Is Joe Torre Overrated?

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The other day, while munching on my second helping of Crunch Berries, a profound thought came to my head, which was basically:

Man, that Joe Torre’s been around forever.

I’m not sure what made me think that, though it probably had something to do with that commercial where he’s surfing.

And it’s true — the guy has been around forever. After an impressive 18-year career as a player (he hit .363 with 24 HRs and 137 RBI in 1971), he’s had even more success in his 30 years as a manager.

But I’m going to go out on a limb here: As good as he is, I think Torre’s overrated.

Now hold on — don’t key my car just yet, Dodger dudes. Because, yeah, of course I know about the six World Series appearances and the four titles. And I know he won a bazillion games in New York. (Kinda hard not to notice when the Yanks lead every broadcast of “Baseball Tonight.”)

But remember this: That was all done with Mr. Steinbrenner’s shipping money.

I mean, come on — who couldn’t win with a lineup that included A-Rod, Jeter, Sheffield, Giambi, Matsui, etc? In fact, there would be problems if you didn’t, which is ultimately why Torre and the Spankmees split.

Don’t get me wrong — I like Torre. He’s a class act. And if you’ve ever seen him on Letterman, he’s a funny, smart guy — and given the number of lunk heads in baseball, that’s a big deal. (Tony Larussa — a law school grad — gets credit for being the smartest manager.) But outside Yankee Stadium, Torre is less spectacular.

In fact, in his 15 seasons before joining the Yanks, Torre-managed teams made the playoffs just once. Granted, that was a feat — the Braves had pretty much sucked for years before that. But also? In those 15 years pre-Yankee? His teams finished 4th or worse eight times.

Not exactly Tommy Lasorda numbers there.

Of course, Torre does have a lot of experience dealing with egos. And Manny Ramirez’s ego is probably the size of four Yankee egos (but only half of Steinbrenner’s). So he should fare well at Chavez Ravine.

Still, right now Mike Scioscia — who’s never had a team below 3rd place in nine seaons — is top dog in California.

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