Joe Torre

Information about Joe Torre

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Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Catcher / Third Baseman / First Baseman / Manager
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB Debut
September 25, 1960 for the Milwaukee Braves
Final game
June 17, 1977 for the New York Mets
Career Statistics
AVG	.297
HR	252
RBI	1,185
Teams
As Player Milwaukee Braves / Atlanta Braves (1960-1968) St. Louis Cardinals (1969-1974) New York Mets (1975-1977) As Manager New York Mets (1977-1981) Atlanta Braves (1982-1984) St. Louis Cardinals (1990-1995) New York Yankees (1996-2007)
Career Highlights and Awards
National League Most Valuable Player in 1971 All star 1963-1967 and 1970-1973 Gold Glove in 1965 1971 Hutch Award Led NL in batting average in 1971 with .363 Led NL in hits in 1971 with 230 Led NL in RBI's in 1971 with 137 American League Manager of the Year in 1996 and 1998

Joseph Paul Torre (born July 18, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired Major League Baseball player and former manager. He played for the Milwaukee Braves/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Mets. He managed the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, and New York Yankees. It was as manager of the Yankees, however, that he achieved his greatest success. In the years that he led the team, from 1996 to 2007, the Yankees went to the playoffs each year and won ten Eastern Division titles, six American League pennants, and four World Series titles.

Playing career

Breaking into the majors with the Braves in 1960 (Frank Torre's last season with that club), he played primarily as a catcher but also played first base. At 19, he was the 5th-youngest player in the league.

He was named an All-Star from 1963 to 1967, and won a Gold Glove Award in 1965.

By the end of the 1968 season, Torre had fallen out of favor with the Braves' front office and a trade was imminent. For a time, it looked as if he would be going to the Mets, but when the Braves asked for future superstar Amos Otis, the Mets ended negotiations.

On March 17, 1969, he was traded to the Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda, who had been the league MVP only two seasons earlier. The Cardinals, already having Tim McCarver at catcher and grooming Ted Simmons as his successor, needed Torre's potent bat in the lineup more than his presence behind the plate, and made him their regular first baseman. McCarver's trade to the Philadelphia Phillies after the season led Torre to do the bulk of the team's catching in 1970, but by the following year, Simmons was ready and Torre was moved to third base.

The 1971 season saw Torre's play reach its highest level; he led the NL in two triple crown categories - RBIs (137) and batting average (.363) - as well as in hits (230) and total bases (352). He was also 2nd in the NL in on base percentage (.421), 3rd in slugging percentage (.555), doubles (34), and intentional walks (20), and 5th in runs (97) and triples (8). Batting cleanup all season, he hit .413 in games that were late and close. He was named the NL's Most Valuable Player, as well as Major League Player of The Year by both The Sporting News and Baseball Digest. He then went into decline and his stats were little more than average in any season after that.

Torre earned four more All-Star selections (1970-73) while with the Cardinals. Following the 1974 season, he was traded to the Mets for Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore. On July 21, 1975, he set the NL record for most double plays grounded into in a single game, 4.

Torre had a career batting average of .297, and hit .318 with men on base. He had particular success against Ken Holtzman, batting .508 against him in 65 at bats.

Managing career

National League

In May 1977, Mets manager Joe Frazier, who had been the team's manager since the beginning of 1976, was fired, and Torre, who was playing third base for the Mets (he came over from the Cardinals before the 1975 season) was chosen as the replacement. Because he believed he could not do the job properly while still playing, he decided to retire at age 37, but did serve 18 days as a player-manager, becoming the second of three players in the 1970s to attempt to be a player-manager (Frank Robinson, who had done it the two previous seasons with the Cleveland Indians, and Don Kessinger, who would do it in 1979 with the Chicago White Sox, were the others). Torre closed his 18-year playing career with a .297 batting average and 252 home runs, 1185 RBIs and 2,342 hits.

