At Child Magazine's Children's Champion Awards held at the Harmonie Club in Manhattan on Wednesday night, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre had a lot to say about the issue of domestic abuse.
Torre was being honored for his work as the founder and chairman of the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, which he established in 2003 in memory of his mother, Margaret, who was abused by his father. Safe at Home's mission is to raise public awareness of domestic violence, providing education programs in public schools and after-school programs.
Torre, looking dapper and kind, told the Wednesday night crowd that he realized that he got "a lot of attention" for being a baseball manager who speaks out about "a women's issue."
He also acknowledged that the sports world needs to be careful about the messages it sends. "We send mixed signals," he said, telling athletes "to be aggressive, go get it, kill, kill. And what happens when after the game they go on a date and think they can take certain liberties with women? It's a mixed signal. The respect factor is so important. It's important to win but it's also important to know how to handle things with respect."
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