Joe Torre's daughter Cristina Torre, 44, had just left her home when she spotted 1-year-old Dylan Miller atop a frozen-yogurt shop in Brooklyn, police sources were quoted by New York Daily News as saying.
As she was calling 911, the toddler fell. The toddler tumbled onto the awning and through the hole for the ladder before landing in Cristina's arms, sources said.
Dylan had pushed a cardboard barrier out a second-floor window, and then crawled onto the fire escape, a source said.
"I just was positioning myself where I thought he might fall. I feel fortunate that he landed right in my arms," she said.
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"It was effortless to catch him. Once it was happening, he was landing," she said.
Torre said that she was in shock from Wednesday's heart-stopping incident.
"People have been really kind and expressing gratitude and everything. I personally have been in shock," Torre was quoted by the daily as saying, as she revisited the scene of her remarkable catch.
"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," she added.
Torre said she did not 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.
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.