Torre managed the Mets through the 1981 season, but was unable to post a winning season. He then took over as manager of the Braves, leading them to the NL Western Division title in his first season (1982), before slipping to second place in 1983, and third place in 1984.

Torre spent the 1985-1990 seasons as a television analyst for the California Angels^[1], but in 1990, was hired to manage the Cardinals. There he posted a 351-354 record, and the team was unable to reach the playoffs. Torre was fired in mid-1995.

Torre ended his career as a manager in the National League with a losing record: 894 wins and 1,003 losses, a .471 average.

Yankees

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Torre got off to a rough start with the Yankees. The New York City press (and fans) thought his hiring was a colossal mistake and greeted him with headlines such as "Clueless Joe". However, it was with the Yankees that he enjoyed the greatest success of his managerial career, leading them to the playoffs in each of his twelve seasons (1996-2007) with the club. In 1996, he was named Manager of the Year. Torre, building on the Yankees' Wild Card berth in 1995, made his first-ever trip to the "Fall Classic", leading the Yankees to their first World Series since 1981. Once there, the Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves. After losing to the Cleveland Indians in the AL playoffs in 1997, the team won three straight World Series titles from 1998-2000, and additional American League pennants in 2001 and 2003.

The 1998 season was Torre's most successful. Despite a slow start that included losing four of the first five games of the season, the Yankees set a then-American League record of 114 regular season wins, including David Wells's perfect game on May 17. During the playoffs, the Yankees easily bested the Texas Rangers, fought off the Cleveland Indians for the AL pennant, and swept the San Diego Padres in the World Series. Torre won Manager of the Year honors, and the 1998 team is now widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball teams, along with the Yankee teams of 1927, 1939 and 1961, the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics, and the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds. When ESPN launched its Who's #1? series on June 15, 2004, the 1998 Yankees topped the network's list of Best Teams over the years 1979 to 2003.

During the 2006 season, Torre had to face numerous obstacles with the team. The largest hurdle was losing star players such as Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui with long term injuries, a problem that was alleviated by trading for Bobby Abreu and bringing up Melky Cabrera, who after a terrible 6 games in 2005, made an impressive mark in 2006. Pitching was once again another major issue for the team. Randy Johnson who in his second season with the team was still inconsistent in many of his starts. After helping the Yankees in the second half of the 2005 season Shawn ChacÃ³n and Aaron Small were both removed from the team, with ChacÃ³n being traded to the Pirates on July 31 and Small being sent back to the minors, and being designated for assignment but never going anywhere, early in the season. Despite the problems Torre was able to guide the Yankees to another AL east title.

His success as Yankee manager is generally credited as much as to his patience with owner George Steinbrenner as it is to his baseball knowledge; he is the longest-tenured Yankee manager during Steinbrenner's ownership of the team.

Torre entered the final year of his contract in 2007.

On June 7, 2007, Torre got his 2000th win and became the first major league manager to win 2000 games and have 2000 hits.

On June 29, 2007 against the Oakland Athletics, Torre had his 2,010th managerial win, placing him past Leo Durocher for 9th on the MLB all-time Managerial Wins list.

He passed Casey Stengel on the Yankees all time managerial win list on August 23rd, 2007 against the Los Angeles Angels, by picking up his 1,150th victory with the team.

On September 26, 2007, Torre led the Yankees to their 13th consecutive postseason appearance, clinching the spot with a win at Tampa Bay.

On October 7, 2007, after the Yankees lost two games to the Indians, George Steinbrenner said in an interview that Torre's contract would not be renewed if the Yankees did not defeat the Indians in the Division Series. The Yankees saved their season, and potentially Torre's job, for one day, as they beat the Indians 8-4 in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.^[2] Following the Yankees' 6-4 loss the following night earning them another first-round exit, Torre's fate remained uncertain. On that same night, as Torre went out to make what would become his last pitching change to bring in Mariano Rivera, Yankee Stadium gave Joe a standing ovation and chanted his name as he went out and came back to the dugout.

