Third Baseman, St.
Louis Cardinals
Age: 31 (July 18)
3rd season
with Cardinals
Bats – Right, Throws
– Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 200
Prior to 1971:
A native of the
New York City borough of Brooklyn, Torre played sandlot baseball as a teen.
Slow and overweight, but a good hitter with power, he switched from first base
to catcher and drew the interest of the Milwaukee Braves, the team his older
brother, Frank, played for as a first baseman, and signed with them in 1959 for
a $22,500 bonus. Having dropped 20 pounds as part of his conditioning program,
he first played in the Florida Instructional League in the fall of ’59. Next,
he joined Eau Claire of the Class C Northern League in 1960 and batted .344
with 16 home runs and 74 RBIs. He received a late-season call-up to the Braves
and got his first major league hit as a pinch-hitter. Torre started the 1961
season with the Louisville Colonels of the Class AAA American Association but
was called up by the Braves in May due to an injury to starting catcher Del
Crandall. He hit well from the start and demonstrated a strong throwing arm
from behind the plate as well. In 113 games Torre hit .278 with a .330 on-base
percentage, 10 home runs, and 42 RBIs. He finished second in league Rookie of
the Year voting. With Crandall back in 1962, Torre was limited to 80 games and
batted .282 with 5 home runs and 26 RBIs. Taking over as the regular catcher in
1963, Torre was an All-Star for the first time on his way to hitting .293 with
14 home runs, 71 RBIs, and a .350 OBP. He also saw action at first base, where
he displayed good technique and kept his bat in the lineup. With Crandall dealt
for veteran catcher Ed Bailey in 1964, Torre saw more action at first base
while making 96 appearances behind the plate. He batted .321 with a .365 OBP,
20 home runs, and 109 RBIs. Once again an All-Star, where he was the starting
backstop for the National League, he also placed fifth in league MVP balloting.
In 1965 Torre hit .291 with 27 home runs, 80 RBIs, and a .372 OBP. He caught in
100 games and made 49 appearances at first base, as lefty-hitting backup Gene
Oliver split time with Torre behind the plate. Despite questions regarding his
defensive ability as a catcher, Torre received a Gold Glove for his efforts.
The franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966, and Torre hit the first home run for
the Braves in their new ballpark. He went on to belt 36 homers to go along with
101 RBIs and a .315 average as well as a .382 OBP. While catching in 111 games,
he also made 39 appearances at first base. Hobbled by an ankle injury in 1967
that required offseason surgery, Torre slumped badly at the plate in his last
40 games and finished at .277 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs. In an
injury-plagued 1968 season, Torre hit .271 with just 10 home runs and 55 RBIs.
During spring training in 1969, the Braves traded Torre to the Cardinals for
first baseman Orlando Cepeda. Torre became the regular first baseman for St.
Louis in 1969, appearing in only 18 games behind the plate. His batting production rebounded
to .289 with 18 home runs and 101 RBIs with a .361 OBP. The departure of
catcher Tim McCarver and the arrival of first baseman Dick Allen in the
offseason had Torre appearing more as a catcher in 1970, but he also appeared
in 73 games at third base due to the departure of regular third sacker Mike
Shannon due to illness. Torre batted .325 with 21 home runs, 100 RBIs, and a
.398 OBP. The slimmed down Torre entered 1971 as the Cards’ regular third
baseman.
