Jeffrey Allen Torborg (born November 26, 1941) is a former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Torborg was signed by Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1963. On September 9, 1965, Torborg caught Sandy Koufax's perfect game. On July 20, 1970, he was the catcher receiving Bill Singer's no-hitter^[1][2] and on May 15, 1973, Torborg also caught the first of Nolan Ryan's 7 no-hitters.

College[edit]

Torborg grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, where he was the catcher on the Westfield High School baseball team.^[3] He caught at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was a 1963 All-American and set the school record for season batting average (.537) that year, which was the national leading average for 100 at bats and under. His .537 average was the highest ever recorded up to that time and since then, only two college players have hit for a better average. His slugging percentage that year (1.032) is also a single-season standard. He led the team with 21 RBI and six home runs.In his three-year career from 1961–63, the Torborg batted .390. His number (#10) was retired in 1992. He still holds the career slugging percentage mark of .684. During his career, the Knights were 15–4–1, 14–4 and 11–5 for a three-year mark of 40–13–1 (.741 winning percentage).

Coaching, managing, and broadcasting career[edit]

After a successful ten-year career as a catcher with the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg switched to coaching. In 1977, he became the manager of the Cleveland Indians (a position he held for three years). He would then be a coach on the Yankees from 1979-1988. In 1989, Torborg left the Yankees to become the manager of the Chicago White Sox. A year later, the White Sox won 94 games which was a 25 game improvement from 1989. For his efforts with the 1990 Chicago White Sox, Torborg won the American League Manager of the Year Award. Torborg would stay with the White Sox for one more year before moving to the New York Mets.

Torborg wasn't as successful with the Mets as he was with the White Sox. A year after leading the White Sox to an 87–75 record, Torborg's 1992 New York Mets posted a 70–92 record. After starting the 1993 season with a 13–25 record, the Mets fired Torborg and replaced him with Dallas Green.

For the rest of the 1990s, Torborg kept busy working as a sportscaster for the likes of CBS Radio and Fox. Torborg returned to managing first with the Montreal Expos in 2001 and then the Florida Marlins in 2002.

In 2003, Torborg was fired from the Florida Marlins after they started off the season 16–22. Jack McKeon was hired to replace him and led them to the 2003 World Series victory. He then returned to broadcasting on Fox. He served as the color commentator for Atlanta Braves games on FSN South and Turner South in 2006, where he was partnered with Bob Rathbun. However, neither Torborg nor Rathbun was retained for the 2007 season.^[4]

Personal life[edit]

Torborg is Danish, the son of a Danish father. His son Dale is a former professional wrestler and his daughter-in-law, Christie Wolf is a bodybuilder and former professional wrestler.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Baseball-Reference.com – managerial record
• Jeff Torborg radio interview WSLR with Doug Miles on YouTube