T.J. Simers: It looks as if Joe Torre wants more

Two days at Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup, and of all places providing a sports memory of a lifetime in addition to a hot tip that finally pays off.

I hear Joe Torre is talking about extending his contract as manager with the Dodgers and remaining beyond next season.

“Where did you get that?” Torre says, the first time all weekend he seems to care where I’m getting my inside information.

But it’s true, Torre says, “we’re talking about it.”

We know this, he’s not chatting with Jamie McCourt about it.

“We were talking about my coaches and I’ve been thinking about it,” Torre says while mentioning General Manager Ned Colletti’s name and plans to chat again once Torre returns from a charity function in New York.

“It’s been fun. When I came here, I was curious about how it might go. But the last two years have been invigorating. You see progress and your ego tells you maybe you had something to do with it.”

The Dodgers have won back-to-back division titles for the first time in 30 years, and given the McCourts’ tug-of-war and a scorecard to keep straight all the names of the lawyers, removing Torre’s status as lame-duck manager might go a long way in bringing some stability to the team.

“He’s done a great job,” Colletti says. “And our relationship continues to be a very strong one.”