Meet Joe Torre

JOE TORRE

Positions: Catcher, First Baseman and Third Baseman 

Full Name: Joseph Paul Torre

Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Born: July 18, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York

Organizations (as Player): Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (9), St. Louis Cardinals (6), New York Mets (3)
Organizations (as Manager): New York Yankees (12), St. Louis Cardinals (6), New York Mets (6), Los Angeles Dodgers (3), Atlanta Braves (3)

JOE TORRE'S WALL OF GLORY

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Hall of Fame: Inducted as Manager in 2014, by Veterans Committee
• All-Star: 9 (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)
• MVP: 1 (1971)
• Gold Gloves: 1 (1965)
• Manager of the Year: 2 (1996, 1998)

BATTING

• AVG Leader: 1 (1971)
• Games Leader: 1 (1970)
• Hits Leader: 1 (1971)
• RBI Leader: 1 (1971)

FIELDING

• Double Plays Turned as C: 1 (1967)
• Caught Stealing as C: 1 (1967)
• Caught Stealing %: 1 (1966)
• Fielding % as C: 2 (1964, 1968)
• Assists as 1B: 1 (1974)
• Double Plays Turned as 1B: 1 (1974)
• Def. Games as 3B: 1 (1971)
• PO as 3B: 1 (1971)

WHO?

Joe Torre is an American MLB executive (Special Assistant to the Commissioner). He is a former player and manager, ranking fifth in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. Torre is the only big leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits (as a player) and 2000 wins (as a manager) 

Joe Torre started his career with the Milwaukee Braves in 1960 as a Catcher and First Baseman. He finished as runner-up to Billy Williams (Chicago Cubs) in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1961 (.278 AVG, 10 HR, and 42 RBI), and was selected to 5 All-Stars squads in a row before being traded to St. Louis (1969). With the Cardinals, he played mostly as 3B and 1B, earning 4 more selections to the Mid-Season Classic. In 1971 Torre had a career-season: He won the Batting Championship and the NL MVP Award (an astonishing .363 AVG, 24 HR, and a league-leading 137 RBI). After that season his offensive numbers started dipped, and in 1974 Joe Torre was traded to the New York Mets, ending his career as a player in 1977, after having managed the Mets as player-manager.

After concluding his career as a player, Torre continued managing the Mets until he was fired in 1981, having a negative record every year. When Atlanta Braves' Bobby Cox was fired Joe Torre was selected as his replacement. He directed the Braves for 3 years (1982-1984). Joe Torre's Braves captured the NL West division title in his first year but were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals. The next two seasons the Braves failed to qualify for the postseason and their manager was fired. After a tenure as a broadcaster (1985-1990), Torre replaced future HOF Whitey Ford as Cardinals manager (1990-1995). He couldn't classify St. Louis to the playoffs, but he had a positive record in all 3 of his full seasons directing them. He was fired in 1995 after a 20-27 W-L record. In 1996 Joe Torre was hired by George Steinbrenner to manage the New York Yankees. He lasted 12 full seasons (1996-2007), with a record of  1,173-767 W-L record. The Yankees classified to the postseason all 12 years, winning 6 AL pennants and 4 World Series. In 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers hired him as their manager. He stayed with them until 2010. He took the Dodgers to the postseason in 2008 and 2009 but losing against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Championship Series both seasons. In 2010 Joe Torre stepped down as the team's manager.

After ending up his managerial career, Torre accepted the position of Executive Vice-President for Baseball Operations (2011). In 2014 his title was modified to Chief Baseball Officer. He was the manager of Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. In 2014 Joe Torre was elected (as Manager) to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. As a player, the ended up with an AVG of .297, 252 HR, 1185 RBI, and 2,342 hits. As a Manager, Torre's record was of 2,326-1,997, with 6 pennants and 4 World Series titles.

MY COMMENT:

Joe Torre is probably the best example of a great player (in this case, an All-Star caliber player) that constructed a legendary career as a manager. 

He was a consistent source of HR, RBI, and Runs while in his prime (playing with Braves and Cardinals). He batted over .300 five times, had over 100 RBI five times and hit more than 20 HR six times in 18 seasons. Torre was considered a very good defender as a catcher and first baseman  (.990 and .993 Fld%) but has some problems at third base (.951). In 1971 he was the leader among the NL third basemen in errors (21), but it wasn't a serious problem, as he was awarded with the NL MVP award. That good he was as a player.

After retiring as player Joe Torre struggled as a manager until his moment arrived in 1996 when he was hired as the Yankees manager. With the Pinstripes he brought back the glory to the Bronx team, guiding them to an MLB-record of 12 consecutive postseason appearances. During his tenure as their manager, the Yankees were the team to defeat, and the perennial favorites to win the Fall Classic. His 2,326 wins as a manager rank Torre fifth all-time in MLB history. 

One of the best managers in MLB, no doubt.

BEST FIVE SEASONS (BATTER)

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1964	23	MLN	NL	154	601	87	193	36	5	20	109	2	36	67	.321	.365	.498	.863	23
1966	25	ATL	NL	148	546	83	172	20	3	36	101	0	60	61	.315	.382	.560	.943	*23
1969	28	STL	NL	159	602	72	174	29	6	18	101	0	66	85	.289	.361	.447	.808	*32
1970	29	STL	NL	161	624	89	203	27	9	21	100	2	70	91	.325	.398	.498	.896	25/3
1971	30	STL	NL	161	634	97	230	34	8	24	137	4	63	70	.363	.421	.555	.976	*5

Note: If you are using a cell phone to look at this table, put it horizontally for a better experience

BEST FIVE SEASONS (MANAGER)

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Managers	W	L	W-L%	T	G	Finish	Wpost	Lpost	W-L%post	Ejections	Notes
1998	57	New York Yankees	AL		114	48	.704	0	162	1	11	2	.846	1	WS Champs
1999	58	New York Yankees	AL		98	64	.605	0	162	1	11	1	.917	2	WS Champs
2002	61	New York Yankees	AL		103	58	.640	0	161	1	1	3	.250	2
2003	62	New York Yankees	AL		101	61	.623	1	163	1	9	8	.529	1	AL Pennant
2004	63	New York Yankees	AL		101	61	.623	0	162	1	6	5	.545	2

Note: If you are using a cell phone to look at this table, put it horizontally for a better experience
What do you think? I think that  Joe Torre (as player) is underrated. And you? Share your thoughts!