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Joseph Paul Torre (born July 18, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York) is the manager of the New York Yankees and a former Major League Baseball player in the National League for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Mets. He has also managed each of the teams for which he played in the National League. On May 7, 2006, Torre won his 1,000th game as Yankees manager, making him one of only four Yankees managers to do so.
Playing
Breaking into the majors with the Braves in 1960 (his brother Frank's last season with that club), he played primarily as a catcher but also played first base. He was named an All-Star from 1963 to 1967, and won a Gold Glove Award in 1965. On March 17, 1969 he was traded to the Cardinals in exchange 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 hits and total bases, and was named the NL's Most Valuable Player.
Torre received four more All-Star selections (1970-1973) while with the Cardinals. Following the 1974 season, he was traded to the Mets. On July 21, 1975, he set the NL record for most double plays grounded into in a single game, 4. Joe Torre had an a career batting average of .297.
From the age of 7 until about the age of 14, Joe worked at Barnum & Bailey's Circus as an elephant care taker.
Managing
Managing jobs (pre Yankees)
In May 1977, Mets Manager Joe Frazier was fired. Frazier had been the Mets manager since the beginning of 1976. To replace Frazier, Torre, who was playing third base for the Mets since he came over from the Cardinals before the 1974 season, was chosen. Because he believed he could not do the job properly while still playing, he decided to retire at age 37. He did, however, last 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). He closed his 18-year career with a .297 batting average and 252 home runs, 1185 RBIs and 2,342 hits.
He 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.
In 1990, Torre was hired to manage the Cardinals. There he posted a mediocre 351-354 record, and the team was unable to reach the playoffs, and Torre was fired in mid-1995.
New York Yankees
Torre was named manager of the Yankees on November 2, 1995. Though he had never played or managed in the American League, and the New York City press greeted him with headlines such as "Clueless Joe", it was with the Yankees that he enjoyed the greatest success of his managerial career, leading the "Bronx Bombers" to the playoffs in each of his eleven seasons (1996-2006) with the club.
In 1996, 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, defeating the 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. On May 12, 2003, he won his 1,500th game.
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 a major challenge from 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 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. 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 last year's season Shawn Chacón and Aaron Small were both taken out of the team with Chacon being traded to the Pirates on July 31st and Small being sent back to the minors 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.
After a first-round playoff upset in 2006 by the wild card-winning Tigers, immediate reports from the New York Daily News stated that Joe Torre was to be fired by the Yankees' owner, George Steinbrenner in favor of former Yankee manager Lou Piniella. However, Piniella denied the reports, saying that he hadn't been in contact with the Yankees or Steinbrenner in several months. On October 10, 2006, George Steinbrenner informed Torre that he will return to the Yankees in 2007. It will be his 12th year with the Yankees. It also will be the final year of his contract.
Legacy
It has been debated whether Torre's playing career rose to the level of Hall of Fame caliber, though the general consensus is that he was just slightly below the elite level of skill deserving of election. His accomplishments as the Yankees' manager, though, almost certainly will lead to his induction as a manager upon his retirement
Other
After leaving the Braves in 1984, Torre worked in broadcasting in the late 1980s 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 infamous Loma Prieta earthquake (October 17, 1989).
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 who played for the Washington Capitals, Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers.
Torre was treated for prostate cancer in 1999.
On December 14, 2005, Torre carried the Olympic Torch in Florence, Italy, running it 400 yards, 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 (Bernie Williams was the manager for the Yankees' last regular season game in 2006 and Ruben Sierra managed the team for one game in 2004, as the Yankees had already clinched the AL East titles by that point).
In one of the last daily comic strips in the Peanuts series, Charlie Brown was seen trying to perfect a "Joe Torre look", which he hoped would make his team win every game. His sister, Sally, thought he was cracking up.
Most recently, he has been working with Mets manager Willie Randolph on commercials for Subway sandwiches. Most commercials end with Torre asking Randolph "Are you gonna finish that sandwich because it looks really good. fine if you don't want to share I don't care.
His daughter is "Andrea Torre".
Quotes
- "Maybe the Good Lord was just waiting for me to put on the pinstripes." (During his speech at the parade, after the Yankees won the 1996 World Series)
- "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.[1])
See also
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
External links
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