FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Joe Girardi sat silently at the front of a New York Yankees team bus yesterday morning, an island among teammates who cheerfully anticipated the return of Darryl Strawberry in a spring training game that afternoon against the Red Sox. This was supposed to be a good day.

But Girardi wondered how he would tell teammates the words Joe Torre had just asked him to relay -- that Torre, who managed the Yankees to World Series championships twice in his first three seasons with the team, has been given a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Torre told others in the organization yesterday that his doctors believed they had detected the cancer in its early stages, and he underwent further diagnostic tests yesterday that will help determine the course of treatment.

The Yankees announced Torre will leave the team for an unspecified period -- perhaps only a week or two if moderate treatment is required, perhaps three to four weeks or more if surgery is needed.

"I feel fine," Torre, 58, said in a statement released by the Yankees yesterday, "and am looking forward to taking care of this problem and getting back to work."

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner told reporters that yesterday's test results were encouraging. "We might see Joe in the next two to three weeks," he said.

"Joe Torre will come out of this like a champion," Steinbrenner said as he waited at the team's complex in Tampa for Yankees players to return from their two out-of-town exhibition games so he could speak to them about their manager.

The Yankees have not named a temporary replacement for Torre, and officials within the organization are hopeful he can continue as manager this season. His coaching staff will collaborate on the day-to-day workings of spring training. But if Torre is forced to miss days or weeks of the regular season, Don Zimmer, the bench coach, is expected to take over.

So as Strawberry went 1-for-4 in his first game since the discovery last October that he has colon cancer, the mortality of mankind once again was apparent in the Yankees' family.

Torre's brother, Frank, required a heart transplant during the 1996 World Series. A week ago, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, arrived here to be with old friends.

Early Monday, the legendary Joe DiMaggio died at age 84 after a fight against lung cancer and pneumonia. And Torre learned late Tuesday night that a biopsy confirmed he has cancer.

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland next to the bladder that produces semen.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with almost 180,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. The early symptoms can include frequent or weak urination, though the disease is often discovered through a physical examination or blood test before symptoms occur.

The disease has a high cure rate when caught early, but is difficult to cure when the cancer has spread beyond the prostate. Early treatments include surgery and radiation.

About 37,000 men die of the disease each year.

An alarming test

Torre was tested for prostate abnormalities during spring training in 1998 and apparently was given a clean bill of health; Torre did not require follow-up tests through last season. He had another prostate test last month, as part of the club's annual spring-training physical examination, and the results alarmed doctors. At some point, Torre had a biopsy, and for about a week he waited for word from the doctors.

Torre, the father of four children, left exhibition games in the middle innings on Monday and Tuesday. He told reporters he felt sick and was suffering from flu-like symptoms, and suggested that maybe he had caught a bug from his mother-in-law. In fact, he was distracted, worried about the impending biopsy results, others in the organization say.

After learning of the cancer Tuesday night, Torre told Steinbrenner, and at some point called Bob Watson, the team's former general manager. Watson had surgery for prostate cancer in 1994, before joining the Yankees.

Players had noticed a change in Torre's demeanor in recent days. Usually upbeat, Torre had become quiet and reserved, and they all learned why yesterday morning. Torre informed his coaches of the diagnosis at the Yankees' complex before two squads of players departed for exhibition games in Fort Myers and in Bradenton. He asked Girardi and outfielder Paul O'Neill into his office separately, and requested they tell the players of his condition once they reached their respective destinations.

'Prayers with you'

Girardi said he told Torre: "Joe, our prayers are going to be with you, and we're going to do everything we can to be right alongside you, and you tell me what you need and we're here for you."

"He said he had no indication of it whatsoever," O'Neill said, expressing hope that meant the cancer had been caught early.

His teammates were quiet, sad, Girardi said, almost too accustomed to these sort of meetings now. "After what happened to Straw," said Tino Martinez, "you're ready for anything."

Chris Chambliss, who managed the Yankees' squad in Fort Myers yesterday, spoke to reporters after Girardi did and mentioned that although any form of cancer is bad for the body, prostate cancer is one of the most treatable forms. The players seemed to hang on these words. "From what I understand, he's going to be all right," Derek Jeter said, three times.

The players make it clear the club would miss Torre if he couldn't manage for a substantial period of time.

"He's been a tremendous leader for us," said Girardi. "He's just really in tune with what this club needs and when it needs it and why it needs it."

Sun staff writer Jonathan Bor contributed to this article.

Pub Date: 3/11/99