Former MLB player, coach, manager and broadcaster Jeff Torborg passed away today following a nearly 15-year battle with Parkinson's Disease. He was 83.
A collegiate standout at Rutgers University, Torborg signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963 and would make his MLB debut the following year. Like Bob Uecker who passed away a few days ago, Torborg did not have a strong bat. In 10 MLB seasons with the Dodgers and California Angels, Torborg had a lifetime batting average of .214 with 8 HR and 101 RBI. Unlike Uecker, however, Torborg excelled as a backup catcher.
Torborg caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game for the Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs on September 9, 1965. The Dodgers would go on to win the World Series that year though Torborg did not play during the Fall Classic. Nor would he play in the 1966 World Series in which the Dodgers were swept by the Baltimore Orioles. On July 20, 1970, Torborg would be the behind the plate for Bill Singer's no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Torborg would catch one more no-hitter while he was in an Angels uniform. On May 15, 1973, Torborg caught the first of Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters holding the Kansas City Royals hitless.
Although Torborg was the Angels' number one catcher during the '73 season, the team traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals. However, the Cardinals would release Torborg during spring training. However, Torborg's career in baseball was far from done.
In 1975, Frank Robinson, MLB's first African American manager, named Torborg to the Cleveland Indians coaching staff. When the Tribe fired Robinson during the 1977 season, Torborg succeeded him. Torborg was 35 when he took over the helm of the Indians making him the youngest manager in MLB. Torborg lasted just over two seasons in Cleveland before he was fired in favor of Dave Garcia after Bob Lemon (who had just been dismissed by the New York Yankees) declined the job.
However, Torborg was not out of a job for long as Billy Martin, who had replaced Lemon in the Bronx, hired him to his coaching staff. Somehow Torborg managed to stay on the Yankees coaching staff for nearly decade during the height of the George Steinbrenner era without getting fired. Torborg served under six different managers - Billy Martin (thrice), Dick Howser, Gene Michael (twice), Bob Lemon (the same Bob Lemon who nearly replaced Torborg in Cleveland), Clyde King and Lou Piniella (twice).
Torborg left the Yankees on his own terms when he was hired to manage the Chicago White Sox in 1989. After a last place finish during his inaugural season on the South Side of Chicago, the team would win 94 games in 1990 and finish in second place in the AL West behind the Oakland A's. It didn't hurt to have Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura and Bobby Thigpen saving 57 games. This turnaround earned Torborg AL Manager of the Year.
Following another second-place finish in the AL West in 1991, Torborg was lured back to New York. This time to manage the Mets. Unfortunately, Torborg and the Mets were a complete mismatch finishing 5th in the NL East just two games ahead of the last place Philadelphia Phillies. Less than a quarter into the 1993 season, the Mets dismissed Torborg replacing him with Dallas Green who had managed the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980. Torborg didn't want to leave Chicago, but new White Sox GM Ron Schueler urged him to take more money with the Mets.
From 1995 to 2000, Torborg became a broadcaster for CBS Radio and FOX Sports. For the former, Torborg provided color commentary for the World Series alongside Vin Scully from 1995 to 1997. Indeed, during the 1997 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins, I remember listening to Scully and Torborg's coverage on the radio.
During the 2001 season, Torborg returned to the dugout to manage the Montreal Expos succeeding Felipe Alou. When Expos owner Jeffrey Loria sold the team to MLB so he could buy the Marlins, he hired Torborg to be his skipper. However, early in the 2003 season, Loria dismissed Torborg in favor of Jack McKeon who led the Marlins to their second World Series title in franchise history.
In 11 seasons as an MLB manager with five different teams, Torborg went 634-718 and never made a post-season appearance.
Pro wrestling fans of a certain vintage might remember Torborg's son, Dale Torborg, who wrestled in WCW as The Demon. The younger Torborg also served under his father as a strength and conditioning coach for the Expos and Marlins and would fill the same role with the Chisox earning a World Series ring in 2005.
In all, Jeff Torborg devoted nearly half of his life to baseball spending 40 years in the game as a player, coach, manager and broadcaster. R.I.P.
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