Joe Torre: The Mets Years & Playing Career (1975 - 1982)

Joseph Paul Torre was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 18, 1940. He attended St. Francis Prep. School located in Brooklyn at the time, later moving to Queens.

The six foot two right hand hitting Torre was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1960. He hit .344 & won the batting championship in his only year in the minor leagues making it to the big leagues for good by 1961. 

Braves Career: He would spend nine years with the Braves, as a teammate of Hank Aaron & Eddie Mathews & Warren Spahn.

He moved with the franchise from Milwaukee to Atlanta, playing in Fulton County Stadium in 1966. He hit over .290 four times, batting over .300 twice. In his first full season, he came in second in the Rookie of the Year Award batting .278 with 10 HRs & 42 RBIs.

In 1964 he batted .321 with 109 RBIs (both 4th in the NL) & hit 20 HRs coming in fifth in the MVP voting for the 5th place Braves. In 1966, as the franchise began playing in Georgia; he hit a career high 36 HRs driving in another 101 runs, batting .315.

Torre was one of the leagues better catchers as well, leading all backstops in fielding twice & coming in the league's top five, five different times. He threw out 40% or more of would be base stealers seven times, leading the league once. 

His .990% lifetime as a catcher is 96th best all time. In his career he threw out 41%. He represented the Braves five times in the NL All Star Game. 

At the start of the 1969 season he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda.

Cardinals Career: The Cardinals had All Star Tim McCarver as their catcher, so Torre moved over to replace Cepeda as the team's first baseman. Torre hit .289 with 18 HRs 29 doubles & 101 RBIs (6th in the NL) in his first season with the Cards. The Braves won he Western Division but lost to the New York Mets in the NLCS.

In 1970 he took over back in his old position at catcher (90 games), when McCarver was traded away to the Philadelphia Phillies. Torre batted .325 (second in the NL) with 203 hits (second in the NL) 21 HRs 100 RBIs & a .398 on base %. He led the league with 161 games played, making another All-Star team.

In 1971 he moved over to third base for good, as Ted Simmons was brought up as the clubs main catcher. Torre had his best year of his fine playing career, winning the NL MVP Award. Torre led the league with 230 hits, 137 RBIs & a .361 batting average.

He posted a .421 on base % with 24 HRs, 97 runs scored (5th in the NL) eight triples (5th in the NL) & 34 doubles (3rd in the NL). The Cardinals won 90 games finishing second to the World Champion to be Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1972 he played 149 games, as his average fell off to .289 with 11 HRs & 81 RBIs. That year he began to see more time as a first baseman, becoming the full time first baseman in 1973. Over next two seasons, he made his final All-Star appearance & there was talk that his days were behind him.

Mets Playing Career: The New York Mets had tried to land Joe Torre in the past but were never able to seal a deal. The St. Louis Cardinals usually wanted one of the Mets good young pitchers in return.

Finally by 1975 the Cards were clearing the way at first base for a young Keith Hernandez, and had veteran Ron Fairly on hand to get them by the transition. Torre’s numbers had fallen off a bit, especially since his 1971 MVP year. 

In 1974 he played in 147 games batting .282 with 11 HRs 28 doubles & 70 RBIs while posting a strong .371 on base %. 

Mets Career: In October of 1974 the Cardinals sent Torre to the Mets for veteran pitcher Ray Sadecki & youngster Tommy Moore. Torre came from St. Louis with a $150,000 salary which was second to only Tom Seaver’s $175,000 on the Mets payroll.

The Mets was still trying to solve their long time third base problem, although Wayne Garrett had done a fine job the past two seasons. Torre was already very popular in New York and arrived at Shea Stadium with a lot of fanfare. Personally, he was thrilled to be back at home, close to his family in Brooklyn.

1975 Season: Torre was the Mets third baseman, batting in the cleanup spot, on Opening Day at Shea Stadium in 1975. 

Opening Day Walk Off Hit: In the bottom of the 9th inning the score was tied 1-1 in a classic Tom Seaver- Steve Carlton pitchers’ duel. Felix Millan led off with a single & John Milner then walked. Joe Torre then was the hero of the day, as he singled off Carlton, with the walk off game winning hit to beat the Phillies 2-1. 

The rest of his month did not go as well & as he finished off April batting .158 with five RBIs in eleven games.

On May 12th, he drove in all three runs, as Jon Matlack shut out the San Francisco Giants 3-0 at Shea Stadium. With the bases loaded in the 7th inning, Torre cleared the bases, with a double off Gary Lavalle. The slow-footed Torre was thrown at third base trying to stretch it into a triple. For Torre he had hit three triples over the past two seasons.

