UNION CITY, N.J. -- Joe Torre walked into the Emerson Middle School gymnasium in Union City, N.J., and was showered with a hero's welcome by students. It was not just because of his stature as a Hall of Fame manager. It was also because he had made possible the three-room "Margaret's Place" safe haven inside their school, where kids who experience domestic violence can share feelings and maybe find hope.
Torre took a break from his role as Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations to appear at a moving school-wide assembly on Tuesday afternoon and receive a check for a $65,000 grant from HopeLine from Verizon and the Verizon Foundation to support his Safe At Home Foundation and its Margaret's Place initiative.