 Hello again everyone and welcome to another edition of Yes! We're Here. I'm Jack Curry and today I am joined by four-time World Series Champion Manager and Hall of Famer Joe Torrey. And Joe before we get started I did want to ask you how are you and your family doing during these challenging times? Jack it's uh you know I'm a homebody to begin with but this takes it to another extent here I mean at another level I should say. Everybody's good so far. My daughter Andrea is on the west coast and so she's been shoveling back and forth between her apartment in LA and her boyfriend's mother's house in Oakland area so but so far so good. Joe you managed the Yankees for 12 seasons and I think you would admit I know you would admit that one of those years was unlike any other. 2001 because of 9-11 you had to manage a team after our country was hit by a tragedy. We're in the middle of a tragedy right now. What do you remember about coming back after 9-11 in 2001? What was your focus with the Yankees? What did you feel your obligations were because the world was hurting back then too? Well Jack you know I have to go back to that Tuesday morning September 11th when I know I was scheduled to do a charity lunch in that day and I get a call from the car service and I guess it's called off and I hadn't really turned on the TV and and when I did I you know it was a numbing experience watching what was going on and you know baseball was basically not even my mind anymore you know my first thought was my daughter who was five I know she was roaming around the house somewhere I want to make sure that what she was watching wasn't what I was watching and then you know thinking about the safety of my players and family I had a sister I remember my wife's sister one of my wife's sisters so it was a flight attendant for American Airlines and she was on reserve so we had no clue where she was and just a lot of things and my son worked down in that area and I was you know curious about him so it was really about loved ones and baseball was you know way back and and the concerns at that point in time and then you know as the week unraveled a little bit and you know you started and I'm not going to say the smoke is clearing because it didn't clear for a long long time but on the Saturday we took a trip into Manhattan whatever players that were left and you know a couple of coaches you know we had a couple of vans that you know started out at the Jacobs Jacob Jabbitt Center where all the you know firefighters and everybody who came from outside New York were were stationed and you know we spent some time there and and then we went to St. Vincent's Hospital unfortunately there was nobody there other than you know some firefighters who had smoke inhalation and and then we went to the to the armory which I thought was very sensitive spot for us to be there because of you know this is when people you know who had loved ones and the towers were waiting for results of the DNA and and so I remember you know not sure if we should go in there and I remember Randy Levine went in ahead of us and and then he came out and waved us in and and when we walked in there and I know you've probably heard me talk about this before Jacqueline Bernie Williams was one of our guys and he went up to this woman he says I don't know what to say but you look like you need a hug and and then and all the families and all the groups were separated by you know little partitions low partitions and it was you know we sort of walked around the perimeter a little bit and then we were waved in by families and when we when we started mingling it was it was an unreal feeling because we realized that you know people were looking to embrace us because I never really knew I knew what baseball meant to me you know in my career and my life but in this situation this was unlike any other situation I've ever been involved in you know you didn't realize where you belonged here but these people started all of a sudden people would come out with with photos of loved ones with Yankee jackets and t-shirts and hats and and and then you realize how welcome we were that these people I had a sense that they needed something other than you know what they were waiting to find out Joe you so descriptive in your memories of that time and those moments were so dark you've always been someone who has been known for your eloquence in your wisdom what words would you offer up to new yorkers and people around the country who feel as if we're in a dark period right now how do we get out of this when is the light at the end of the tunnel you know new york are they're very instinctive people you know they may not have time for you in the normal day but when something happens such as the pandemic now and 9-11 and the couple of blackouts we've had you know over the years they're so they want to help arms are open the only thing I could say is you know let's you know exercise the patience that we don't have during a normal work day and you know it's it's really tough because if you turn on tv jack you get so many different opinions that you know let's go out and fight this thing and then you hear the doctors who I sort of like to trust that they seem to know what they're doing and saying so I think we we have to be conservative I mean as as much as new yorkers are very aggressive and feel like they're bulletproof at times I think we just have to be careful because if you think about how this started one person and and you know where it has climbed to it's absolutely frightening because there are some similarities with 9-11 you know you go out and and you don't know who you can trust or who you can talk to and because 9-11 was a lot different because you felt like you gained strength when you were in a crowd and and this is really the opposite but I would just say you know we're going to learn and we already have learned I think as individuals things that we're going to need to change and as I say I think new yorkers take pride in in the fact that you know they're tough but they're very caring and they're pretty smart when it comes to needing to do something and have young people to protect Joe you and your wife Allie started the Safe at Home Foundation in 2002 wanted to end the cycle of domestic violence and save lives during the coronavirus everyone's home everyone's on top of each other and New York state has said that in the month of March domestic violence incidents were up 15% in April that number rose to 30% what would be your advice to anyone who was involved in a home where this is occurring well find a way to get the message out to you know call somebody to trust if be an uncle or a neighbor or somebody because that's the scary part about it you know we're all told to stay home but in cases of the kids who again you know when we have our markets places and in these schools it's a haven for them you know they're finding out that you know they didn't cause what was going on in their homes and it's they're not alone and not the only ones and we give them tools to deal with it but it's tough to deal with something when you're basically incarcerated and we do have some virtual you know connection with at some of these schools but you know we we need to let them know that someone's out there to help them and so hopefully the tools that we give them are are able to help them during this very tough time so your website is joe tori.org and it actually has some great advice on there regarding COVID-19 it talks about separate what is in your control from what you can't control get up and make sure you move around because moving around is good for you mentally and physically there's a gratification I'm sure you got from being a Yankee manager and winning games there's there's joy that comes with that but how would you describe the joy and and being able to impact lives and being able to do what you've done with this foundation save lives and and put people into a better position well you know I never shared it Jack when when it was going on in my home and I thought I was born with this low self-esteem and this nervousness that I and it doesn't go away I mean I still have the same feelings but I have to thank excuse me my wife Allie for suggesting we go to this seminar in in December of 95 and you know I discovered through the four-day seminar that the feelings that I had were created by the fear that my dad reigned on our home so you know it was something I wanted to scream from the treetops because I there are so many kids out there that when I talk about my feelings growing up and that none of my friends in the neighborhood knew about it and I see a lot of head shakes out there understanding and and realizing that they're familiar with what I was feeling and I I can't tell you how gratifying that is when you see these kids come in sort of tiptoe into Margaret's place and after several visits they realize they're not alone it's not their fault and again we can't solve what's happening in their lives we can't pull them out of the house but we certainly can give them tools that will really work work for them not only during these years but in the future and I to me that's very gratifying well Joe with what we're enduring now and those statistics that I mentioned earlier the safe at home foundation is is very much needed I appreciate you giving us some time right here and hope that you and your family continue to stay safe and I hope we see baseball down the line well I'm counting on baseball I always try to have a positive outlook and I'm I'm just hoping these rumors and the conversation that you know in the next couple of months will be on the baseball field I'm excited about it thanks again Joe anytime jack thank you