NEW YORK -- There's a portion of Joe Torre's new book that details the spring of 2007, a time when Johnny Damon was seriously contemplating retirement. Torre contributed to it. So did Damon. And though the latter contributor hasn't yet read the book -- Damon says he doesn't need to, considering the media firestorm that has developed around it -- he's rather confident in its accuracy.

Perhaps it's with that knowledge that Damon defended his old manager on Tuesday, speaking at the annual Thurman Munson awards dinner in Manhattan. Damon, who played under Torre for two seasons, simply didn't see the book as a reason to pass judgment on the man.

"I have no reason to not trust Joe," Damon said Tuesday. "I enjoyed playing for him. He showed me a lot with the way that he handled the media, the way he handled the team. I was able to go and talk to him at any given time, so yeah, I can trust him. Unfortunately, a book comes out and there's always going to be questions. But you know what? Until Joe does something crazy to me, he's fine in my book."

Damon was one of three players -- Bernie Williams and Carlos Beltran were the others -- who were present both at the Munson dinner and within the pages of Torre's book. Yet he was by far the most outspoken of the three in defending both Torre and Alex Rodriguez, who has taken perhaps even more heat than Torre in recent weeks.

In the book's text, it is revealed that Damon reported to Spring Training 2007 about 15 pounds overweight, unsure if he wanted to continue playing. Damon left the Yankees for three days in February, visiting with his father in Orlando, Fla., before deciding he would continue to play. But he struggled with leg and calf injuries through much of the campaign.

In one passage, it is reported that Damon's teammates -- especially the old-guard Yankees -- were angry with Damon's apparent lack of commitment. One player visited Torre's office and was near tears talking about Damon.

"Let's get rid of him," the player said. "Guys can't stand him."

Torre's book reveals, among other things, that players and personnel inside the Yankee clubhouse often referred to Rodriguez as "A-Fraud."

"It seems like New York always has a big story going on, and fortunately, Alex can deal with it," Damon said. "He's dealt with so much in the past, and he's going to have to deal with questions his whole career because he's that good of a ballplayer. That's part of it, and he'll be just fine.

"Alex has been a good teammate. When he disappears, at least you know he's disappearing to the batting cages, to the gym, and he's not somewhere just avoiding people. He's there. He's there working."

Williams and Beltran, by contrast, were not so open about Torre's book. Though he admitted that it will be an "interesting read," Williams said he would decline comment on "The Yankee Years" until he can get his hands on a copy.

The book details an argument about Williams' future that Torre and general manager Brian Cashman had prior to 2007 Spring Training.

"I haven't read the book," Williams said. "I need to see what the context of the things that were said and how he said them in the book to really have an opinion."

Yet Williams did place a bit of his trust in Torre.

"It's hard to speculate on the way that I feel," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, I had a very close relationship with him over the years, and I don't really see that changing."

Beltran's relationship, on the other hand, was not so close. According to Beltran, the two never met when the Yankees were courting Beltran as a free agent after the 2004 season, and so he was puzzled over Torre's allegation that he wanted to sign with the Yankees in order to blend in amongst greater stars.

"First of all, I don't know Joe Torre personally, so I don't know what kind of person he is," Beltran said. "The second thing I have to say is when I met with the Yankees when I was a free agent, he wasn't there. He didn't go when we talked. I didn't meet him. So if he said what he said, that's his opinion. I don't have to comment on that. I feel very happy where I am.

"I just have to say that he's writing a book because of everything he went through with the Yankees. I haven't played for the Yankees, so I don't know what happened in the clubhouse. So basically I have no interest in reading his book."