 When the thirty-six-year-old Torre retired as a player that June, he left behind a .297 lifetime batting average for his eighteen years in the major leagues, including an MVP season in 1971 when he led the league with a .363 batting average.Torre was an able manager, with a veteran's incisive insights into the game and the ability to handle and motivate players.But in this case, a last-place team was a last-place team no matter how able the manager.