Reply #8: A little distortion, here (another comment from the article)...

[hughee99]

"Not even Torre, a favorite of Yankees fans, was immune. In late October, Hank Steinbrenner had sent a verbal missile in Torre's direction. "Where was Joe's career in '95 when my dad hired him?" he said to the New York Post. "My dad was crucified for hiring him ... Let's not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity -- and the great team he was handed."

IIRC George wasn't exactly tearing up the league. The "great team" that was "handed" to Torre, was the 1995 team that lost a 2-0 lead to Seattle in the Division series. It's not like he was handed a world series champion or anything. Steinbrenner wasn't exactly at the top of his game either, then, having made the playoffs for the first time since 1981 (I believe the Yankees longest stretch). I don't remember if SNL was still doing the "George Steinbrenner death watch" by 1995, but at one point they were joking that the only way the Yankees would ever make the playoffs is if Steinbrenner died, because he wouldn't sell the team, and he couldn't run it for shit.