Hall of Famer Joe Torre Makes Pitch for Safe at Home Foundation

Throughout his legendary, Hall of Fame career, former Yankees skipper Joe Torre made many trips to the mound as both a catcher and manager. On Tuesday night he made his way to the mound at Somerset's TD Bank Ballpark for a different cause: the Safe at Home Foundation. The New York Yankees Double-A affiliate, Somerset Patriots honored Torre, who turned 84 last week, and his charity before the opener of a critical Eastern League series against the Portland Seadogs. https://twitter.com/FOXSportsNJ/status/1815918992357302466 "It wasn't until just before I came to the Yankees, that my wife and I went to a seminar in Cincinnati. She was pregnant. At that seminar, after day two or three there was a speaker that struck a nerve with me, suddenly I wanted to talk about it," Torre said about his experience growing up around domestic violence. "We went to a middle school, and I looked up and there were a half dozen kids looking at us and I realized we struck a nerve here. We know what we do works, that's the most important thing," Torre said. The Safe At Home assists youths impacted by violence in the home, schools, and communities. Safe at Home creates safe places at schools called Margaret’s Place, named in honor of Joe Torre’s mother. The Margaret Place is a safe place in schools where students can feel comfortable and express their concerns and trauma while seeking help and guidance. On Tuesday night, Torre strode to the mound in Somerset, and mimicked a pitcher's motion from the mound, before walking midway between the pitcher's mound and home plate and tossing the game's ceremonial first pitch. The moment engineered a few chuckles, but it was more important than that. https://twitter.com/SOMPatriots/status/1815875885872079233 According to reports, the Patriots raised close to $30,000 for Torre's Safe at Home Foundation between the sales of VIP tickets for the meet & greet, a 50/50 raffle, and a generous donation from Fedway Associates. "Being able to raise funds is important. The more [we can raise], the more kids we can reach," Torre said in conclusion.