Joe Torre recently answered questions from Mark Sweeney about the pain of last season’s NLCS loss, the team’s growth, his message during Spring Training, Sandy Koufax and expectations.

 

On the NLCS: “There were players in that room in the clubhouse that were very emotional a number of them just openly crying, which was much different than the year before.”

 

On growth: “This spring the energy level is very good in the clubhouse and on the field. They’re having fun. It’s sort of that quiet confidence you need to have when going into a baseball season.”

 

On his message during Spring Training: “You’ve got to conduct yourself to where winning’s not a surprise anymore. You expect yourself to win and the only way to do that is to make sure you go out there and basically come to work every day.”

 

On Koufax: “The one thing about Sandy and a lot of former big leaguers is, they’re willing to share. Sandy’s a little more unique because he has some real ideas on mechanics and what pitchers should do.”

 

On expectations: “I think L.A. deserves to have the Los Angeles Dodgers be the sports team in town.”