On October 18, 2007, the New York Yankees offered Torre a one-year contract with a $5,000,000 base pay and $1,000,000 bonuses to be paid for each of three benchmarks the team reached: making it to the playoffs; making it to the American League Championship Series; and making it to (not winning) the World Series. Also, if the Yankees made it to the World Series, Joe Torre would pick up an option for a new contract for the following year. Torre turned down the offer, ending his era with the Yankees.^[3]

On October 19, 2007, Torre held a news conference to explain his decision. After first thanking owner George Steinbrenner, he said: "I just felt the contract offer and the terms of the contract were probably the thing I had the toughest time with."

Other

In 1966, Torre hit the first home run off of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
After leaving the Braves in 1984, Torre worked in broadcasting in the late 1980s for the California Angels before being asked to manage the Cardinals in mid-1990. While working as a guest analyst for ESPN during the 1989 World Series, Torre was on hand for the Loma Prieta earthquake (October 17, 1989).
He also appeared as himself in the broadcast booth in the 1990 film Taking Care of Business, which showed a fictional World Series between the Angels and the Chicago Cubs. At the time, the Angels had never appeared in a World Series, and still wouldn't until 2002, beating Torre's Yankees along the way; the Cubs hadn't, and still haven't, appeared in a World Series since 1945.
Torre was the catcher for Warren Spahn's 350th win, and was the manager for Roger Clemens' 350th win, the only two occasions that a pitcher has won 350 games since 1928.
In addition to baseball, Torre is an avid thoroughbred horse racing enthusiast. He is a part owner of "Sis City" winner of the 2005 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. She had been the dominant 3-year-old filly that year until finishing fourth in the May 6 Kentucky Oaks. However, a few weeks later on June 26, "Wild Desert", in which Torre is also a partner, won the $1 million Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Wild Desert is also partially owned by Keith Jones, an NHL player.
Torre was treated for prostate cancer^[4] in 1999.
On December 14, 2005, Torre carried the Olympic Torch in Florence, Italy, running it 405 meters, ending at the world famous Ponte Vecchio bridge.
He is known for letting one of his star players become the manager in the last regular season game, providing that nothing is on the line, considering that the Yankees under his direction have usually clinched the A.L. Eastern Division title by that point. This list includes:
2001, Paul O'Neill, who was believed to be retiring after the season (and did).
2003, Roger Clemens, who earlier in the year had won his 300th game and was believed to be retiring after the season (but didn't), started David Wells, who then went on to win his 200th game.
2004, RubÃ©n Sierra, completing the patching up of a relationship that had been sour the first time Sierra played with the Yankees, in 1996, resulting in a successful trade for Cecil Fielder.
2006, Bernie Williams, who ended up playing his last regular-season game for the Yankees when he inserted himself as a late pinch-hitter.
2007, Jorge Posada.
In one of the last daily comic strips in the Peanuts series, Charlie Brown is seen trying to perfect a "Joe Torre look," which he hopes will make his team win every game. His sister, Sally, thinks he is cracking up.
Torre appeared in Sesame Street when he was brought by Baby Bear and help Telly to catch a ball. Then, when he was walking back to a Yankees game, he threw the ball back to Telly, and he caught it.

Personal

Torre has one son, Michael, by his first wife, Jackie, whom he married in 1963. He has two daughters, Lauren and Christine, by his second wife, Dani, whom he married in 1968. Both marriages ended in divorce. On August 23, 1987, he married Alice (Ali) Wolterman. They have one daughter together, Andrea.

Torre has an older brother Frank, who was also a Major League Baseball player.

