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Torre says he regrets swarming-bug incident most

Joe Torre said his main regret as New York Yankees manager was not stepping in to help reliever Joba Chamberlain when he was swarmed by flying bugs during a playoff game this season against the Indians in Cleveland.

In a bizarre twist in Game Two of the first-round series, rookie Chamberlain was bothered by a sudden swarm of midges as he squandered a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning.

The hard-throwing Chamberlain, his neck and face covered with the bugs, had nearly an entire can of spray showered on him by the trainer, but that failed to get rid of them.

He walked the lead-off batter on four pitches and threw a wild pitch to allow him to advance, the Yankees going on to lose the game in extra innings and fall 2-0 behind in the best-of-five series they eventually lost 3-1.

"If I had something to do over again, it's something weird," Torre told a news conference on Friday after rejecting the Yankees' one-year offer to return as manager next year and ending his 12-year tenure with club.

"It would probably be in Game Two this year in the division series. I wish I had gone out to the damn mound and let the bugs get all over me, where I could've maybe talked the umpires into stopping play for a little bit," he said.

"I sent my trainer out. I got about halfway out [of the dugout]. For some reason, I'm thinking about trips to the mound," said Torre, referring to the number of times a coach can consult with a pitcher before having to replace him.

"In retrospect, I wish I had been a little more proactive in that area," he said.

Insulted

Torre, 67, said he felt insulted by the contract offer, and simply couldn't accept a one-year extension with a pay cut to remain the manager.

"The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they're not satisfied with what you're doing," Torre said. "There really was no negotiation involved. I was hoping there would be, but there wasn't."

"If somebody wants you to do a job, if it takes them two weeks to figure out, yeah, we want to do this, should do this, yeah, you're a little suspicious," he added. "If somebody wanted me to manage here, I would be managing here."

Torre turned down a US$5 million, one-year contract -- US$2.5 million less than he made this season -- on Thursday.

Sitting at a desk before a backdrop of Yankees navy blue -- but no logo behind him -- Torre admitted he was nervous, though he took questions for about an hour.

His voice trembled at times, especially when he spoke of his players, as his wife and sister stood by his side. Torre said his 12 years with the Yankees were the best time of his professional life, but he hasn't ruled out managing elsewhere.

"I'm free to listen right now," he said. "I don't expect other ballclubs to pay me what the Yankees paid me."

Torre traveled to Tampa, Florida, on Thursday to meet with club management.
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