VINTAGE BASEBALL MEMORABILIA

Vintage Baseball Memorabilia

Mike Torrez

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
6-5, 220lb (196cm, 99kg)
Born: August 28, 1946  in Topeka, KS us
Debut: September 10, 1967 (12,645th in major league history)
vs. PIT 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER
Last Game: July 27, 1984
vs. SEA 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 2 ER
Full Name: Michael Augustine Torrez

Mike Torrez Debut –

September 10, 1967 (12,645th in major league history) vs. PITTSBURGH,  0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1967

Reggie Jackson
Graig Nettles
Rod Carew
Johnny Bench
Tom Seaver
Jerry Koosman
Amos Otis
Sparky Lyle
Aurelio Rodriguez

Notable Events and Chronology for Mike Torrez Career

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

December 4, 1974

Montreal Expos send OF Ken Singleton and P Mike Torrez to the Orioles for P Dave McNally, OF Rich Coggins, and minor league pitcher Bill Kirkpatrick

April 2, 1976

Why was REGGIE JACKSON traded to Baltimore

June 25, 1977

Mike Torrez outduels Luis Tiant to give the Yankees a 5 – 1 win over the Red Sox. Graig Nettles’ 3-run homer is the big blow. New York now trails the Sox by three games.

August 7, 1977

Mike Torrez snaps a three-game Yankee losing streak with his third straight victory. The Yankees will win 20 of their next 23 games over Western Division opponents.

August 12, 1977

For the second straight day‚ Oakland’s Manny Sanguillen foils a no-hit bid. Today’s single is off the Orioles’ Jim Palmer‚ who settles for a 2-hit, 6 – 0 victory. Yesterday’s hit was off the Yankees’ Mike Torrez‚ who finished with a 3 – 0 two-hitter.

August 15, 1977

Mike Torrez throws his 5th straight complete game, a 6 – 2 win over the White Sox. New York is now just 4 1/2 games in back of Boston.

August 19, 1977

1977 – Backed by homers from Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent, Mike Torrez hurls his 6th complete game in a row and New York beats Texas, 8 – 1. The Yanks are now 2 1/2 games back of Boston.

November 4, 1977

1977 – The second free agent re-entry draft is held at the New York Plaza Hotel. Big names include Lyman Bostock, Goose Gossage, Larry Hisle, Mike Torrez and Oscar Gamble.

November 23, 1977

Free agent pitchers Mike Torrez and Dick Drago come to terms to play for the Boston Red Sox.

June 24, 1978

The Red Sox lose the first of two games with Minnesota, 5 – 4, to stretch their losing streak to five games. Rod Carew’s two-run double in the 6th inning, off Dick Drago, gives the Twins the 5 – 3 lead. In the nitecap, the Red Sox score four runs in the 6th inning to win, 4 – 2, overcoming the loss of starter Mike Torrez, who is tossed in the 1st inning for protesting a balk call. Carl Yastrzemski drives home a run, collecting his 1,500th career RBI, and Carlton Fisk hits his 15th homer of the year.

July 14, 1978

Texas Rangers pitcher Fergie Jenkins allows three solo homers – one to Fred Lynn and two to Dwight Evans – in beating Boston, 4 – 3. Bert Campaneris homers off Mike Torrez (11-5).

August 3, 1978

The Red Sox score two runs in the 17th to win, 7 – 5, on RBIs by Rick Burleson and Jim Rice. Ex-Yankee Mike Torrez then stops New York, 8 – 1, in a rain-shortened game.

September 7, 1978

The Yankees take game one of the Boston Massacre with a 15 – 3 route

September 16, 1978

the Yankees walk off on Thurman Munson Sacrifice fly vs Red Sox

October 2, 1978

Bucky Dent’s unlikely home run helps the New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox in a dramatic one-game playoff

July 26, 1983

Mookie Wilson walkoff vs Braves

July 31, 1983

In the nitecap of a doubleheader, Pirates rookie Jose DeLeon holds the Mets hitless for 8 1/3 innings before Hubie Brooks singles, but Mets starter Mike Torrez pitches 11 shutout innings himself and New York goes on to win, 1 – 0, in 12 innings. In his previous start, DeLeon had held the Padres hitless for 6 1/3 innings. Mets reliever Jesse Orosco wins both games with four innings of relief in the 11-inning opener, and an inning in the nitecap.

April 8, 1984

Houston Astros shortstop Dickie Thon is hit in the face by a Mike Torrez pitch

May 30, 1992

Scott Sanderson becomes the ninth pitcher to beat all 26 major league teams as the Yankees defeat Milwaukee, 8 – 1. Sanderson joins Doyle Alexander, Rich Gossage, Tommy John, Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Mike Torrez and Rick Wise, as those who have defeated every club.

Biography

 
Mike Torrez won more than 15 games six seasons in a row (1974-79) for five different teams. The 6’5″ Kansan first achieved consistency with the Expos in 1972, winning 16 games. In 1975 with Baltimore, he went 20-9 with a league-leading .690 winning percentage. He was sent to Oakland in the 1976 seven-player trade that brought Reggie Jackson to the Orioles. Torrez won 16 that year (including three straight shutouts) and 17 in 1977 for the A’s and Yankees. He helped New York to a pennant with seven straight wins in July and August. He threw two complete-game victories in the ’77 World Series against the Dodgers and was the beneficiary of Jackson’s three home runs in the sixth and final game.

Torrez signed as a free agent with the Red Sox after the 1977 season, and in 1978 became Boston’s Ralph Branca. In the tension-filled playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox on October 2, he allowed Bucky Dent’s short and dramatic game-winning three-run homer.

Torrez was traded to the Mets in 1983 and lost a league-high 17 games. Typically wild, he led his league in walks for the third time in his career. On April 8, 1984, in his final season, he threw a pitch that struck Houston all-star shortstop Dickie Thon above the eye@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IC0gLSAtIC0gLSAtIC0gIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@