NY Post Attacks Torre After Book Slams A-Rod

After they gleefully picked apart "The Yankee Years" for some Bronx melodrama , the NY Post follows up their report by assembling various A-Rod supporters to stick up for their hypersensitive superstar.

Here are some of the Post's "A-Team," responding to the book's allegations that third baseman Alex Rodriguez is a self-absorbed diva, has a "Single White Female"-like obsession with Derek Jeter, and is genuinely disliked by his teammates.

• One A-Rod source responded: "It's a last-ditch effort, given Torre's diminishing profile. It's one final act of desperation. he probably realized that he made the single mistake of his career leaving the team."

• Johnny Damon: "Alex is a great teammate. We have his back."

• NYP columnist Mike Vacarro rips into Torre: "Why, Joe? Why would you take a blowtorch to that bridge? Why would you justify all the sinister things your enemies always hinted about you: that you were a champion grudge-holder, that the disparity between public pied piper and private grouch was considerable, that you were someone who'd do just about anything for a buck?"

• Grouchy-faced Andrea Peyser even chimed in:"Torre has turned into a paranoid, troubled twin of Richard Nixon - finding enemies and conspirators behind every corner of the dugout. He's blaming everyone for his losses and failures as the highest-paid manager in baseball history. Everyone, that is, except himself."

The book's co-author, SI baseball columnist Tom Verducci, was interviewed by SI and said the NYP's assertions that this book is a "tell-all" are not accurate — and dumb:

"Smart people will judge the book upon actually reading it and not reading preliminary reports prior to its publication. Once you understand the context of the book you understand the information. It's not a tell-all book. Anybody who reads it will understand that."

Even Alex Rodriguez?