Four Hit- Multi RBI Game: On May 20th, he had a season best four hit game, in a 6-2 win at Cincinnati. In the 5th inning he hit a two run HR off the Red Don Gullet. He hit two doubles, a single & a three RBIs in the game.

In June he went on a 16-game hitting streak, raising his average up to .288

Multi- 3 RBI Game: One June 8th, in a 7-6 win over the Braves at Shea Stadium, Torre tripled off former Met Buzz Capra driving in two runs, He collected an RBI single as well for a multi-three RBI game, matching his season high.

On July 17th, he broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the 8th inning, with a game winning HR off the Braves Tom House leading to a 4-3 win. 

 On July 20th he helped fuel a Mets come from behind three run 8th inning rally at Shea Stadium. Torre's single scored Felix Millan bringing the Mets to within a run. In the next at bat Dave Kingman hit a two run HR leading to the win.

On August 16th he hit a two run HR leading the Mets to a 4-2 win over the Giants at Shea Stadium, it was his last HR of the year. Injuries nagged him as he missed a week of action in each of the next two months.

Double Play Record: Joe Torre hit into 22 double plays that season (second most in the league). On July 21st, he set an MLB record by grounding into four double plays in a single game. Felix Millan had singled in each prior at bat, as went 4-4 on the night.

Quotes- Joe Torre: “I'd like to thank Felix Millán for making all of this possible." 

In his career the slow-footed Torre grounded into 284 double plays (18th most all time) & led the league in that category three times.

On the 1975 season he hit.247 with 89 hits six HRs, 16 doubles, three triples, 37 RBIs & 33 runs scored. He struck out 55 times & walked 35 times with a .317 on base % & .674 OPS in 114 games.

In 83 games at third base, he made eleven errors posting a .950 fielding %. Torre also saw action in 24 games at first base.

1976 Season: Torre rebounded in the bicentennial year, raising his average sixty points playing in 114 games. 

He was the only Met to bat over .300 that season, hitting .306.  He shared time at first base (78 games) with Ed Kranepool who also had a good year batting .292.

That season new Mets Manager Joe Frazier gave rookie Roy Staiger the third base position. Frazier had Staiger as his main short stop in the minor leagues at AAA Tidewater. Staiger was a bust, he would only hit .220 with two HRs. 

In Tom Seavers Opening Day 1-0 shut out, Torre was the Mets first baseman, batting in the third position going 0-3. He would safely in six of eight games soon after & finish April batting .292.

In May Torre batted .329 & had an eight-game hit streak.

On May 16th in the first game of a double header split with the Reds at Riverfront Stadium, he hit a two run HR off Gary Nolan helping the Mets to a 7-5 win.

Multi-HR Game: On June 1st, at Shea Stadium Torre had his only multi-HR game of the season, hitting a pair of Rs off native New Yorker, John Candeleria of the Pirates in a 3-2 losing effort.

From May 31st to June 5th, he collected nine hits & ended that week batting .339 among the league's best hitters. At the All Star break he was batting at .300.

From July 27th through August 5th, he batted .400, driving in eight runs with RBIs in four straight games, helping to lead the Mets in a seven-game team win streak.

On August 14th, Joe Torre & Roy Staiger both collected RBI singles helping Nino Espinosa beat (future Met) Pat Zachary & the Big Red Machine 2-1. Torre had an 11-game streak & hit safely in 16 of 17 games, getting his average back up to .310.

On September 14th he hit a two run HR, off Jim Rooker helping the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. He played just a dozen games that month due to injury.

The Mets finished the bicentennial year at 86-76 in third place & were one of only five NL Teams to finish over the .500 mark. On the year Torre played in 114 games batting .306 with 95 hits 10 doubles 3 triples 5 HRs 31 RBIs & 36 runs scored. He posted a .358 on base % & .817 OPS.

1977: On Opening Day 1977 at Wrigley Field, Torre had two hits including a top of the 9th inning double which scored Bruce Boisclair & Dave Kingman with the winning runs in the 8-6 Mets win over the Cubs. 

On April 13th, he hit what turned out to be his last career HR, it came off St. Louis veteran Clay Carroll, & his old Cardinals teammates in a 7-3 loss at Shea Stadium.

Mets Manager: At the end of May 1977, the Mets were in last place & the organization was changing for the worst. 

The team fired manager Joe Frazier after posting a 15-30 record. They named Joe Torre, the eighth manager in Mets history & the first player / manager the club ever saw. 

