MIKE TORREZ
1946 –
Inducted 2008

Michael Augustine Torrez pitched 18 seasons in the major leagues from 1967-84 and won 185 games, including two games in the 1977 World Series for the New York Yankees. The Topeka, Kansas, native pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos and New York Mets in the National League, and the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A’s, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the American League. Torrez won 15 or more games in six consecutive seasons (1974-79). His best year came in 1975 with the Baltimore Orioles when he posted a 20-9 record with a 3.06 earned run average. Torrez was unique in the fact that he played on both sides of one of the greatest rivalries in sports. After the Yankees’ 1977 championship season, he signed as a free agent with Boston and won 16 games with the Red Sox in 1978. Torrez finished his major league career with a 185-160 record, a 3.96 earned run average, 1,404 strikeouts, pitched over 3,000 innings (3,044) and had 117 complete games. He played in the post-season one time and made the most of it winning a World Series title with the Yankees in 1977. He threw two complete games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning Game 3 (5-3) and Game 6 (8-4). Torrez may have been selected the MVP of the World Series had it not been for a player named Reggie Jackson, who blasted three home runs in the Series-clinching victory. Torrez is also a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame and the Michael A. Torrez Baseball Complex in Topeka is named in his honor. Born August 28, 1946 – Topeka, Kansas. Graduated Topeka H.S., 1964.