Mike Torrez
Michael Augustine Torrez is an American former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. As a member of the New York Yankees, he won two games of the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Early years
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, Torrez signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent on September 10,. He went 41-33 with a 3.07 earned run average over four seasons in the Cards' farm system to earn a September call up in.St. Louis Cardinals
In his major league debut, he faced just one batter, Donn Clendenon, and struck him out. He made his first career start on September 22, and exited the game after five innings with a 2-1 lead that the bullpen was unable to hold. In his third, and final, appearance of the season, he entered a tie ballgame with the Chicago Cubs with one out in the ninth inning. He struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a double and a run scoring base hit for his first career loss.Along with Johnny Bench, Cisco Carlos, Alan Foster and Don Pepper, Torrez was featured on the March 11, Sports Illustrated cover as one of the best rookies heading into the 1968 season. He earned his first career win on April 19. After a second win on May 4, he would not make another appearance for 21 days. After which, he was sent to triple A for the remainder of the season in order for him to get more work. He was 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in five major league appearances. He was 8-2 with a 3.24 ERA in triple A to lead the Tulsa Oilers to a Pacific Coast League best 95-53 record.
Torrez was 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in six appearances in when he was added to the starting rotation. In his first five starts, he went 0-4 with a 4.74 ERA. Things would soon turn around for him, however. In his final ten starts, Torrez would go 9-0 with a 2.57 ERA. Overall, he was 10-4 with a 3.59 ERA. In his second start of the season, Torrez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Montreal Expos. Instead, it was a one hit shutout, in which he himself went 3-for-3 with a run batted in and two runs scored. It was the first shutout of his career and his eleventh victory in a row.
Torrez was 5-6 with a 3.02 ERA as he headed into his June 20, 1970 start against the Cubs. He retired the first batter he faced, then could not retire a second. He faced seven more batters, walking four, giving up two singles and a triple, uncorking one wild pitch and allowing six earned runs. He would suffer a similar fate on July 2 against the Expos. In that start, he retired two batters, but still did not escape the first inning. He hit one batter, walked three, gave up two singles and a grand slam to John Bateman for six earned runs. Wildness began to plague Torrez, as he went 8-10 with a 4.22 ERA, mostly due to his 103 walks.
His wildness continued into. Facing the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 12, Torrez lasted just two plus innings, and walked five batters. Days later, he was traded to the Expos for relief pitcher Bob Reynolds.
Montreal Expos
Upon his acquisition, the Expos assigned Torrez to the triple A Winnipeg Whips, where his ERA was 8.16 in eighteen appearances. Regardless, he received a September call up. His only appearance for his new club was against his old club on September 17. He pitched three scoreless innings.After one relief appearance, Torrez was added to the manager Gene Mauch's starting rotation in late April. His first two decisions were both one run complete game victories over the San Francisco Giants. The Expos endured a 1-12 stretch in May in which the only victory was Torrez's over the San Diego Padres. On July 19, he beat the Giants for a third time to head into the All-Star break at 10-5 with a 2.83 ERA. Bill Stoneman, who was 8-7 with a 3.15 ERA, was selected as the Expos' sole representative. He would go 6-7 in the second half of the season to give him a team leading sixteen wins with a 3.33 ERA. He tied his career high 103 walks, but in 243.1 innings, far and away the most innings pitched of his career to that point.
On opening day, he lost to the Cubs despite allowing just one earned run, and would lose his next two before earning his first win on April 19 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He struggled all season, especially on the road where he went 3-7 with a 4.97 ERA. He ended the season at 9-12 with a 4.46 ERA.
Torrez reversed this trend in, winning his first three decisions. He was 8-5 at the All-Star break despite a high 4.36 ERA. In the second half of the season, he went 7-3 with a 2.76 ERA, including a four hit, one walk shutout of the Phillies on September 27. After the season, he was part of the worst trade in franchise history when he and outfielder Ken Singleton were traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Dave McNally, Rich Coggins and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Kirkpatrick.
Baltimore Orioles
As the number two pitcher behind Cy Young Award winner Jim Palmer, Torrez had a career year his only season in Baltimore. On May 14,, he was 5-1 with four of his five victories being complete games. On September 21, he pitched a two hit shutout over the Milwaukee Brewers to become a twenty game winner for the only time in his career.He pitched a career high 270.2, and led the American League with 133 walks. Just as Spring training was wrapping up, Torrez, Don Baylor and Paul Mitchell were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Reggie Jackson, Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel.
