As the Dodgers wilted this summer -- as Matt Kemp continued to make mental mistakes, as Andre Ethier could not shake out of his funk, as Manny Ramirez was not going to ride to the rescue -- Joe Torre called more meetings than at any time in his long career as a manager. When none of the calming and cajoling helped, Torre came to a conclusion. 'I felt this ball club needed a different voice, a younger voice,' Torre said. And so, after nearly three seasons of managing the Dodgers, Torre decided, at age 70, that this would be his last with the team. He will be replaced by Don Mattingly, who has been the Dodgers' batting coach since midway through the 2008 season and coached at Torre's side with the Yankees for four seasons but has never managed. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti acknowledged for the first time Friday that the club had added a clause to Mattingly's contract in March that guaranteed him the opportunity to succeed Torre. 'We wanted continuity, somebody who understood our players, understood our situation and not have to adapt,' said Colletti, who said the decision to hire Mattingly without interviewing any minority candidates was approved by Major League Baseball. Giving the inexperienced Mattingly a multiyear contract that Colletti said had two guaranteed years was not exactly a hit with fans. A Los Angeles Times poll asking readers who should be the next manager favored the former Dodger Tim Wallach, currently the Class AAA manager, with 63 percent. Mattingly, who committed some embarrassing mistakes while standing in for Torre this year, received 16.5 percent, while 'someone else' had nearly 21 percent. Torre, whose three-year, $13 million contract expires after this season, had been deliberating about whether to return after a disappointing season on the field and a distracting one off it, with the bitter divorce case between the Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie, as a backdrop. In the spring, Torre expressed interest in a new contract, but he tabled discussions abruptly, saying he did not want them to become a distraction. Torre walked into a packed Dodger Stadium Club two hours before the Dodgers' game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday. Seated in the front row were his wife, Ally, and his teenage daughter, Andrea. The scene was much more upbeat than three years ago, when he held a news conference in a hotel ballroom in Westchester County after deciding to leave the Yankees, who had offered him an incentive-laden contract he considered an insult. 'I was questioning whether I was too old for this job because it wasn't any fun anymore,' Torre said of his departure from New York. 'It is a whole different circumstance and personality today than it was a few years ago. I'm still excited about the game. I'm not washed out of it.' Torre, with a record of 2,318-1,990 as a manager -- ranking fifth in career wins -- did not close the door on managing again, though he did not know if there would be an opportunity for him. He planned to speak with Colletti next month about serving as an adviser, and planned to be in baseball somewhere. He spent from 1985 to 1990 as the color commentator for the Angels. 'It's not easy to say you don't want to do something anymore,' said Torre, who informed Colletti of his decision earlier this week when the Dodgers were in San Francisco. 'Baseball's been my life and hopefully will continue to be my life in some capacity. Am I going to miss it? Of course, I'm going to miss it.' Torre's name has come up in connection with two teams: the Chicago Cubs, who have an opening after Lou Piniella stepped down last month; and the Mets, who are expected to fire Jerry Manuel at the end of the season. Asked if he would have any interest in high-profile managing jobs, Torre said recently, 'Everybody whose contracts are up are candidates everywhere.' When Torre left the Yankees after 12 years, during which he won four World Series titles but fell short of the Series in his final four seasons, he came quickly to Los Angeles. The Dodgers, after running through three general managers and two managers in the first four years of McCourt's ownership, were seeking stability and credibility. 'At that stage, there's no question,' Colletti said of the importance of those two qualities. 'He brought a great stability and calmness, like an old soul. He was someone who people knew before they knew him.' Torre largely delivered, as the Dodgers were transformed from youthful underachievers to a team that won consecutive division titles and lost to the Phillies in the National League Championship Series the last two years. But this year the Dodgers took a step back. They were undone by injuries to four starters -- shortstop Rafael Furcal, outfielders Ethier and Ramirez, and catcher Russell Martin -- and some of their promising players, center fielder Kemp, first baseman James Loney, closer Jonathan Broxton and Martin, did not progress as hoped. When Ramirez was placed on waivers at the end of August, it was viewed as the Dodgers sending up a white flag. They sat at 72-75, 11 games out of first place in the NL West, entering Friday night. Mattingly served one season as Torre's bench coach in New York and has otherwise been the batting coach. He joined Torre in Los Angeles when he was passed over for the Yankees job, which went to Joe Girardi. The Dodgers announced earlier this season that Mattingly would manage this fall in the Arizona Fall League. 'I have a confidence in myself,' said Mattingly, 49. 'I feel ready. It's baseball. I've been around the game a long time, not necessarily in the manager's seat, but I've seen how the game is played when you win, and how it's played when lose. There's a feeling inside me that says I'm ready.' In his stints filling in for Torre, Mattingly has done little to inspire confidence. In spring training, while Torre was in Taiwan, the Dodgers were penalized for handing a lineup card to umpires that did not match the one in their clubhouse. In a July game, after Torre had been ejected, Mattingly went to the mound to talk to Broxton with one out, the bases loaded and the Dodgers clinging to a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning. As he turned to leave, Loney called out to Mattingly, who headed back to the mound. That constituted a second visit, and Broxton had to be replaced. George Sherrill, the subsequent reliever, gave up the winning hit. As batting coach, Mattingly has presided over a group that is 12th in the NL in hits after leading the league last season. 