#200 Joe Torre - Milwaukee Braves

Joseph Paul Torre
Milwaukee Braves
Catcher-First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  212
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 1960-1965; Atlanta Braves 1966-1968; St. Louis Cardinals 1969-1974; New York Mets 1975-1977
As a Manager:  New York Mets 1977-1981; Atlanta Braves 1982-1984; St. Louis Cardinals 1990-1995; New York Yankees 1996-2007; Los Angeles Dodgers 2008-2010
Hall of Fame Induction:  2014

2001 Topps #322

Joe Torre had a successful 18-year career in the Major Leagues 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 N.L. 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 A.L. 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, John McGraw, Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox.

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.

Doug's MLB The Show Headquarters

Building the Set
July 8, 2020 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #117
In need of some cardboard therapy as we approached the four month anniversary of the start of our social distancing, I went on a mini eBay binge the first week of July.  We had a vacation planned for the last week of June, first week of July, and that vacation had been unceremoniously cancelled at some point in April.  Major League Baseball was showing signs of coming back, the Black Lives Matter movement was finally gaining momentum, the pandemic showed no signs of going away any time soon and a complete lack of intelligent national leadership wasn't helping anything or anybody.  I needed some old baseball cards.

17 cards arrived on July 8th, including this Torre card specifically purchased from Dean's Cards as Doug had just unlocked Torre in his MLB The Show video game.  According to Doug, Torre is "a beast" in the game and I can appreciate that his playing video games is helping him learn baseball history.  For the record, he's also added Jackie Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Dale Murphy and Lefty Grove (among others) to his virtual team.

I browsed the Dean's Cards eBay store, setting a reasonable budget and determined to click Buy It Now on 10 cards.  Another group of 7 cards were won in eBay auctions from Greg Morris Cards on the same day.  The 17 cards added put us just over the 20% completion point for our 1965 Topps set.

The Card / Braves Team Set
Torre is shown taking a hack with his #15 showing on the front of his Braves jersey.  The back of the card features a cartoon Indian and Pilgrim, presumably representing Joe Torre and his brother Frank.  Joe's older brother played for the Braves between 1956 and 1960, and the Phillies in 1962 and 1963.

Torre's RBI total of 109 easily led the Braves in 1964 with Hank Aaron (#170) finishing second with 95.  His 193 hits also topped Aaron's 187.  At card #200, this would have been designated a "hero card" had I been opening packs of Topps back in 1965.  As all good collectors knew, anyone with a card number ending with "00," especially through the '60s, '70s and '80s, was obviously someone special.

Torre, at card #12, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Braves in the set.  He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.

1965 Season
Torre again served as the regular catcher for the Braves and again had a strong offensive season.  He hit .291 with 27 home runs and 80 RBIs.  Aaron and Eddie Mathews (#500) finished ahead of him in both power categories.  Torre was the starting catcher in the All-Star Game and caught all nine innings, batting fifth.  He hit a two-run home run off American League starting pitcher Milt Pappas (#270), giving his team a 3-0 lead at the time.  The N.L. All-Stars would hang on for a 6-5 win with Sandy Koufax (#300) getting the win and Bob Gibson (#320) getting the save.

Torre was a surprise choice to win a catching Gold Glove in 1965, as many questioned his defensive abilities behind the plate.  It was the only Gold Glove he'd win during his career.

1962 Topps #218

1971 Topps #370

1978 Topps #109

1985 Topps #438

2009 Topps #131

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #218
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (35):  1962-1981, 1983-1985, 1991-1993, 2001-2009
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2020 Topps Now Turn Back the Clock #89

Torre's appearance in 35 different Topps flagship sets has got to be a record.  I'm keeping track of this data in an Excel spreadsheet and once this set is completed, I'll be very interested to go back and see if anyone else in this set even comes close to Torre's 35.

546 - Torre non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/15/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

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