Oakland A's
Less than a week after his acquisition, Torrez got the opening day nod over Vida Blue with his new team. He pitched the A's to victory over the California Angels, however, his season would soon hit a rough patch. A June 30 loss to the Texas Rangers brought his record to 6-9. From there, he went on a tear. On August 29, after Ron LeFlore's speed small balled the Detroit Tigers a run in the first inning, Torrez pitched ten innings of shutout ball. He followed this up with consecutive shutouts of the Angels, Chicago White Sox and Rangers. Overall, over the remainder of the season, he went 10-3 with a 1.42 ERA. His 2.50 ERA for the season was a career best.Torrez was again an opening day winner for the A's in, and won his first three before a rough outing against the White Sox on April 24 resulted in his first loss. Three days later, he was traded to the Yankees for Dock Ellis, Larry Murray and Marty Perez.
New York Yankees
Torrez got off to a rough start with the Yankees. He was 5-5 with a 4.62 ERA when he went on a four game losing streak. He followed this up with a seven game winning streak, all complete games in which he maintained a 1.57 ERA. The last game of this streak came on August 23 against the White Sox. Coupled with a Boston Red Sox loss, it put the Yankees into first place in the American League East.Game 5 of the 1977 ALCS
The Yankees would stay in first for the remainder of the season to face the Kansas City Royals in the 1977 American League Championship Series. Torrez made a start and took the loss in game three, and a relief appearance in the decisive game five. He entered game five in relief of Ron Guidry with one out in the third inning and the Royals leading 3-1. He struck out both batters he faced in the third, then pitched 4.2 more scoreless innings before handing the ball to closer Sparky Lyle. The Yankees scored one in the eighth and three more in the ninth for the 5-3 victory that sent them to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.1977 World Series
led game three at Dodger Stadium off with a double, and the Yankees jumped all over Dodgers starter Tommy John in the first inning to hand Torrez a three run lead as he took the mound. After he escaped jams in the first two innings, Dusty Baker took Torrez deep to left field for a three run home run to tie the game in the third. The Yankees scored another run in the fourth, and one in the fifth. Meanwhile, Torrez would go the rest of the way, and only allow three more base runners, striking out the last two batters of the game.With the Yankees up three games to two, Torrez returned to the mound for the game six start. The Dodgers were winning 3-2 when Reggie Jackson began his heroics. By the time Reggie was done clubbing home runs, the Yankees had plated eight runs. Torrez, meanwhile, held the Dodgers scoreless until there were two outs in the ninth. The Dodgers managed to push across one final run before Lee Lacy hit a pop-up bunt to Torrez for the final out of the 1977 Series. Whereas Jackson was named World Series MVP for his offensive prowess, the pitching star was unquestionably Torrez. He struck out fifteen in his two complete games while only walking five.
163 game 1978 season
Just after the World Series, Torrez became a free agent. He jumped sides in the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry, receiving a seven year contract worth $2.5 million from Boston. The Red Sox finished 97-64 in 1977, and fans were hoping that adding Torrez and Dennis Eckersley to the top of a starting rotation that had a 4.08 ERA in 1977 would close the 2½ game gap behind them and the Yankees.Through May, the Red Sox, Tigers and Yankees were involved in a three way race atop the AL East. An 18-7 month of June put the BoSox in first place by eight games. On August 13, Torrez pitched a ten inning complete game victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. It improved Torrez's record to 14-6, and put the Sox nine games up on the Yankees.
Torrez also won his next start before going into a slide. Coinciding with his slide, the Sox let a division lead that was as high as ten games on July 6 completely vanish. In his next eight starts, Torrez went 0-6 with a 4.98 ERA, including two losses to the Yankees. They were up four games on the Yankees when the Yankees came to Fenway for a four game set September 7-10. Torrez pitched the first game; he lasted just a little over an inning, as the Yankees jumped all over him for five runs. By the time the Yanks left Boston, the teams were tied for first.
The Yankees were 1½ games up when it was their turn to host the Sox September 15-17. Torrez pitched the second game; the Yankees countered with Catfish Hunter. After allowing a first inning two run home run to AL MVP Jim Rice, Hunter clamped down, holding the BoSox scoreless the rest of the way. Torrez allowed a run in the first and a run in the fifth. They headed to the ninth tied at two. The Red Sox got two men on base in the top of the ninth, but failed to score. Mickey Rivers led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple. He came in to score on Thurman Munson's sacrifice fly.
The Red Sox went 12-2 over their final fourteen games. Among them was Torrez's three hit shutout of the Tigers, his sixteenth win of the season. They and the Yankees concluded their 162 game schedules with identical 99-63 records, forcing the first tiebreaker playoff game in the AL since.
