Torre heartened by Safe at Home, MiLB partnership

SOMERSET, NJ -- Joe Torre loves the game of baseball. He also loves making a difference in the lives of youth in need of help or assistance. So it only made sense for the four-time World Series-champion manager to combine his biggest passions.

The Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation and Minor League Baseball are teaming up for the eighth straight year to help raise awareness about violence and abuse and to empower fans at ballparks across the MiLB landscape to join them in cultivating a safer society. More than 45 Minor League teams have already announced their participation in the effort taking place in stadiums across the country from June 9 until Sept. 2.

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"It's very passionate for me and very personal because I kept it inside for all these years," Torre said Tuesday at TD Bank Ballpark before Double-A Somerset's game against Portland. "When I was a kid, I was reluctant to share what was going on in my home. My dad was abusive to my mom, both physically and verbally, and I thought we were the only family that experienced that. And it wasn’t till years later when I had gone through a seminar that struck a nerve with me and I felt like I needed to talk about it publicly."

This breakthrough led to the creation of the Safe at Home Foundation by Torre and his wife, Ali, more than 20 years ago. Now with more than 20 Safe Rooms known as Margaret's Place (after Torre's mother) across the United States as well as in Tahiti, the foundation continues to extend its reach beyond schools.

"You never know how it's going to work, but when we first started, we went to this middle school and there was a camera crew that followed us. And I said, 'Look, we'll talk baseball in a minute but first I want to tell you what this camera crew is doing here,' and I started talking about my dad," Torre said. "And I looked up and there were about half a dozen kids nodding their heads, and I realized that we struck a nerve here.

"There were more people out there than I thought there were who are experiencing the same thing. So we know what we do works. That's the most important thing."

Each Margaret's Place creates a safe space in schools where Masters-level counselors can provide trauma informed intervention as well as prevention services for empowerment, education and understanding.

In taking a more active role in the family's foundation, Torre's daughter, Andrea, has become a big proponent of the collaboration with Minor League Baseball.

"In the beginning, it started with the idea of raising awareness within local communities," said Andrea Torre, who serves as the foundation's community engagement manager. "Our goal has always been to raise awareness about the cause as well as to provide each team with an initiative that positively impacts their communities.

"We provide teams with an autographed Joe Torre baseball to raffle or auction off, a Joe Torre Safe At Home Topps baseball card to hand out to fans, which includes a bit of his personal story -- letting fans know they’re not alone and it’s not their fault. We’ve encouraged teams to connect with local domestic violence organizations. This year, we’ve expanded the initiative by bringing aspects of our Margaret’s Place program out of the classroom and into the ballpark. We created videoboard graphics and posters on healthy and unhealthy relationships, coping skills and how to help a friend -- tools we teach our students in Margaret’s Place that can be helpful to anyone attending a baseball game."

"If they’ve got a charity locally, we want to encourage the relationships around the Minor Leagues with programs such as ours," Joe Torre added.

The collaboration also allows the former Major League player and manager the opportunity to view some of the game's best prospects. On Tuesday, they were from the next wave of Yankees and Red Sox heading toward The Show.

"It's great watching young kids develop," he said. "I’m excited to watch some of the game tonight. Double-A are where the prospects are. It used to be years ago that you would only call guys up from Triple-A, but now it’s Double-A. You’ve got the guys who you’re taking a close look at here and I’m happy for this franchise."

But most importantly, Torre is happy with the lasting impact of the Safe at Home Foundation and its continued growth through baseball.

"The fact that we have a possibility of continuing to raise money, what that tells me is that we can reach more kids and that’s what we need," he said. "You know, our society right now, there’s a lot of anger going on and I think our kids are vulnerable. And when they come to Margaret’s Place, they leave in a better frame of mind and have a lot better feel about themselves.

"I had a lot of low self-esteem, believe it or not, when I was going through school because of what was going on at my home. But having the ability to address it made a huge difference to me in being able to talk about it and realize -- it’s not your fault and you’re not alone."