. You could cut it with a knife.
Do you think the ongoing steroids scandal will prevent Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire from ever entering the Hall of Fame? —Chris Oneto, San Francisco
I think they both deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. You can lump Barry Bonds in. The ability they all had and what they accomplished before anything came into question is worthy of the Hall of Fame.
Do you believe that during your time with the Yankees, you benefited by not having a salary cap? —Jeff Fulton, Pocatello, Idaho
Ball clubs can spend their money the right way. It's been proven by clubs that have won [the World Series]—the Angels have won, the Marlins have won. Those clubs seem to spend their money on pitching. In my time with the Yankees, I always felt that, yeah, we got Jason Giambi, we got Alex Rodriguez—but what we really needed to do was shore up our pitching in order to be a better postseason club.
What do you want to achieve by joining another team? —Chris McHale, New York City
When I went to Tampa to meet with the Steinbrenners and when I did say goodbye to the Yankees, I certainly didn't envision myself doing any more of this. But the last three years in New York really weren't a lot of fun. I just wanted to see if managing could be fun again. It's a great life, and I'm not ready to lose the excitement yet.
With the way the team treated you in the off-season, would you have any problems attending a Joe Torre Day at the new Yankee Stadium? —Greg Cohen, Edgewater, N.J.
Right now I'm not thinking of going back there. Am I going to say I'd never go back? Never is a long time. But at this point in time, I can't give you a solid answer on that.
Who is cooler, you or Derek Jeter? —Nick Vincent, Hightstown, N.J.
Oh, Derek Jeter without a doubt. He doesn't show emotion. I don't want to say he's emotionless, but he harnessed it as good as anybody. It took me a long time to get this poker face. He's in his early 30s.
Whom would you rather beat in the World Series, the Red Sox or the Yankees? —Stuart Oldham, Los Angeles
Both of them would be pretty high-charged. The Yankees would be an emotional high. There's no question about it.
Apart from becoming a baseball player, what did you dream of doing as a child? —Soyeun Yang, Superior, Colo.
Baseball is the only thing I ever wanted to do. When I was 16 years old, my brother Frank said, "You'd better become a catcher, because you're too big and fat to do anything else." Well, I took his advice. It was a quick way to get to the big leagues, and I've never regretted it.