Joe Torre's a Dodger now. So how's it going?

How's Joe Torre adjusting to L.A. and the Dodgers? He's off the pages of screaming N.Y. tabs, in Walter Alston's old office. Oh, and the Dodgers are winning. Helene Elliott visits with the ex-New Yorker.

He doesn't need a big office to feed his ego. He's sure of who he is and is gradually becoming more comfortable as he settles into his new surroundings.

"Looking at the Dodgers' history and growing up with them in Brooklyn, I was just curious if managing could be fun again," he said.

"It's been fun so far."

He was reminded how enjoyable it is when the New York Mets visited Dodger Stadium on Monday. With them came a troop of reporters with familiar faces and eager questions about Torre's exit from the New York Yankees and cross-country migration.

They asked him whether managing here is different than in New York, where his every move was second-guessed a million times a day on every subway line and any phone call could signal a tirade from owner George Steinbrenner.

More on the adjustments and challenges of moving to L.A., and why he'll never go native, in Helene's full Torre story.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times