The Boys from Brooklyn

Bernie Sanders and Joe Torre have two obvious things in common. They both have a listing on the Internet Movie Database and they both have made no effort to conceal their respective male pattern baldness. 

Beneath the surface, the two share many, many similitarities, so much so that their biographies are almost parallel lives, starting with when and where they were born. Joseph Paul Torre was born on July 18^th, 1940. His family resided in a townhome on the corner of Avenue T and 34^th Street in Marine Park in south Brooklyn. Bernard Sanders was born on September 8^th, 1941. His family resided in a rent-controlled apartment on 26^th street and Kings Highway in neighboring Midwood. Their boyhood homes were less than a mile away, and both Marine Park and Midwood have long been an enclave of Jewish and Italian immigrants. Similar neighborhoods. Same demographics. Same era.

Larry and Bernie Sanders, circa 1946

These two are closer in more than just age and geography. Both boys had one parent who came to the United States from Europe as a child. 17-year-old Elias Sanders immigrated from Poland . 8 year-old Margrat Raferno Torre immigrated from Italy. In spite of the closeness that many immigrant families experienced in the prewar era, both Bernie and Joe would lose one of their parents in their teen years under tragic circumstances.

Dorothy Sanders died at the age 46, when Bernie was 19. The cause of death was a failed surgery, after living with a chronic heart condition from her youth. “The lack of money caused stress in my family,” recalled Bernie. “That is a reality that I have never forgotten: today, there are many families who are living under the circumstances that we lived under.”

Over at Marine Park, the Torre household enjoyed financial stability, but much turmoil. “When I was growing up,” said Torre, “my father was a bully. My mother faced verbal and physical abuse from my father.” This abuse included the elder Torre pushing his wife down the stairs, throwing food against the wall, even threatening her with a gun.  In a household of fear, no one was spared.  “Although I didn’t get abused myself, I grew up in fear because my mom did.”

When Joe was 12, his older brother Frank, set an ultimatum to the family patriarch.  The ultimatum was simple and straightforward. “We want you out of the house,” said the 20 year-old Frank to his father. “We don’t want anything other than the house we live in. We don’t want anything from you. Just leave.” And he did.

The Torre Family home at Ave T and 34th Street in 2016.

Both Bernie and Joe were quite fortunate to have an older sibling who looked out for them and helped guide them in their formative years. Frank Torre was born on December 30th, 1931and Larry Sanders was born on April 25, 1934. Frank and Larry were both classmates at James Madison High School, with Frank graduating in 1950 and Larry in 1952 . Both would serve as pivotal figures in the lives of their younger brothers, serving as a guiding light that would enable their younger siblings greater success in life than they themselves had enjoyed.

When Frank kicked his violent father out of the house, he had quite a bit of leverage.  In 1951, Frank was signed to a major league contract with the Boston Braves and working his way up through the team’s farm system. By 1958, Frank Torre reached the high-water mark in his baseball career. He hit a career high .309, and was the starting first basemen on a team that came within one game of winning the World Series. Frank used his finances to provide Joe admission to Saint Francis Preparatory High School, Frank was aware that Joe’s athletic gifts were far superior, and persuaded the Braves to sign Joe in 1959.

Stopped domestic violence and home, gets famous for playing baseball.

Both Joe Torre and Bernie Sanders were standout athletes in high school. While Torre’s athletic accolades are no secret, Bernie Sander’s track and cross-country record received little attention until recently. Bernie ran track and cross country, rising to the rank of co-captain on the James Madison track team and finishing in third place for the New York City Public School Indoor Mile. In a city of more than six million, only two other high school track athletes were faster than Bernie Sanders.

Since both Bernie and Joe were such stellar athletes, and both graduated high school in 1959, they most certainly would have crossed paths had Joe attended James Madison. Yet even as they diverged, the two would continue to share many parallels. Both started their professional careers in the midwest, with Joe Torre joining his older brother and playing for the Milwaukee Braves. Bernie Sanders left Brooklyn College to follow in his brother's footsteps at the University of Chicago. This impact on Bernie's career was more subtle, but his work with the civil rights movement got him his first newspaper publicity. In 1962, Sanders was arrested for $25, and it was reported in the local Chicago newspapers.

Chicago Police Officers apprehend a young Bernie Sanders.

Within one year, both men would establish themselves in their respective careers. Joe Torre finished the 1963 season as a solid everyday player and win his first of many All-Star awards. On August 28th, 1963, Bernie Sanders marched with Martin Luther King for the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. "I remember that very well" recalled Sanders. "Let us remember that King was not only talking about racial justice, he was also talking about economic justice."

King was from Atlanta, the which coincidentally was Joe Torre's next stop when the Braves relocated from Milwaukee in 1966. At a time of racial tension and in a place of extreme segregation, Aaron had to insulate himself from the pressure of chasing Babe Ruth's home run record and outright racism from segregationists. Simply put: Georgia was one of five states that voted for George Wallace in 1968--the last time any state ever voted for a third party candidate. The Braves even hired a bodyguard for Aaron. Although Torre has kept his political views closely guarded for most his life, he did make an exception in describing Hank's grace under pressure and the sad state of race relations in America:

“You talk about breaking that type of record, carrying that type of load. It was incredible," said Torre in 2013. When you show up at a ballpark and there are 30,000 people in the stands, how vulnerable do you want to get? You’re right there. And that’s before all the metal detectors. Unfortunately there are people out there who still think that way. It’s beyond too bad. It’s embarrassing to have that be the case."

In the 1970s, both would work in media, Torre as a broadcaster, Sanders as a writer for an alternative publication. Joe Torre's experience with the press gave him an amazing edge in handling the messy New York Media. This was just one example of Torre's "people" skills are often cited as his biggest strength during his tenure as manager of the New York Yankees. Sanders too, saw the benefit of alternative media. In his 2016 presidential campaign, Senator Sanders utilized social media platforms that were famous for pointless babble and cat videos to spread his political message and crowdsource millions of dollars in fundraising. 

Ironically, much of the media was reluctant to give Torre his due, as with Sanders. When Joe Torre took over the Yankees, he was dubbed "Clueless Joe." Ironically, it was the establishment media that was clueless. The establishment didn't understand what Joe Torre saw in Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. Buch Showalter had demoted Jeter and Rivera during the 1995 season, insisting that they were not "ready." While Rivera was allowed to pitch in September and again during the playoffs, Buck infamously pulled the plug on Rivera in game 5, despite his 0.00 Earned Run Average. Torre insisted that these young people were not only ready but vital to the success of the present and the future. 

During the 1996, the press doubted Torre every step of the way. They questioned whether or not Rivera was a flash in the pan. Some even considered trading Rivera for an everyday shortstop, to give Jeter even more "time" to develop. Even when Torre took the Yankees to the World Series, he was up against a formidable establishment. The Atlanta Braves were returning champions. Sportswriters praised the Braves pitching rotation as a "proven record" that was inevitable against the young Yankees. When the Yankees lost their first two games at home, the press all but declared victory. The Braves had won half of what they needed to win, and with the rest of competition on friendly territory, the World Series was effectively over.

Sound familiar? So far, the Bernie 2016 has followed a similar path. Perhaps it's all just a coincidence, perhaps the two boys from Brooklyn are under the same cosmic influence, or maybe Bernie and Joey are just products of the incredible environment they grew up in. As they say, Only in New York.