YANK NOTES

Joe Torre’s players took exception to Yankees fans booing their leader for taking Roger Clemens out in the seventh inning last night and replacing him with Chris Hammond.

“I don’t like to see that,” Mariano Rivera said of the severe booing Torre received on the way to and from the mound. “Joe Torre always makes the right decisions.”

With Clemens holding a 3-2 lead and zeroing in on 300 wins, the crowd wanted Clemens to stay in the game against the Cardinals, which the Yanks won 5-2. Even his wife, Debbie, wanted to see Clemens get the final out. Yet, there was Torre, St. Joseph in The Bronx for so long, getting booed as if he were a Met or member of the Red Sox.

“It was disappointing to see them boo Joe as he walked off the field,” said Hammond, who gave up two singles before ending the inning by getting Jim Edmonds on a grounder. “It’s his decision.”

Clemens said his wife owed Torre an apology.

“She was wondering what was going on,” Clemens said with a smile. “I never question what that man does. He is so important to why we win.”

“I never like to see Roger come out of a game,” she said.

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Torre played six seasons for the Cardinals and managed them for six more before being fired. So they never will be just another team to Torre. However, the Yankees manager refuses to let the final season when he was fired in June soil the previous 11 years he was with the Cardinals.

“It was ugly the last year, no question,” said Torre, who was fired in June 1995 then had to listen to team president Mark Lamping explain what he believed were Torre’s faults all over town. “But I don’t tend to let one year mess up the other years.”

Axed by the Cardinals, Torre was hired by George Steinbrenner and guided the Yankees to the World Series title in 1996. He added three more World Championships to his resume, so getting let go in St. Louis was a wonderful career move for Torre.

“It turned out for the best, no question,” Torre said. “My mother said things happen for a reason. You never question why things happen. . . . You look ahead, you never look back.”