Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre Jr. is an American professional baseball executive and former player, manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the commissioner of Major League Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League pennants and four World Series championships.
Torre's professional baseball career began as a player in 1960 with the Milwaukee Braves, as a catcher and first baseman. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets, until becoming a manager in 1977, when he briefly served as the Mets' player-manager before retiring as a player. His managerial career covered 29 seasons, including tenures with the same three clubs for which he had played, and also stints with the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, until 2010. From 1984 to 1989, he served as a television color commentator for the California Angels and for NBC. After retiring as a manager, he accepted a role assisting the Commissioner as the executive vice president of baseball operations.
A nine-time All-Star, Torre won the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player Award after leading the major leagues in batting average, hits, and runs batted in. After qualifying for the playoffs just once while managing the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals, Torre's greatest success came as manager of the Yankees. His Yankee clubs compiled a.605 regular-season winning percentage and made the playoffs every year, winning four World Series titles, six AL pennants, and ten AL East division titles. In 1996 and 1998, he was the AL Manager of the Year. He also won two NL West division titles with the Dodgers, for a total of 13 division titles. In 2014, Torre was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Early life
Joseph Paul Torre Jr. was born July 18, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, to Italian immigrants Margaret and Joseph Sr., a plainclothes officer in the New York City Police Department. He was the youngest of five children, with two brothers, Frank and Rocco, and two sisters, Rae and Marguerite. Torre was raised in the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Torre's father Joseph abused Margaret until Torre was 13 years old, when Torre's brother Frank convinced their father to move out. The couple would later divorce.Torre played baseball at Saint Francis Prep and in the All-American Amateur Baseball Association for the Brooklyn Cadets. Heavyset as a teenager, Torre was not considered a viable professional prospect until he converted to catcher on the advice of his brother Frank. Torre worked briefly at the American Stock Exchange after high school.
Professional playing career
Minor leagues
Torre followed in his brother Frank's footsteps when he was signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent in 1959. In his first season in the minor leagues with the Class C Eau Claire Braves, he won the Northern League batting championship with a.344 batting average.Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1960–1968)
Torre made his major league debut late in the season on September 25, 1960. For the season he was assigned to the Triple A Louisville Colonels, where the Braves planned to groom him as the eventual successor to their All-Star catcher, Del Crandall. However, those plans were changed when Crandall injured his throwing arm in May 1961, forcing the Braves to promote Torre to the major leagues with just over a year of minor league experience. Torre rose to the occasion, hitting for a.278 batting average with 21 doubles and 10 home runs. He finished the season ranked second to Billy Williams in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.Crandall resumed his role as the starting catcher in 1962 while Torre stayed on as the back-up catcher. By the 1963 season, the Braves had begun to play Crandall at first base as Torre had taken over the starting catcher's role. He ended the season with a.293 batting average with 14 home runs and 71 runs batted in, and earned a spot as a reserve for the National League team in the 1963 All-Star Game. In December, the Braves traded Crandall to the San Francisco Giants, leaving Torre as the undisputed number one catcher.
Torre had a breakout year in 1964 when he batted.321 with 20 home runs and 109 runs batted in, and he led National League catchers with a.995 fielding percentage. He was selected as the starting catcher for the National League in the 1964 All-Star Game. Despite the fact that the Braves finished the season in fifth place, Torre ranked fifth in voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award.
In 1965, Torre won his first of two NL Player of the Month awards when he took the honor for May, batting.382, with 10 HR and 24 RBIs. Torre was once again the starting catcher for the National League in the 1965 All-Star Game, and he hit a two-run home run against Milt Pappas to help the National League to a 6–5 victory. He ended the season with a career-high 27 home runs and 80 runs batted in, though his batting average dipped to.291. Torre won his first and only Gold Glove Award in 1965; however, baseball historian Bill James later said the decision was influenced by his offensive statistics and that either John Roseboro or Tom Haller were more deserving of the award. In an article for the St. Petersburg Independent that year, Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac called Torre "the best catcher since Roy Campanella."
For the 1966 season the Braves moved to Atlanta and the new Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. The stadium's elevation in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains made it favorable to home run hitters, which led to the stadium's nickname, "The Launching Pad". On April 12, 1966, Torre hit the stadium's first major league home run. Torre produced a career-high 36 home runs with 101 runs batted in, a.315 batting average, a.382 on-base percentage, and led National League catchers with a 48.6% caught stealing percentage. He started behind the plate for the National League All-Star team for the third successive year. His offensive production tapered off in 1967, during which he compiled a.277 batting average with 68 runs batted in, though he still hit 20 home runs and won his fourth consecutive start in the 1967 All-Star Game. He posted another sub-par season in 1968 with a.271 batting average, 10 home runs, and 55 runs batted in; yet he led National League catchers with a.996 fielding percentage.
Before the 1969 season, Torre feuded with Braves General Manager Paul Richards over his salary. Eventually, the Braves traded Torre to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda, winner of the Most Valuable Player award.
St. Louis Cardinals (1969–1974)
The Cardinals had Tim McCarver as their starting catcher, so Torre replaced the departed Cepeda at first base for the 1969 season. His offensive statistics rebounded, and he ended the season with a.289 batting average, alongside 18 home runs and 101 runs batted in. In 1970, the Cardinals traded McCarver to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Curt Flood, Byron Browne, and Joe Hoerner, in return for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson, and Cookie Rojas. Allen took over as the Cardinals' first baseman while Torre split his playing time between playing third base and sharing catching duties with young prospect Ted Simmons. His offensive statistics continued to improve, as he hit 21 home runs with 100 runs batted in and finished second to Rico Carty for the National League batting title with a.325 batting average.The Cardinals made Simmons their full-time catcher in 1971, leaving Torre to concentrate on playing third base. Freed from the mentally challenging, strength-sapping job of catching, Torre had a career-season offensively. Torre won the National League batting championship, hitting career highs in batting average,.363, hits, 230, and an NL leading 137 RBIs along with 24 home runs, en route to winning the National League Most Valuable Player award. He also was voted to be the starting third baseman for the National League in the 1971 All-Star Game. He was named NL Player of the Month for the second and final time in August. Adapting to a new defensive position proved to be a challenge, as Torre led the league's third basemen with 21 errors. In December, he was awarded the 1971 Hutch Award, given annually to the player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire of Fred Hutchinson.
In 1972, Torre won his second consecutive starting role as third baseman for the National League in the All-Star Game. However, his offensive numbers for the season dipped to a.289 batting average with 11 home runs and 81 runs batted in. After two more sub-par seasons, the Cardinals traded the 34-year-old Torre to the New York Mets for Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore on October 13, 1974.