Good for Joe. I mean, really and truly, good for Joe Torre and congratulations to him on 2,000 wins. After week upon week and season upon season of having his job put up for sale, Torre deserves a moment to smile…particularly when his players haven’t been hitting and his starting pitching couldn’t stay healthy. Once a GM gives you a bunch of rookies to send out to the hill, how can you win?

Watching the post-game on YesNetwork.com and reading the papers today, you can tell that the Yankee coaches and old-time players love Torre — from Larry Bowa to Jeter to Posada to Mo (who handed the game ball to Joe after the victory…very appropriate). Yes, they go to war for that man. Why? Because he is one of the nicest and most accessible guys you will meet on the Major League level. For my part, I’m no big shot reporter compared to some who crowd into his office after every Yankee home game, but Torre has always treated me with respect. He treats everyone with respect, which is why he works well in a locker room full of huge contracts and All-Star resumes.

Everyone knows what he’s done in the Bronx, and to do it under the pressure he faces is more remarkable than it seems. Even on the day where he reaches this milestone, there’s a story in the Daily News about how Torre is feeling heat from George Steinbrenner for publicly criticizing A-Rod and his “Ha!” play in Toronto. Whatever. The man is trying to send a message to the rest of the league about what is acceptable for the Yankees. He is trying to establish some pride when the Yankees are losing so much of it. You can’t blame him for that.

So here’s to Joe Torre. These days he often has a defeated look on his face as he deals with a struggling team, New York media and impatient management. If this is his final season at the helm of the Yankees, then hopefully his team will continue to win and give him the ending he deserves.

I ain’t saying nothing these days, just storing up all the taunts, venom and anti-Yankee comments delivered in person, in print and on my blog here for personal use at another date. That’s Mets fans, Sox fans and disillusioned Yankees fans who have thrown in the towel. Patience, my friends…

Yanks won again last night…

So, it was nice to see Chien-Ming go a full nine and keep it to 104 pitches. Lord knows another night of Farnsworth and co. would have been unnecessary tension. But the real story last night to me was the hitting by the Yankee lefties: Johnny Damon (2-for-5 with a run, RBI and a LEADOFF ground rule double), Bobby Abreu (home run, walk, two runs scored) and Melky Cabrera from the left side (2-for-4…yeah, the kid’s hitting now that he knows he’s got a job every day…and did you see him nail Owens at the plate in the sixth? Suhweet.) Even Robison Cano hit a couple hard while going 0-for-4.

Nice to see these guys get on base…and it must be much easier to pitch with run support, too.

Maybe these kids on Joe Torre’s staff are getting thrown to the wolves a little too soon…perhaps the Yankee rookies have a losing record as starters this year. No matter, this kid Clippard showed some moxie tonight. For me, the key was the fourth inning where he even wound up giving up a run. He started shaky by putting runners on base early in the game, yet got some nifty glove help from Miguel Cairo who started a 3-6-1 DP. But again, it was the fourth.

These neophyte pitchers get a REAL short leash with Joe Torre and Clippard was on the verge of letting in a run with one out and Jermaine Dye on third. Well, the kid got Paul Konerko to strike out swinging on a 3-2 count…it was the kind of at-bat that young pitchers (or the Yankee bullpen) have lost batters on all season long, but Clippard hung tough. He did rain on my parade by giving up an RBI single to the next batter, but the inning was in hand at that point with two outs. Clippard looked like a gamer.

From there I have just a few more observations of the Yankees’ 7-3 win over the White Sox.

-It took a two-bagger by Cano to insure he wouldn’t get doubled off in the fifth…the Yankees had already hit into 3. And Melky wound up hitting what could’ve been a perfect DP ball to short…instead Cano scored on Cairo’s single.

-Posada’s doing something productive all the time, including plating a crucial fourth run with a sac fly in the sixth.

-Jeter bunts for a hit in the sixth while also moving Damon to third…yeah, he’s part of dying breed that still has this skill and it’s a great way to break out of a hitting slide…why can’t Giambi do something creative (like go the other way) when he struggles?

-Say what you want, I love A-Rod’s tack-on homers…he’s been clutch enough this year.

-No lead is safe with Farnsworth. He’s gotta go.

-It’s nice watching the Yanks bat in the ninth while not desperately trying to scratch across the tying run.

It’s nice to have a night off as a Yankee fan, isn’t it? A night off from your friends from Boston reminding you about double digit deficits in the standings and the last blown save by Mariano Rivera. A night off from the nightmare of this 2007 season that has made the Yankees a laughing stock from Carl Pavano’s arm to Jason Giambi’s feet to A-Rod and his blondes to the Roger Clemens and his setbacks to injuries to three young pitchers…And how about that Gary Sheffield for Humberto Sanchez deal? The pitching prospect now needs Tommy John surgery after a well-documented history of arm trouble before the trade.

We have seen mud splatted across the Yankee pinstripes in 2007 while old heroes at shortstop and catcher have quietly carried the torch. Joe Torre and Brian Cashman were fired in the press weeks ago. Former heir apparent to the Yankee kingdom, Steve Swindal, was arrested for a DUI in spring training and was shortly thereafter dumped by his wife Jennifer Steinbrenner. And once he was out of the Steinbrenner family, the future Boss was dumped from the Yankee family.

Hell of a year, eh?

Well, last night A-Rod went deep off Jonathan Papelbon and the Yankees took two of three off the Boston Red Sox while Mariano Rivera closed the game against Manny and Papi. It doesn’t change much by itself, but it buys you a few hours of silence…

And it has been quite loud out there. These days I’m convinced that there are more hard core Yankee haters than actual hard core fans of any one team. Need an example? While covering a Mets game recently, I was wading through a crowd of rowdy fans on the way to the home locker room. The Mets had just defeated Barry Bonds and the Giants, but only one thing was on the minds of the Shea faithful: “Yankees suck, Yankees suck” — the mating call of second-rate franchises.

Yes, the whole world is loving this. Which why last night was a sweet jab to the nose of every Yankee-hater out there. A-Rod went deep, Mo closed and all was right for just one night.