An apartment above the store awning where the baby fell. (Paul Martinka)
She may not have inherited his love for sports, but she certainly got his ability to catch!
Joe Torre’s daughter made an amazing save yesterday when she fielded a baby who fell from a storefront awning in Brooklyn, officials and witnesses said.
Cristina Torre, 44, had just left her home when she spotted 1-year-old Dylan Miller atop a frozen-yogurt shop on Third Avenue at 92nd Street at about 9:20 a.m., police sources said.
As she was calling 911, the toddler fell.
Torre said today she’s still in a fog from yesterday’s heart-stopping incident.
“People have been really kind and expressing gratitude and everything. I personally have been in shock,” Torre told The Post this morning, as she revisited the scene of her remarkable catch.
“Today I feel a little better, but I’ve been in shock during this whole thing. I’m just happy the baby is alive and well and his parents are getting the help they need to ensure his safety.”
She added: “I’m a Montessori educator so my priority is the safety and well-being of the child, and I’m hoping that’s what comes out of this – that people who need help and guidance and caring for their young get that.”
Torre said she didn’t inherit any love of sports from her famous dad.
But more importantly, her DNA includes the quick hands and steely focus that helped Joe Torre win a batting title as a player and four World Series rings as Yankees manager.
“I hate to say it, but I’m totally not the biggest sports fan. I’m kind of the black sheep of the family,” she laughed. “But definitely, I have my dad’s focused attention when need be. And of course, to act. And yeah, I do think I have quick hands, I have to admit that. I’ve always had this quick reaction to behavior.”
As Torre spoke, one passerby stopped to thank her, and then another said: “Hell of a save, way to go!”
The former Yankees skipper Joe Torre was understandably beaming at Yankee Stadium last night, proudly talking up his heroic daughter.
“She always had good hands. I don’t know if they’re mine or not,’’ the former skipper joked with The Post. “I’m so proud of her.’’
Dylan, the little child Torre saved from serious injury or worse, had pushed a cardboard barrier out a second-floor window, and then crawled onto the fire escape, a source said.
He then tumbled onto the awning and through the hole for the ladder before landing in Cristina’s arms, sources said.
Like an outfielder judging a fly ball, Torre said she picked a spot on the sidewalk where Dylan seemed to be headed.
“I just was positioning myself where I thought he might fall. I feel fortunate that he landed right in my arms,” she said of the precious pop fly she snagged.
“It was effortless to catch him. Once it was happening, he was landing.”
Dylan’s parents Tiffany Demitro, 24, and Sam Miller, 23, who were fast asleep at the time of the accident, were charged with reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, cops said.
Their three other kids, ages 2, 3 and 5, were taken from the home by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, sources said. Dylan was treated for minor injuries at Lutheran Hospital.
“I’d like to thank her,” said the baby’s aunt, Sandra Miller. “She should get the golden glove for catching a 1-year-old.”
Torre hopes to see Dylan today.
“I will go by this afternoon to see how the baby is, if I can,” she said. “I would like to know where he is and at some point I’d like to be able to see him and know that he is OK. That’s my concern in all of this.”
Torre said all the attention that’s been heaped her has been a little overwhelming.
“I’m the shy one in the family and maybe the attention is a little daunting for me,” she said.
Additional reporting by David K. Li