Jeff Torborg

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox baseball biography

Jeffrey Allen Torborg (November 26, 1941 – January 19, 2025) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels from 1964 to 1973. He managed the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Montreal Expos, and Florida Marlins.

Playing career

Torborg grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, where he was the catcher on the Westfield High School baseball team.[1] He attended Rutgers University and played college baseball for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from 1961 to 1963. In 1963, Torborg had a .537 batting average and was named an All-American.[2]

File:Jeff Torborg with the Dodgers, 1964 (cropped).jpg
Torborg with the Dodgers in 1964

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Torborg as an amateur free agent in 1963. After playing in the minor leagues in 1963, Torborg made the Dodgers' roster as their third-string catcher in 1964 behind John Roseboro and Doug Camilli. On September 9, 1965, Torborg caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game.[2] On July 20, 1970, he was the catcher receiving Bill Singer's no-hitter.[3][4]

On March 13, 1971, the Dodgers sold Torborg's contract to the California Angels. On May 15, 1973, Torborg also caught the first of Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters.[2] He was traded from the Angels to the St. Louis Cardinals for John Andrews at the Winter Meetings on December 6, 1973.[5] On March 25, 1974, he was released by the Cardinals.[2]

Coaching, managing, and broadcasting career

In 1977, Torborg became the bullpen coach of the Cleveland Indians. During the season, the Indians fired manager Frank Robinson and Torborg assumed the position,[6] which he held for three years. He was a coach on the New York Yankees from 1979 to 1988. In 1989, Torborg left the Yankees to become the manager of the Chicago White Sox.[7] A year after he took the helm, the White Sox won 94 games, which was a 25-game improvement from the team's 1989 season. For his efforts with the 1990 White Sox, Torborg won the American League Manager of the Year Award. Torborg stayed with the White Sox for one more year before moving to the New York Mets on a four-year deal of $1.7 million that dwarfed his previous deal of $250,000 a year.[8]

A year after leading the White Sox to an Template:Winning percentage win-loss record, Torborg's 1992 New York Mets posted a Template:Winning percentage record. After starting the 1993 season with a Template:Winning percentage record, the Mets fired Torborg and replaced him with Dallas Green.[9]

For the rest of the 1990s, Torborg worked as a sportscaster for the likes of CBS Radio and Fox. At CBS Radio, Torborg served as a color commentator for three World Series (1995–1997) alongside Vin Scully.[10] While at Fox, Torborg served as a color commentator from 1996–2000.[2]

Torborg returned to managing in May of 2001 to replace Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou, on a three-year deal.[11] When Jeffrey Loria, who had owned the Expos, sold the team and bought the Florida Marlins in 2002, he brought Torborg to Florida with him to serve as manager. The team went Template:Winning percentage that year. After starting the 2003 season with a Template:Winning percentage record, the Marlins fired Torborg.[12] Jack McKeon was hired to replace him and led the team to a 2003 World Series victory.

Torborg returned to broadcasting for Fox. He served as the color commentator for Atlanta Braves games on FSN South and Turner South in 2006, where he was partnered with Bob Rathbun. Neither Torborg nor Rathbun was retained for the 2007 season.[13]

Personal life and death

Torborg was of Danish descent. His son, Dale, is a former professional wrestler and his daughter-in-law, Christi Wolf, is a bodybuilder and former professional wrestler.[14]

Torborg married Suzie Barber on June 6, 1963.[2] For more than 25 years, Torborg lived with his family in a home in Mountainside, New Jersey.[15]

Torborg later developed Parkinson's disease.[16] He died in Port Orange, Florida on January 19, 2025, at the age of 83.[17]

Managerial record

Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CLE Template:Mlby 104 Template:WinLossPct 5th in AL East – – – –
CLE Template:Mlby 159 Template:WinLossPct 6th in AL East – – – –
CLE Template:Mlby 95 Template:WinLossPct fired – – – –
CLE total 358 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct
CWS Template:Mlby 161 Template:WinLossPct 7th in AL West – – – –
CWS Template:Mlby 162 Template:WinLossPct 2nd in AL West – – – –
CWS Template:Mlby 162 Template:WinLossPct 2nd in AL West – – – –
CWS total 485 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct
NYM Template:Mlby 162 Template:WinLossPct 5th in NL East – – – –
NYM Template:Mlby 38 Template:WinLossPct fired – – – –
NYM total 200 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct
MON Template:Mlby 109 Template:WinLossPct 5th in NL East – – – –
MON total 109 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct
FLA Template:Mlby 162 Template:WinLossPct 4th in NL East – – – –
FLA Template:Mlby 38 Template:WinLossPct fired – – – –
FLA total 200 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct
Total[18] 1352 Template:WinLossPct Template:WinLossPct

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:S-endTemplate:NavboxesTemplate:Authority control
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check World Series network radio color commentator
1995–1997 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
  1. ↑ Merkin, Scott. "Ozzie takes fine in stride" Template:Webarchive, Major League Baseball, May 30, 2010. Accessed March 5, 2011. "Torborg was a three-year starting catcher at Westfield High School and an All-American at Rutgers."
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Rappoport, Ken. "National League Tentatively Agrees to Move Padres to Washington, D.C." The Associated Press (AP), Friday, December 7, 1973. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ [1]Template:Dead link
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Vecsey, George. "Sports of The Times; Torborgs Aren't Selling The House" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, October 12, 1991. Accessed August 15, 2016. "They built the house. Well, not with their own hands, but they had it built for them, and that is nearly the same thing, after 26 years.... The home in Mountainside is not far from Westfield, the New Jersey town where Jeff Torborg was born."
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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