By SEAN DEVENEY

The Sporting News

For 12 years, Joe Torre sat, stone-faced as a tiki statue, watching his Yankees grind out 90 or 100 or 114 wins. When things went particularly well, he might dole out a butt slap or even break into a smile. Fun times for Torre, but eventually, fun dissipates (especially when one's boss offers only a one-year contract). So Torre packed up and moved across the continent, taking over a talented Dodgers team whose players didn't like one another, the coaches or the front office very much last year.

P'shaw, Torre says: "I was banking on the fact it was going to be fun again."

If it's fun Torre wants, he'll need to bring a little Yankees past to this Dodgers present. The perception is that these Dodgers have a far longer list of issues than Torre had with the Yankees — third base, left field, right field, first base and the rotation. Not so. When Torre took over the Yankees in 1996, he got a team that had lost Don Mattingly, Mike Stanley and Tony Fernandez, had replaced two of its top starters — Jack McDowell and Scott Kamieniecki — and was testing a new shortstop named Derek Jeter.

Torre wasn't perfect as Yankees manager, but he was successful. He won't be perfect with the Dodgers, but don't be surprised if he pushes this team to the top of the N.L. West.

It's useful to look back at Torre's dozen years with the Yankees to see how he might handle the deficiencies of these Dodgers. And, y'know, he might even have a little fun in the process:

* Russell Martin can be Jeter. The day after Martin arrived in camp, he had breakfast at a local IHOP. As he was paying his bill, Torre entered, by — he claims — coincidence. (The bet here is that Torre was staking out Martin all along. Are we to believe Torre just needed his Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity fix at the same time as Martin?) If there's any player Torre needs firmly by his side, it's Martin, who is most often likened to Jorge Posada because both are catchers. But Torre needs more out of Martin, who is very talented, very likable and has leadership potential. He needs Martin to be Jeter, always an All-Star, always on time, always a professional, always loyal to his manager, always setting a locker room example.

* Chad Billingsley can become Andy Pettitte. This is up to Billingsley more than Torre. But Torre can help. Pettitte was a second-year pitcher making his sixth start of the season at the end of April 1996, when he got slobberknocked, giving up nine runs in one inning. The next day, Pettitte sought out Torre to ask if he could pitch in relief that night — an odd request, but Pettitte did not want to stew over the rotten start. Pettitte threw three scoreless innings, getting the win and getting his mojo back. In his next start, Pettitte allowed three hits and one run in six innings on his way to 21 wins.

* Nomar Garciaparra/Andy LaRoche equals Chuck Knoblauch/Alfonso Soriano. Injuries to LaRoche and Garciaparra took pressure off Torre to pick one at third base. But both will be back, and the decision — youthful LaRoche or aged Garciaparra — will resurface. Torre has faced these choices before and often was too sensitive to the veteran. When Soriano pushed Knoblauch out of the second base spot in 2001, Torre moved Knoblauch to the outfield. When Robinson Cano came up, Tony Womack went to the outfield. When it was clear that Melky Cabrera was better than Bernie Williams, Torre did his best to keep Williams on the field. They were bad decisions, but they helped Torre earn respect in the clubhouse. Given what the Dodgers' clubhouse has been like, Torre will need to strike a balance between respecting the elders and playing the youngsters if he is truly going to bring this team some fun this year.