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Joe Torre's Playing Career

Before He Was the Yankees Manager, Torre Was a Perennial All-Star

Oct 13, 2007

Joe Torre will most likely remembered for his successful years as the skipper of a New York Yankees, but he may actually have been better as a player than as a manager.

He had his best year in 1971. That season, while playing third base for the St. Louis Cardinals, Joe Torre won the National League Most Valuable Player when he hit .363, led the league in hits with 230, and smacked 24 home runs and 137 RBI. But long before that brilliant campaign, Joe Torre was just a kid from Brooklyn whose biggest goal was to be as good as his big brother Frank.

A Youth Firmly Planted in Humble Roots

Joseph Paul Torre, Jr. was born on July 18, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a New York City police detective and the younger brother of one the city's all-time great high school baseball players, Frank Torre. When Joe was just eleven years old, the Boston Braves signed Frank to a minor league contract. By 1957, Frank was playing first base for the Braves -- who were now in Milwaukee -- when they won the World Series over the New York Yankees in seven games. Frank and the Braves returned to the Fall Classic the next year, this time losing to the Yankees in a another seven game classic.

While Frank was winning World Series rings, Joe as slowly but surely making his own name as a standout catcher and first baseman at St. Francis Preparatory High School in Brooklyn.

Before the 1960 season, Frank helped convince the franchise to sign his younger brother to a minor league deal.

Joe Torre's Early Playing Career

After less than one year in the minors, the Braves promoted Joe Torre to the Major League club. Although Joe played in just one game as a September call-up, by 1961 he became a permanent, full-time player. Playing in 113 games as a 20-year old catcher, Torre hit .278 and finished second in voting for the National League Rookie of the Year behind the Chicago Cubs' future Hall of Fame center fielder Billy Williams.

From there it was all uphill. During his eight full seasons with the Braves, Torre made five All-Star teams (1963-67), hit .294, topped the 100 RBI mark on two occasions and won the 1965 Gold Glove award as a catcher.

Traded to the Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda

In January of 1969, the Atlanta Braves traded Torre to the St. Louis Cardinals for slugging first baseman Orlando Cepeda. Although Cepeda was the 1967 National League MVP and a future Hall of Famer, Torre would soon prove that the Cardinals had gotten the better end of the deal. From 1969 though 1971, Torre hit .322 and averaged 208 hits, 21 home runs and 113 RBI, culminating in his splendid 1971 MVP season. In Torre's six seasons with the Cardinals, he batted .308, topped 100 RBI three times and made four more All-Star teams.

Before the 1975 season, however, the Cardinals shipped the aging star to the New York Mets, where he played third base full-time for the next two seasons. Midway through the 1977 season, the Mets fired manager Joe Frazier (not the boxer) and named Torre the team's player-manager. He served in that dual capacity for 18 days, but felt that he couldn't perform both roles adequately, so he retired from playing on June 17, 1977.

What followed was one of the most frustrating, often disappointing, always exciting, and ultimately successful managing careers in the history of Major League Baseball.

Joe Torre's Career Statistics

Joe Torre finished his playing career with a .297 batting average, 2,342 hits, 252 home runs and 1,185 RBI, all of which rank in the top 10 among players who spent the majority of their careers playing catcher. He had five seasons with more than 100 RBI, five seasons of batting over .300, and he was named to nine All-Star teams. Despite those impressive statistics, Torre never received serious support for the Hall of Fame. The closest he came was in 1997, when he received 22% of the votes, far short of the necessary 75%.

Of course, Torre shouldn't have too much trouble making it to Cooperstown on the strength of his managing record.

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Read on to Learn about Torre's Yankee Career, Joe Torre's Managing Career , and Who Will Replace Joe Torre?

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