Catching up with Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Torre
Joe Torre had a lot to celebrate this year. Not only was the former MLB manager/player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he also had his number retired at Yankee Stadium.
"Standing at the podium in July was pretty was amazing," he said about the recent Hall of Fame induction. "If you peak back over both shoulders -- with 50-plus Hall of Famers back there...[it] means you're in a heck of a neighborhood."
Torre says he didn't give think much about receiving those accolades as he marched on through a career that found him playing for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals before becoming manager for those teams, as well as the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
"You play the game, and then you manage the teams you played for -- and now they all fired you," Torre told CBS News. "And you wonder what's next and wonder, 'Where can I go because I have no connections?' And then I get a Yankee opportunity and the best part of my life starts after I'm 55 years old."
Torre, who took home four World Series titles while serving as Yankees manager from 1996-2007, recently watched a retiring Derek Jeter walk off the field as New York Yankees shortstop one last time.
He has fond memories of working with Jeter during his stint as Yankees manager: "He was a lot more mature at 21 than I was. That's the one thing that hits me first. He had great parenting...he's' a remarkable human being. I used the one word, which is 'trustworthy' to describe him, based on the fact that everybody around him was better because of him and he'd always be there for them."
Torre may not be on the field like he was in the Jeter days, but the 74-year-old Brooklyn, New York, native is still heavily involved in the game, currently executive vice president of baseball operations at the MLB.
Right now they're focused on the pace of game. "Games are sneaking over three hours," said Torre. He's also helping the MLB come up with a rule in the wake of domestic abuse scandals involving NFL players Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice.
"In baseball -- over the last few days -- we're talking with different organizations about the best way to write a rule that will apply to what we need to have done," said Torre.
"Unfortunately what's going on in the NFL now is something that we knew went on but now it's seen the light of day, which sort of diffuses the perpetrators a little bit now that it's out there...It's complicated, but we need to address it."
It's an issue that's close to Torre; his father abused his mother -- both physically and emotionally -- when he was a child.
"He was a New York City policeman...I knew that he abused her," Torre said. "I knew if he didn't like something she put on the table for dinner or lunch, he threw the dishes against the wall. I was in the room when he threatened her with a pistol...I didn't realize that these things were affecting me as an 8, 9, 10-year-old."
Those experiences inspired Torre to start the Safe at Home Foundation in 2002, an organization dedicated to educating children about the issue of domestic violence. Over the years, the foundation has opened 10 "Margaret Place's" (named after Torre's mom) where students can meet with professionally trained counselors to talk about domestic violence intervention and prevention.
"We want the kids to know two things: We want them to know it's not their fault and they're not alone," Torre said.
Meanwhile, Torre is also taking time to get the word out about another cause: prostate cancer. Diagnosed in 1999, Torre underwent surgery, which he said was probably "the best course of action for my type of cancer" for him at the time. It was a "stressful" situation back then, and he's appreciative for the support from his family and friends, particularly his wife, Ali.
Today, though, Torre points out there are additional options for treatment for men facing prostate cancer. He's part of a new initiative, dubbed Your Prostate Your Decision, to coincide with September's Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
"Now that I know more about it, it's not as frightening as it was when I was first diagnosed," he said.
For more on Torre, checked out the videos above.
