Joe Torre
From The Met Wiki
Joe Torre was an infielder and manager for the Mets. From 1975 to 1977, he batted .267 in 254 games with the team before taking over as its manager. Torre led the Mets for 709 games from 1977 to 1981.
After 15 seasons in the major leagues, Torre came to Mets from the Cardinals in a trade for Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore on October 13, 1974. In the ’75 season, he had 89 hits for 129 total bases in 114 games. In his first game as a Met on April 8, Joe got a run-scoring single in the ninth inning to give the team a 2-1 win over the Phillies in the season opener at Shea Stadium. He drove in all the Mets' runs with a bases-loaded double in a 3-2 victory over the Giants on May 12 at Shea. Torre had four hits (one of which was his first Mets homer) in a 6-2 Mets victory at Cincinnati on May 20. He had two singles, a double and a triple in the Mets’ 7-6 win over the Braves in 14 innings at Shea on June 8. Joe also hit a game-winning homer in the eighth inning for a 4-3 Mets victory over the Braves on July 17 at Shea.
On July 18, 1975, Torre had three singles against the Braves at Shea on his 35th birthday. He also had the bad luck of hitting into four double plays against the Astros three days later. On August 16, Joe hit a two-run homer off Pete Falcone to put the Mets ahead to stay in a 4-2 triumph over the Giants at Shea.
In 1976, Torre hit .306 with 5 home runs and 31 runs batted in. From May 4 to May 11, he had 17 hits in 33 at bats for a .515 batting average during an 8-game hitting streak. Joe had a single and a two-run homer in a 7-5 Mets win in the first game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati on May 16. He also hit two homers for the Mets’ only runs in a 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on June 1.
Torre had an 11-game hitting streak from August 1 to August 13 in ’76. He went 19-for-41 (.463) over this period. In the midst of the streak, Joe was named National League Player of the Week.
Joe got 9 hits in 26 games played in 1977. As a pinch-hitter on April 13, he hit his last career home run in the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Cardinals at Shea. Torre drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a double in the Mets’ 8-2 victory at San Diego on May 1. He got his last RBI with a single in a 5-2 loss at Pittsburgh on May 24.
Still an active player, Torre replaced Joe Frazier as manager of the Mets on May 31, 1977. The team won 7 of its first 8 games with Joe at the helm, but finished the season at the bottom of the National League East Division standings. On June 5 (6-5 Mets win over Phillies) and June 17 (7-1 Mets loss to Astros), Torre made pinch-hitting appearances at Shea to become the first player-manager in Mets history. He was then removed from the active roster to become solely the manager.
Torre’s tenure of five seasons was the longest for a Mets’ manager up to that time. After his dismissal, he led the Atlanta Braves to the National League West Division title in 1982. Joe managed two more seasons in Atlanta and also served as manager for the Cardinals, Yankees and Dodgers.