Tie-breaker
The Red Sox won a coin toss to host a tie-breaker that matched Torrez up against eventual Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry, who was pitching on only three days rest. Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski led off the second inning with a home run to give the Sox the early 1-0 lead. Boston scored again in the sixth. Through six innings, Torrez allowed just two hits and two walks.With one out in the seventh, Chris Chambliss and Roy White singled. Jim Spencer, pinch hitting for rookie second baseman Brian Doyle, popped out to left for the second out. That brought number nine hitter Bucky Dent to the plate. Dent fouled a 1-and-1 pitch off his left leg, and went to the dugout for treatment and a new bat, as the one he had was cracked. When he returned to the plate, Torrez threw him a fastball that Dent hit over the "Green Monster." It was his fifth home run of the season, and first since August 16.
The Yankees would increase their lead to 5-2. An eighth inning rally cut the deficit to 5-4. With the tying run on third base, Yastrzemski popped out to Graig Nettles in foul territory to end the game.
Boston Red Sox
His first season in Boston, Torrez went 16-13 with a 3.96 ERA. Against the Yankees, he was 1-4 with a 5.96 ERA. Regardless of any other shortcomings that led to Boston's collapse in the 1978 season, Torrez's pitch to Dent epitomized the "Curse of the Bambino" in the minds of Red Sox fans, and he soon became the scapegoat for a frustrated fan base. While attending a Boston Celtics with his wife during his tenure with the Red Sox, Torrez was paged over the PA, and as soon as the crowd heard the name, they began booing.Torrez matched his 16-13 record from the previous season in despite leading the league in walks and earned runs. The Sox finished two games ahead of the Yankees, but all that meant was that they finished third behind the Orioles and Brewers. He was 9-14 with a 5.02 ERA in when he lost his spot in the starting rotation for the last month of the season. He made four relief appearances, and was 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA.
He rebounded nicely in the strike shortened season. On June 9, he allowed five hits and one run in a complete game victory over the Seattle Mariners to end the first half of the season 6-2 with a 3.63 ERA. In the second half, he went 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA.
After one last season in Boston, where Torrez went 9-9 with a 5.23 ERA, Torrez was traded to the New York Mets for a player to be named later.
New York Mets
Torrez joined returning Mets legend Tom Seaver atop a Mets rotation filled with youngsters. Torrez was 2-6 with a 5.05 ERA in ten starts and three relief appearances when he took the mound against Fernando Valenzuela and the Dodgers on June 2. The Mets were trailing 4-3 when Mets manager George Bamberger lifted Torrez for pinch hitter Mark Bradley in the ninth. Bradley hit his first career home run to send the game to extra innings. Reliever Jesse Orosco, who had three of the Mets' sixteen wins and saved an additional three, took his first loss of the season when the Dodgers pushed across a run in the fourteenth. Bamberger resigned after the game, "I've probably suffered enough."Torrez lost his first two starts under new manager Frank Howard. In his first start, he held the Cubs scoreless through eight, however, they scored twice in the ninth for the 2-1 victory. In his next start, also against the Cubs, poor defense accounted for three of the Cubs' seven runs. Two days later, the Mets acquired perennial Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.
Whereas the Mets lost 94 games and finished last in the National League East, they showed modest improvement under their new manager with Hernandez at first and their crop of young ballplayers that included number one overall pick in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft Darryl Strawberry. For his part, Torrez was 2-8 with a 4.48 ERA when Hernandez joined the team. Over the remainder of the season, he improved to 8-9 with a 4.30 ERA. On August 31, he squared off against Fernando Valenzuela a second time. He held the Dodgers to one run for the complete game victory.
Seaver was left unprotected in the free agent compensation pool, and was taken by the White Sox on January 20,, making Torrez new manager Davey Johnson's de facto opening day starter for the 1984 season. He lasted a little more than an inning, surrendering six earned runs to the Cincinnati Reds. In his second start of the season against the Houston Astros, Torrez beaned shortstop Dickie Thon. Thon missed the rest of the season because of impaired vision.
He was 0-5 by the time he won his first game against the Expos on June 9. On June 15, the Mets acquired starter Bruce Berenyi from the Reds for minor leaguers Jay Tibbs, Eddie Williams and Matt Bullinger. A week later, they released Torrez to make room for Berenyi in their starting rotation.
Retirement
Torrez signed with the Athletics on July 3. He made two appearances with the A's and one with the triple A Tacoma Tigers before he was released on August 9. In, Torrez went 7-8 with a 2.80 ERA for the Florida State League's Miami Marlins.Career stats
| W | L | Pct | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | K | WP | HBP | BAA | Fld% | Avg. |
| 185 | 160 | 3.96 | 494 | 458 | 117 | 15 | 3043.2 | 3043 | 1340 | 1501 | 223 | 1371 | 1404 | 103 | 59 | .264 | .944 | .155 |
Torrez is a member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. The Michael A. Torrez Baseball Complex in Topeka, Kansas is named in his honor. In 2011, Torrez served as General Manager for the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball