IAN O'CONNOR, HERO OF STEINBRENNER/TORRE BASH...ALSO WROTE 1995 ARTICLE, "CLUELESS JOE"

IAN O'CONNOR'S CURRENT CELEBRITY IS DUE TO HIS STEINBRENNER TO AX TORRE QUOTE DURING THIS YEAR'S ALDS, BUT O'CONNOR IS ALSO AUTHOR OF THE FAMOUS "CLUELESS JOE" TITLED ARTICLE FROM THE NY DAILY NEWS IN 1995 THAT USHERED IN WHAT O'CONNOR MUST HAVE THOUGHT WOULD BE A SHORT TENURE:

• "Interestingly, it was an O'Connor column in 1995 for the Daily News that some still point to as the New York press's first reaction to the hiring of Torre, whom many considered ill-equipped for the job. Under the now-famous headline, "Clueless Joe," the sportswriter described the new manager as being clueless for thinking that working for Steinbrenner would not be difficult.

O'Connor, a New Jersey resident and former delivery boy for the Record, welcomes the positive attention the scoop is giving his hometown daily. "It has definitely raised the profile of the paper," he said. "Obviously, the paper was very happy with it. It was just timing and circumstances coming together.""

• FROM EDITOR & PUBLISHER by JOE STRUPP, 10/9/07, "SPORTSWRITER WHO BROKE STEINBRENNER/TORRE BOMBSHELL CREDITS PERSISTENCE AND LUCK"

Update: Ian O'Connor (otherwise pure as the driven snow) wrote the article. The headline, "Clueless Joe" was written by Anthony Rieber. Rieber has a long article today in Newsday recounting his authorship of the famous headline while he was at the NY Daily News. He said he did not think Joe Torre was clueless, he was just trying to convey what the writer, Ian O'Connor, laid out in the article.

• Newsday article by Anthony Rieber, 10/21/07, "Clueless Joe? How About Clueless Anthony."

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