Empire State Building reps Team USA with help from Torre

NEW YORK -- Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Torre has been to the Empire State Building many times, but his trip there late Thursday morning was just a bit different.

The World Baseball Classic started this week, and Torre visited the iconic building for a tower lighting ceremony to celebrate Team USA. Torre flipped the ceremonial switch that turned the world-famous skyscraper’s lights into red, white and blue.

A similar exercise took place in another city hosting the WBC on the other side of the world. The Toyko Tower was also lit in support of Team Japan.

Team USA plays its first game against Great Britain on Saturday at Chase Field at 9 p.m. ET on FOX. The United States is looking to win the gold medal for the second time in the history of the Classic. The first one was captured in 2017 with Jim Leyland as the manager.

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“It’s exciting because we haven’t had the WBC in a few years,” Torre said in the lobby of the Observatory. “Every country is represented – just about – with Major League talent. It’s really terrific.”

Torre, who managed the Yankees to four World Series titles in the late 1990s and 2000, has experience in the Classic. He managed Team USA in 2013 before they were eliminated in the second round. Four years later, Torre was the general manager for the team that won the gold medal. He said the players helped him enjoy the Classic. A handful of players on both teams knew they were not going to see a lot of playing time, but they wanted to be part of the team anyway.

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“You don’t realize how passionate you can get until you put on the uniform that has the name of your country on it,” Torre said. “When you put that jersey on, that really makes a huge difference. I’m just happy [the Classic] is back, probably because I was part of the team that won for the first time for USA. I was the GM for Jim Leyland, who did a terrific job. We had to fight uphill a little bit back in ‘17, but we got the job done.”

Led by superstars Mookie Betts and Mike Trout and veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright, Team USA is loaded with talent this year. But in a short series, as Torre put it, anything can happen.

What advice would Torre give Team USA manager Mark DeRosa and general manager Tony Reagins?

“These guys [DeRosa and Reagins] have been around baseball their whole lives,” Torre said. “Just let the players play. Managing is important because you have to make certain decisions. But the game belongs to the players. I don’t have any doubt that’s going to be the case for them.”

After the ceremony, Torre enthusiastically took a tour of the Empire State Building, going as high as the 86th Floor Observatory.

“You feel like you own part of it. You have been here forever,” Torre said. “I’ve been up here [many times]. When relatives come in, [they say], ‘How about the Empire State Building?’ Sure, let’s go.

“We’ve done this trip a couple of times. But to be up here knowing that you had success in this town – it goes back to the [Frank] Sinatra song: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. [I] did. It made my professional career. No question about it.”