While Brian Jordan sat in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium last night, he couldn’t help but think that had last winter’s negotiations gone differently, he would’ve been putting on pinstripes on the other end of the hallway.
While the Braves’ All-Star outfielder sat in the Atlanta dugout, he looked across the diamond at Bomber skipper Joe Torre and wondered what it would’ve been like to be reunited with the manager who he says taught him how to play when they both were in St. Louis.
The Yankees looked at signing Jordan as Bernie Williams’ replacement in the offseason. But when Williams re-signed with the Bombers, Jordan inked with Atlanta. And with the two teams completing their series today in The Bronx – a possible World Series preview – Jordan took time to sit back and reflect on the series’ electric atmosphere and how playing the Yanks is more than just another game to him for a host of reasons.
Playing against the team he wanted to play for, Jordan hit cleanup Thursday night and produced three runs. He plated Chipper Jones with a two-out RBI double to right in the first inning, plated Bret Boone with an RBI single to left in the seventh and got Walt Weiss home in the fifth when third baseman Scott Brosius made an error on Jordan’s grounder.
“This is what baseball is all about; it’s a playoff-type atmosphere. This is fun. I’ve looked forward to this series all season long, playing in Yankee Stadium,” said Jordan, who before last night was hitting .297 – .352 with runners in scoring position.
“I was close to signing here,” Jordan said, “so I was looking forward to the opportunity to play here.
“My first choice, to be honest, was here, to be reunited with Joe Torre. I’m not gonna say that it wasn’t, ’cause it was. I loved playing for Joe Torre; he’s a great guy, a great manager. I learned a lot from him.”
Torre was the Cardinal manager when Jordan was promoted from Triple-A in 1992. It was in St. Louis from 1992 through Torre’s departure in ’95 that the skipper combined tough love and teaching to turn Jordan from a raw rookie into a star, and Jordan saw signing with the Yankees as Williams’ replacement as his chance to play for Torre again.
“I loved him as a player,” Torre said. “He was an outstanding outfielder, could steal bases. He has a lot of tools.”
Unsure whether Williams would return, the Yanks tried to get those tools. On his first trip to the Stadium, George Steinbrenner played host to Jordan in his owner’s box while Kevin Costner filmed his latest baseball movie. But when Williams re-signed, that destroyed Jordan’s pinstripe dreams.
“I was looking forward to playing with him again. Unfortunately we hit some snags, and they cost me signing here,” Jordan said. “They wanted me to wait, but I knew Steinbrenner was leaning toward Bernie Williams and keeping that team together. Hey, they had a great season last year. You’ve got to keep a team like that together, so I went elsewhere.
“It would’ve been great, but business is business. They had to make a decision. But I respect Steinbrenner; he’s a great guy and he’s a winner. I would’ve loved to have played in this organization, but I’m fortunate to play in the Atlanta Braves organization. Those are some great opportunities.”