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Jeffrey Allen Torborg
Los Angeles Dodgers
Catcher
Born: November 26, 1941, Plainfield, NJ
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1963 season
Major League Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers 1964-70; California Angels 1971-73
As a Manager: Cleveland Indians 1977-79; Chicago White Sox 1989-91; New York Mets 1992-93; Montreal Expos 2001; Florida Marlins 2002-03
A light-hitting back-up catcher, Jeff Torborg spent a decade as a player in the majors and another 11 years as a big league manager, winning American League Manager of the Year honors in 1990. Torborg came up with the Dodgers in 1964, and he'd remain with the club through the 1970 season as the back-up for John Roseboro (#218) and later Tom Haller (#310). He was behind the plate for Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965, and he'd later catch Bill Singer's (#575) no-hitter on July 20, 1970 and Nolan Ryan's (#533) first no-hitter on May 15, 1973. He was a career .214 hitter with eight home runs and 101 RBIs, and never appeared in more than 100 games a season until his final year in the majors with the Angels in 1973.
A light-hitting back-up catcher, Jeff Torborg spent a decade as a player in the majors and another 11 years as a big league manager, winning American League Manager of the Year honors in 1990. Torborg came up with the Dodgers in 1964, and he'd remain with the club through the 1970 season as the back-up for John Roseboro (#218) and later Tom Haller (#310). He was behind the plate for Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965, and he'd later catch Bill Singer's (#575) no-hitter on July 20, 1970 and Nolan Ryan's (#533) first no-hitter on May 15, 1973. He was a career .214 hitter with eight home runs and 101 RBIs, and never appeared in more than 100 games a season until his final year in the majors with the Angels in 1973.
Torborg retired as a player, coaching (1975-77) and then managing the Indians (1977-79). He served as a long-time coach with the Yankees (1980-88) and took over as manager for the White Sox in 1989. Torborg won Manager of the Year honors in 1990 after guiding the team to a 94-win season. He'd later manage the Mets, Expos and Marlins, but never finished above fourth place with any of those clubs. His lifetime managerial record was 634-718. When not managing, Torborg worked in the broadcast booth for CBS, Fox and FSN South through the mid-2000s.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #332
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Now in his fifth full season as the Dodgers' back-up catcher, Torborg batted .185 in 51 games, with four doubles and seven RBIs. He made 39 starts behind the plate, spelling Haller throughout the season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #337
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19): 1964-73, 1978-79, 1989-93, 2002-03
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game #73
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 72 in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 40th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me little over $1.
The pictures used for Torborg's 1965, 1966 and this Topps card were likely all taken within seconds of each other. The picture used here, of Torborg about to throw down to second base, works well with the 1969 Topps design. On any other design, the photo would look incredibly off-center. The write-up on the back of the card notes Roseboro's departure and predicted Torborg might see more playing time. That ended up not being the case, as Haller got the bulk of the starts behind home plate while batting .263. Torborg signed with the Dodgers for $100,000 in 1963, accounting for the many money bags in the cartoon on the card's back.
Accuracy Index: Torborg's card scores a solid +5, a score becoming a little more prevalent as we've crossed over the mid-point of the set.
1969 Season
Now in his fifth full season as the Dodgers' back-up catcher, Torborg batted .185 in 51 games, with four doubles and seven RBIs. He made 39 starts behind the plate, spelling Haller throughout the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #337
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19): 1964-73, 1978-79, 1989-93, 2002-03
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game #73
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 72 in the Beckett online database as of 7/5/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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