cuba 2.0, publicación digital del PDC-Cuba

Four year old Naomi Isgrig examines Big Bill Gatewood’s headstone. Naomi’s father, Dwayne, is part of the Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project. | Dilip Vishwanat for The New York Times

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Only something so heavy could lighten their burden. Three men gripped a 150-pound headstone around the edges, lugged it 40 feet across the grass and lowered it into the dirt.
"Got it?" the anesthesiologist asked, tilting the slab in gently.

"Yeah. Yeah, over here," the insurance man said.

They rose from their knees, brushed off their hands and stood back from the grave.

"Big Bill Gatewood," the historian said with a sigh.

Torre became the Yankees manager shortly after the 1995 season. In his first year as manager, 1996, Torre led the Yankees to their first World Series title in 18 years. He is pictured here celebrating with Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. | Ed Bailey. Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Joe Torre’s first season managing the Yankees came at the right time, coinciding with the emergence of a 26-year-old converted starter named Mariano Rivera. John Wetteland closed out the Yankees’ World Series championship that year, 1996, but he never threw another pitch for the Yankees. Rivera seized the responsibility and, after all these years, remains unmatched at his craft.

An emotional weekend for Torre and the Yankees ended Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, and an eventful week for Rivera came to a close. Pitching for the third time on the Yankees’ West Coast trip, Rivera silenced Torre’s Dodgers over the final two innings of an 8-6 comeback victory, a fitting coda for a series that brought together the past and the present, Torre’s years in New York and his new life in Los Angeles.

Unless the Yankees and the Dodgers reunite in the World Series, Torre, unsure about managing beyond this season, might have intersected with his former team for the last time.