Joe Torre‘s big brother Frank Torre played a very big part in Joe’s childhood. It was Frank who kicked their abusive father out of the household. As Joe tells it,
“Although I did not get physically abused myself, I grew up in fear because my mom did. I was shy and dad would make fun of me. Whenever I saw his car in the driveway, I didn’t want to go home. One winter, when I was 12, my older brother Frank (20) said to my father, ‘We want you out of the house. We don’t want anything other than the house we live in. We don’t want anything from you. Just leave.’ And he left.”
Frank also mentored Joe on his professional baseball career.
Despite Frank’s death this past Saturday, Joe will carry on his big brother’s leadership and inspiration in battling abuse when he will be the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s Texas Trailblazer Luncheon at the Anatole benefiting The Family Place.