Delaney: Torrez, Dent comfortable with their places in history

Looking tanned and relaxed, Mike Torrez and Bucky Dent stood to shake my hand.

 

We talked about the A.L. East Division playoff game on Oct. 2, 1978 - as was my assignment. Dent hit the game-winning home run off then-Red Sox pitcher Torrez to help the Yankees win the division title 5-4 in Fenway Park. The Yankees went on to win the World Series for the second consecutive year, and Dent was the MVP.

 

I couldn't help but notice how content they were with their respective places in baseball history -- especiallly Torrez. Maybe I expected him to be a reluctant participant in a fundraising event at St. Peter's School earlier this week considering he's was the so-called goat that afternoon in Fenway Park. Maybe I was so caught up in what I was doing, I didn't stop to realize Torrez had had 30 years to adjust.

 

I think people in my profession, sports reporters and sportscasters, tend to pin one defining moment of glory or failure on an athlete. We don't always look beyond the heroics or gaffe to see there's more to the play and, often, the person than we first thought.