Joe Torre Foundation

Torre and his wife Ali created the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, inspired by Torre's experiences growing up as a witness to domestic violence in his household in Brooklyn. The Foundation operates domestic violence resource centers called Margaret House, which was named after Torre's mother. The Foundation operates approximately a dozen Margaret House locations across New York City and Westchester County, New York. In October 2007, the Joe Torre Foundation partnered with Union City, New Jersey's Board of Education and the North Hudson Community Action Corporation (NHCAC) to create New Jersey's first Margaret House, at Union City's Jose Marti Middle School. Aspects of Union City's Margaret House will include a peer counseling program and an antiviolence campaign within the school, in order to encourage children to discuss family problems more freely, and training for teachers and counselors.^[5]

Quotes

"I'd like to thank Felix Millan for making all of this possible." (Regarding setting the NL record for most double plays grounded into in a single game, 4, July 21, 1975. Millan batted ahead of Torre in the lineup, singling in all four of his at bats.^[6])
(on his thinning hairstyle) "I call it the Watergate. I try to cover up as much as I can."

Managerial record

(updated thru Oct. 8, 2007)

Team	Year	Regular Season				Postseason
Team	Year	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
NYM	1977	49	68	.419	6th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM	1978	66	96	.407	6th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM	1979	63	99	.389	6th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM	1980	67	95	.414	5th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM	1981¹	17	34	.333	5th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM	1981¹	24	28	.462	4th in NL East	-	-	-
NYM Total		286	420	.405		-	-	-
ATL	1982	89	73	.549	1^st in NL West	0	3	.000	Lost in NLCS
ATL	1983	88	74	.543	2^nd in NL West	-	-	-
ATL	1984	80	82	.494	3^rd in NL West	-	-	-
ATL Total		257	229	.529		0	3	.000	1 Post Season Appearance
STL	1990	24	34	.414	6^th in NL East	-	-	-
STL	1991	84	78	.519	2^nd in NL East	-	-	-
STL	1992	83	79	.512	3^rd in NL East	-	-	-
STL	1993	87	75	.537	3^rd in NL East	-	-	-
STL	1994	53	61	.465	3^rd in NL East	-	-	-
STL	1995	20	27	.426	4^th in NL East	-	-	-
STL Total		351	354	.498		-	-	-
NYY	1996	92	70	.568	1^st in AL East	11	4	.733	Won World Series
NYY	1997	96	66	.593	2^nd in AL East - Wildcard Team	2	3	.400	Lost in ALDS
NYY	1998	114	48	.704	1^st in AL East	11	2	.846	Won World Series
NYY	1999	98	64	.605	1^st in AL East	11	1	.917	Won World Series
NYY	2000	87	74	.540	1^st in AL East	11	5	.688	Won World Series
NYY	2001	95	65	.594	1^st in AL East	10	7	.588	Lost in World Series
NYY	2002	103	58	.640	1^st in AL East	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
NYY	2003	101	61	.623	1^st in AL East	9	8	.529	Lost in World Series
NYY	2004	101	61	.623	1^st in AL East	6	5	.545	Lost in ALCS
NYY	2005	95	67	.586	1^st in AL East	2	3	.400	Lost in ALDS
NYY	2006	97	65	.599	1^st in AL East	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
NYY	2007	94	68	.580	2^nd in AL East - Wildcard Team	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
NYY Total		1,173	767	.605		76	47	.618
AL Total		1,173	767	.605		76	47	.618
NL Total		894	1,003	.471		0	3	.000
Totals		2,067	1,770	.539		76	50	.603	Won 4 World Series

References

1. ^ [1]]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ Rosero, Jessica; "Reaching out to the youngest victims: NHCAC, Joe Torre Foundation begins domestic violence program for kids"' The Union City Reporter; October 7, 2007
6. ^ [5]

External links

Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation
Yankees Extreme
About.com - Bio

