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Joseph Paul Torre
St. Louis Cardinals
First Base-Catcher
Born: July 18, 1940, Brooklyn, NY
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent, August 24, 1959
Major League Teams: Milwaukee Braves 1960-65; Atlanta Braves 1966-68; St. Louis Cardinals 1969-74; New York Mets 1975-77
As a Manager: New York Mets 1977-81; Atlanta Braves 1982-84; St. Louis Cardinals 1990-95; New York Yankees 1996-07; Los Angeles Dodgers 2008-10
Hall of Fame Induction: 2014
Joe Torre had a successful 18-year career in the majors before going on to have an even more successful 29-year career as a manager. The strength of his managing career earned him induction into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2014.
As a player, Torre was a nine-time All-Star between 1963 and 1973 and he won National League MVP honors with the Cardinals in 1971. That year he topped the league with 230 hits, a .363 average and 137 RBIs while hitting 24 home runs. He hit a career high 36 home runs in 1966 and topped the 100-RBI plateau in five different seasons. For his playing career, he finished with a .297 batting average, 2,342 hits, 252 home runs, 1,185 RBIs and zero postseason appearances.
Torre began his managerial career as a player-manager for the Mets in 1977. His stint as Mets manager didn't go well, but he reached his first ever postseason in 1982 during his first year managing the Braves. He needed to wait another decade-plus to make it to the World Series, eventually guiding the Yankees to four titles in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He was named the American League Manager of the Year in 1996 and 1998. Torre retired as a manager following the 2010 season and finished with a lifetime record of 2,326-1,997. His managerial win total is fifth on the all-time list behind Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa, John McGraw and Bobby Cox (#237).
Since 2011 he's worked in the Commissioner's office first as an Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations and currently as a special assistant to the Commissioner. Torre had his #6 retired by the Yankees in 2014, the same year he joined the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame Induction: 2014
Joe Torre had a successful 18-year career in the majors before going on to have an even more successful 29-year career as a manager. The strength of his managing career earned him induction into baseball's Hall of Fame in 2014.
As a player, Torre was a nine-time All-Star between 1963 and 1973 and he won National League MVP honors with the Cardinals in 1971. That year he topped the league with 230 hits, a .363 average and 137 RBIs while hitting 24 home runs. He hit a career high 36 home runs in 1966 and topped the 100-RBI plateau in five different seasons. For his playing career, he finished with a .297 batting average, 2,342 hits, 252 home runs, 1,185 RBIs and zero postseason appearances.
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| 1992 Philadelphia Phillies ALS Autograph Party |
Since 2011 he's worked in the Commissioner's office first as an Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations and currently as a special assistant to the Commissioner. Torre had his #6 retired by the Yankees in 2014, the same year he joined the Hall of Fame.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
1969 Season
On March 17th, the Braves traded Torre to the Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda (#385). Braves' ownership had soured on Torre due to an offensive decline, along with his work battling for a collective bargaining agreement with the owners as the team's player representative. Moving to first base for most of the season, Torre batted .289 with 18 home runs and 101 RBIs. Tim McCarver (#475) was the Cardinals' primary catcher, and Torre made 142 starts at first, with only 16 starts behind the plate.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #218
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (35): 1962-81, 1983-85, 1991-93, 2001-09
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter Cycle Succession #CS-5
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 627 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #405
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
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 113th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little over $2. Given his career and longevity in the game, it's kind of odd to find a Torre card with a bunch of commons. But I guess there aren't a lot of dedicated Torre collectors out there, driving up the price of his cards?
The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Torre is wearing a Braves jersey here, and Topps can be forgiven for this as he was acquired from Atlanta late in the spring - see below. The cartoon on the back plays up Torre's offseason job as a stock broker, and the write-up focuses on his star-making offensive numbers along with his defensive prowess. I think the cartoon is supposed to show Torre reading a stock ticker while it's snowing.
Accuracy Index: Torre's card drops to a -8.
1969 Season
On March 17th, the Braves traded Torre to the Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda (#385). Braves' ownership had soured on Torre due to an offensive decline, along with his work battling for a collective bargaining agreement with the owners as the team's player representative. Moving to first base for most of the season, Torre batted .289 with 18 home runs and 101 RBIs. Tim McCarver (#475) was the Cardinals' primary catcher, and Torre made 142 starts at first, with only 16 starts behind the plate.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #218
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (35): 1962-81, 1983-85, 1991-93, 2001-09
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter Cycle Succession #CS-5
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 627 in the Beckett online database as of 11/24/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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