He was also one of the last player/ managers, the third person to hold those roles in the 1970's. Pete Rose would be a player / manager with the Reds in the 1980's.

After 18 days & playing in three games with two official at bats, he chose to retire from playing as to focus 100% on managing. The fact that he wasn’t hitting helped make his decision easier, after 26 games he was only batting .176 with one HR & 9 RBIs.

Mets Career Stats: In his three-year Mets career, Torre played in 254 games batting .267 with 193 hits 12 HRs 29 doubles 6 triples 75 RBIs & 71 runs scored. He struck out 100 times with 58 walks posting a .327 on base % & .701 OPS.

Career Stats: In his 18-year playing career, Torre played on nine All Star teams. He played in just one post season, losing the 1969 NLCS to the Mets.

He played in 2209 games (143rd all time) with a .297 batting average 2342 hits (140th all time) 344 doubles, 59 triples 252 HRs 1185 RBIs (165th all time) & 996 runs scored. He struck out 1094 times with 779 walks, a .365 on base % & .817 OPS. His 127 intentional walks are 89th most all time.

In his career Torre, won an MVP Award (1971) a Gold Glove at catcher (1965) & a Hutch Award. He also led the league defensively in at least one category at three different positions. 

He played ten seasons as catcher (903 games) leading the league in fielding twice, caught stealing & percentage of throwing out base runners one time each.

Torre played 14 seasons at first base (787 games) leading the league in assists in 1974. Torre also
played eight seasons at third base (515 games) leading the league in games & put outs in 1971. 

Manager: On Tuesday May 31st, 1977, Torre began his tenure as Mets manager in a game at Shea Stadium in front of 6, 500 fans. That night the Mets beat the Montreal Expos 6-2 with Craig Swan earning the win, Bob Apodaca earning the save & John Milner driving in three runs.

The Mets won the first three games of Torre’s managerial career & went 6-1 in his first week. But after that it all went downhill, as his managing career didn’t start out as well as it went later on in his life.

In his early days he wasn’t all that good at managerial decisions, always playing the percentages & sacrificing way too much. In all fairness to him, the Mets were falling apart at the time. Tom Seaver was unhappy with the way he was treated & the way the team was being run; he was traded away in July. 

The teams head of operations, M. Donald Grant chose not to go after any of the high price free agents, who were now on the open market. Any of the good players who were actually left from their pennant season of 1973 were now aging & soon to be gone as well.

Torre’s 1977 Mets finished in last place, 37 games back of the Phillies, going 49-69 under his leadership. The woeful team finished last in hits, runs, HRs, batting average, on base % & slugging. He would finish last again in 1978 with a record of 66-96 (24 games back). The once awesome Mets pitching staff just four short years ago, now led the league in losses.

In 1979 they were no better going 63-99 finishing in last place, 35 games behind the Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. That season the Mets finished 11th in a field of twelve in HRs (74) on base % (.313) & runs scored with 593. The Mets improved to fifth place in 1980 going 69-95, but still 24 games out of first place.

The Mets hit just 61 HRs, last in the league & hit .257 (8th in the NL). The 1981 season was split due to the players strike, Torre’s Mets finished fifth in the first half (17-34) and fourth in the second half of the season (24-28).

By 1982 new ownership had taken over the team, as Nelson Doubleday & Fred Wilpon bought the team. They hired General Manager Frank Cashen & he began to make changes. 

Torre was one of the first to go, getting fired and being replaced by George Bamberger for the 1982 season. He had been the long-time pitching coach for the Orioles strong staffs, under Cashen in Baltimore.

In his five years as Mets manager, Joe Torre was 286-420 with a .405 winning %. He finished last in his first three seasons, then fifth in his next season. In the strike shortened '81 season he finished fifth & fourth. 

Up to this point in time Rube Walker was still the team’s pitching coach, in his 14th year in that
position. Joe Pignatano also had been around coaching with the Mets, since the days of Gil Hodges. 

Torre took his two loyal coaches with him to Atlanta when he landed a job as the Braves manager in 1982.

Family:  His brother Frank played first base for the Milwaukee Braves from 1956-1960 winning two pennants & one World Series title. 

He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1962-1963, batting .273 lifetime with 404 hits 13 HRs 78 doubles & 179 RBIs.

Another Torre brother was a New York police officer. 

Their sister was a Catholic Nun & principal of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School in Ozone Park, Queens NY. Torre also has an interest in horse racing, and owns shares of several horses, some who have competed in the Kentucky Derby.

Joe Torre has been married three times & has four children.