Torre, Torre, Torre

Joe Torre held his annual Safe At Home fundraiser on Friday, November 13th at Chelsea. His foundation helps provide a safe haven for children from violent homes. It was a star-studded gala, more so than I had anticipated. Usually when they say 40 people are showing up, 3 actually show, but this time around, almost everyone and their mother grace the red carpet.





As a Red Sox fan, the opportunity to stand alongside Derek Jeter and Mo Riveria is not that exciting. Well, it's sort of cool, just not incredibly cool, i.e. I was able to maintain my composure and ask questions, even though neither of them stopped to say hi. Robinson Cano was nice enough to join me, and I got a few zingers in. The first entrants in the, 'Who do I talk to?' competition were Don Zimmer, Joe Torre, and Don Mattingly. Mr. Zimmer is nice, he suffered a stroke a year ago, so good for him for being out and about. He's a baseball great, having played roles in numerous baseball organizations including the Yankees and Red Sox. His work with the Yankees is a tad more memorable. He may be best known for charging at Pedro Martinez during a brawl in the 2004 season and getting flipped on his head by Petey, not a pretty sight.

Joe Torre is a nice, standup guy. I only spoke to him briefly, but he was happy to answer questions and he was appreciative of everyone for being there. As was Don Mattingly, most people shun the media outlets that they've never heard, but Don was friendly and personable - sometimes they're not. James Lipton showed up next. Sadly, I don't have anything to ask Mr. Lipton, and it showed, and wished him a good evening.

There was a massive Sopranos presence at this thing. Lorraince Bracco was there, she stopped to say hi. Steven R. Schirripa was there, though they dragged him away and its difficult to ask a thoughtful question when the person is not in front of you. I didn't even have a thoughtful question for him, so maybe it was for the best. Dominic 'Uncle June' Chianese was there, although he and Torre approached me at the same and I had to go with the host. Even Christofah Moltisanti showed up, but that man is in no hurry to speak with anyone, and I wasn't about to go a round with him. What I'm saying is I don't think the cast of the Sopranos were necessarily playing characters. James Gandolfini was nowhere to be found... imagine that.