Home Sports Jeff Torborg, 1990 AL Manager of the Year and 10-year MLB catcher, dies at 83

Jeff Torborg, 1990 AL Manager of the Year and 10-year MLB catcher, dies at 83

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Jeff Torborg, 1990 AL Manager of the Year and 10-year MLB catcher, dies at 83

Former MLB coach and player Jeff Torborg died Sunday at the age of 83. The news was first announced by the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Torborg won the American League Manager of the Year award in 1990 for leading the Chicago White Sox to a 94-68 finish in the American League West. That was a 25-game improvement over the White Sox’s previous season, during which they finished last in the division with 69 wins.

Unfortunately for Torborg and the White Sox, MLB was still made up of two divisions in 1990 (the Boston Red Sox finished first in the American League East that season with a record of 88-74). Had there been a wild card team in the playoffs or three divisions? —which MLB implemented four years later—Chicago would have qualified for the postseason.

The White Sox noted Torborg’s death on social media, as did Ozzie Guillen, who played three seasons for him.

That 1990 season was Torborg’s best in his 11 years as a major league manager. The White Sox went 87-75 the following season. He also managed the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins during his career.

When he started with the Indians in 1977, Torborg was the youngest manager in MLB at 35 years old. He was nearly named captain of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976, but the team opted to hire Tommy Lasorda. (That worked out quite well, as Lasorda won two World Series titles and 1,599 games, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.)

Torborg finished with an overall record of 634–718 and never led a team to the postseason.

He was also a manager for the New York Yankees from 1979 to 1988 and a broadcaster for CBS Radio and Fox for six years before returning to managing in 2000.

Torborg played 10 seasons in the majors as a catcher for the Dodgers and California Angels. He batted .214 with a .533 OPS, eight home runs, 42 doubles and 101 RBIs in his career and was part of the Dodgers’ 1965 World Series championship team.

However, Torborg’s most notable accomplishments as a player were catching Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965, Bill Singer’s no-hitter in 1970, and Nolan Ryan’s first no-hitter in 1973.

Torborg’s number 10 jersey was retired by Rutgers in 1992 and he was inducted into the school hall of fame two years later. He earned All-American honors in 1963 and set a program record with a .540 batting average.

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