1971 Season Summary
Appeared in 161
games
3B – 161
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 707 [3]
At Bats – 634 [5]
Runs – 97 [5]
Hits – 230 [1]
Doubles – 34 [3,
tied with Rusty Staub]
Triples – 8 [5,
tied with four others]
Home Runs – 24
[13]
RBI – 137 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 63 [18, tied with Nate Colbert & Wes Parker]
Int. BB – 20
[3, tied with Willie Stargell]
Strikeouts – 70
Stolen Bases – 4
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .363
[1]
OBP - .421 [2]
Slugging Pct. -
.555 [3]
Total Bases – 352
[1]
GDP – 18 [13,
tied with Deron Johnson & Willie Montanez]
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [16, tied with thirteen others]
Sac Hits – 1
Sac Flies – 5 [18,
tied with seventeen others]
League-leading hits
were +11 ahead of runner-up Ralph Garr
League-leading RBIs
were +12 ahead of runner-up Willie Stargell
League-leading
batting average was +.020 ahead of runner-up Ralph Garr
League-leading total bases were +21 ahead of runner-up Hank Aaron
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 16, HR – 14, RBI - 65, AVG - .359, SLG - .539, OBP - .412
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 7 AB) at Philadelphia 8/1 – 13 innings
Longest hitting
streak – 22 games
HR at home – 9
HR on road – 15
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) at Montreal 5/11
Multi-HR games
– 1
Most RBIs, game
– 4 on five occasions
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 428
Put Outs – 136
Assists – 271
Errors – 21
DP – 22
Pct. - .951
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
(Started for NL at 3B)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Joe Torre,
StL.: 318 points – 21 of 24 first place votes, 95% share
Willie
Stargell, Pitt.: 222 points - 3 first place votes, 66% share
Hank Aaron, Atl.:
180 points – 54% share
Bobby Bonds, SF:
139 points – 41% share
Roberto
Clemente, Pitt.: 87 points – 26% share
---
Cardinals went
90-72 to finish second in the NL Eastern Division, 7 games behind the
division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates while leading the league in stolen bases (124),
batting (.275), and OBP (.338). The Cardinals were in first place by 2.5 games at
the end of May but endured an 8-21 June swoon. Strong performances in July and
August helped the club creep up on the Pirates who proved to be insurmountable
in September.
Aftermath of ‘71:
In 1972, Torre’s
production dropped off to .289 with 11 home runs, 81 RBIs, and a .357 on-base
percentage. The distraction of off-field problems did not help, but he remained
a productive part of the lineup and was an All-Star once again. By 1973 he was
seeing the most action at first base and his hitting continued to slip as he
batted .287 with 13 home runs, and 69 RBIs, although his OBP was a respectable
.376. Torre spent one more season with St. Louis in 1974 in which he hit .282
with 11 home runs, 70 RBIs, and a .371 OBP. In the offseason he was traded to
the New York Mets for two pitchers. Playing primarily at third base in 1975, he
was troubled by reduced range in the field and batted only .247 with 6 home
runs and 35 RBIs. Torre was back at first base in 1976, and as his playing time
continued to dwindle, he hit .306 with a .358 OBP. During the 1977 season he
replaced Joe Frazier as the club’s manager. While initially a player/manager,
his playing career ended in June. For his major league playing career, Torre
batted .297 with 2342 hits that included 344 doubles, 59 triples, and 252 home
runs. He scored 996 runs and compiled 1185 RBIs, 779 walks, a .365 OBP, and a
.452 slugging percentage. With the Cardinals he batted .308 with 161 doubles,
32 triples, 98 home runs, 558 RBIs, 455 runs scored, 387 walks drawn, a .382
OBP, and a .458 slugging percentage. A nine-time All-Star, he finished among
the top 5 in NL MVP voting three times, with the one win in ’71. Following the
conclusion of his playing career, Torre continued as manager of the Mets
through the 1981 season when he was fired following a 286-420 tenure. His next
managerial stop was a return to the Braves from 1982-84. Atlanta won the AL
West title in Torre’s first year at the helm and contended in 1983. A losing
season in 1984 led to his dismissal after having compiled an overall 257-229
record. Following several seasons as a television commentator, Torre’s next
managerial job came with the Cardinals from 1990-95, where his teams went
351-354 with no postseason appearances. The New York Yankees hired him in 1996
and he managed through 2007 with his teams going 1173-767 with six AL pennants
and four World Series titles. Along the way Torre overcame a bout with prostate
cancer in 1999. Refusing to accept a salary cut for 2008, Torre moved on to the
Los Angeles Dodgers for three seasons from 2008-2010 where his teams went
259-227 and twice reached the playoffs. As a manager, Torre put together a record
of 2326-1997 with the six pennants and four World Series championships. The
Yankees retired his #6 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in
2014 in recognition of his managerial success. He was inducted into the
Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2016.
---
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
No comments:
Post a Comment