Accomplishments

Preceded by Bob Gibson	Major League Player of the Month May 1965	Succeeded by Vern Law & Willie Stargell
Preceded by Ferguson Jenkins	Major League Player of the Month August 1971	Succeeded by Don Sutton
Preceded by Johnny Bench	National League Most Valuable Player 1971	Succeeded by Johnny Bench
Preceded by Rico Carty	National League Batting Champion 1971	Succeeded by Billy Williams
Preceded by Johnny Bench	National League RBI Champion 1971	Succeeded by Johnny Bench
Preceded by Lou Piniella	American League Manager of the Year 1996	Succeeded by Davey Johnson
Preceded by Davey Johnson	American League Manager of the Year 1998	Succeeded by Jimy Williams
Preceded by Joe Frazier	New York Mets Manager 1977-1981	Succeeded by George Bamberger
Preceded by Bobby Cox	Atlanta Braves Manager 1982-1984	Succeeded by Eddie Haas
Preceded by Red Schoendienst	St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1990-1995	Succeeded by Mike Jorgensen
Preceded by Buck Showalter	New York Yankees Manager 1996-2007	Succeeded by vacant

• • [ e] New York Mets managers
Stengel • Westrum • Parker • Hodges • Berra • McMillan • Frazier • Torre • Bamberger • Howard • Johnson • Harrelson • Cubbage • Torborg • Green • Valentine • Howe • Randolph

• • [ e]

Atlanta Braves managers

Boston Red Stockings (1871-1882)
Wright • Morrill
Boston Beaneaters (1883-1906)
Burdock • Morrill • Kelly • Morrill • Hart • Selee • Buckenberger • Tenney
Boston Doves (1907-1910)
Tenney • Kelley • Smith • Bowerman • Lake
Boston Rustlers (1911)
Tenney
Boston Braves (1912-1935)
Kling • Stallings • Mitchell • Bancroft • Slattery • Hornsby • Fuchs • McKechnie
Boston Bees (1936-1940)
McKechnie • Stengel
Boston Braves (1941-1952)
Stengel • Coleman • Bissonette • Southworth • Cooney • Southworth • Holmes • Grimm
Milwaukee Braves (1953-1965)
Grimm • Haney • Dressen • Tebbetts • Bragan
Atlanta Braves (1966–present)
Bragan • Hitchcock • Silvestri • Harris • Mathews • King • Ryan • Bristol • Turner • Bristol • Cox • Torre • Haas • Wine • Tanner • Nixon • Cox

• • [ e]

St. Louis Cardinals managers

Tebeau • Heilbroner • Donovan • Nichols • Burke • Robison • McCloskey • Bresnahan • Huggins • Hendricks • Rickey • Hornsby • O'Farrell • McKechnie • Southworth • Street • Frisch • Gonzalez • Blades • Dyer • Marion • Stanky • Walker • Hutchinson • Hack • Hemus • Keane • Schoendienst • Rapp • Krol • Boyer • Herzog • Torre • Jorgensen • La Russa

• • [ e]

New York Yankees managers

Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902)
McGraw • Robinson
New York Highlanders (1903-1912)
Griffith • Elberfeld • Stallings • Chase • Wolverton
New York Yankees (1913-present)
Chance • Peckinpaugh • Donovan • Huggins • Fletcher • Shawkey • McCarthy • Neun • Dickey • Harris • Stengel • Houk • Berra • Keane • Houk • Virdon • Martin • Lemon • Martin • Howser • Michael • Lemon • Michael • King • Martin • Berra • Martin • Piniella • Martin • Piniella • Green • Dent • Merrill • Showalter • Torre

• • [ e]

New York Yankees 1996 World Series roster

• • [ e]

New York Yankees 1998 World Series roster

• • [ e]

New York Yankees 1999 World Series roster

• • [ e]

New York Yankees 2000 World Series roster

Catcher is a position played in baseball. The catcher crouches behind home plate and receives the ball from the pitcher. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the catcher is assigned the number 2 (see Baseball scorekeeping).
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third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch counterclockwise to score a run.
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First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team.
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manager (or more formally, the field manager); this individual controls matters of team batting order to more closely communicate with baserunners, but most managers delegate this responsibility to an assistant.
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