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Mike Torrez
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 353 of 1233 players
Michael Augustine Torrez
Born: August 28, 1946 at Topeka, Kan.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.05 Weight: 210

Mike Torrez was the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup on November 14, 2005, and January 15, 2015.

First Mets game: April 9, 1983
Last Mets game: June 12, 1984

Share your memories of Mike Torrez HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY: Mr. Sparkle December 21, 2000 He was a loss waiting to happen. HE was a bad pitcher during a very bad time. You knew the Mets were turning things around the day they dropped this lame-o. That was a very happy day in my life. It's right up there with the day George Bamberger quit. flushing flash April 17, 2001 Actually, the Dickie Thon incident came the day AFTER Doc's debut. Doc pitched on a Saturday night, the fourth game of the season. The rotation then was Torrez-Darling-Terrell-Gooden. Torrez second start was a Sunday night. murphy May 2, 2001 You are correct. Gooden's game was before the Torrez beaning. Kooz May 23, 2001 Was released from the Metsies the same day as Dick "Dirt" Tidrow, if memory serves. flushing flash June 1, 2001 Actually, I think Tidrow was released the same day as Craig Swan, sometime in May. I was keeping a game-by-game diary of the 1984 season (still my favorite season in Mets history) and after the June 9 game won by Torrez I wrote "Mike Torrez wins his first game of the year. It would also be his last." Less than a week later he was released and the Mets on June 15th traded for......who? Bruce Berenyi. Don Mallo October 24, 2001 A friend of mine attended Game 4 of this year's ALCS at Yankee Stadium and found himself sitting next to Mike Torrez. Diplomatically, he did not mention Buck Dent, but Torrez made an interesting comment.....he was a team mate of both Roger Maris AND Ricky Henderson. Of course, not at the same time. Torrez was with the Cardinals in the late 60's during Maris' last years and with the 1984 A's during Henderson's early years. Rich S November 12, 2001 Sucked for the Mets (walked 10 in one game, if I recall correctly - and that was a good start), gave up Bucky Dent's homer for the Red Sox in 1978. Oh, and of course, helped the Yankees win the 77 Series. Typical. Gilinfiji January 31, 2002 Most productive thing he ever did as a Met was delivering the left hook to the jaw of then-Braves' pitcher Rick Camp, whoc charged the mound after Torrez plunked him, in retaliation for hitting Mookie Wilson. Poolgal April 23, 2002 The year MT was with the Mets was the worst of his career. However, I remember going to every game played at home when he was pitching for the Yankees and won the World Series. Too bad the games he pitched like those can't be the ones fans remember most. Larry Burns May 30, 2002 This guy was horrible. If a team ever needed a loss, he was the guy to tap (other than Anthony Young). He could not win and he ended the career of Dickie Thon. He will go down in Bosox lore as the guy who gave up the jack to Yankee Bucky Dent. But as luck would have it, he was grateful that Bill Buckner took him off the hook for biggest gag job ever. Robert September 13, 2002 Shutting out the Yankees of Thurman, Reggie, Nettles, and Chambliss in Fenway until two outs in the seventh - getting the better of Guidry until a pop fly beats you is a gag job? Anthony Reccoppa April 1, 2003 One of Cashen's gafs. He was over the hill in 83, and totally dreadful to start 84. Tom Seaver should and could have easily been the 5th starter needed for the 84 pennant run, but Frank and Davey let "the franchise" go (the SECOND time) and let this stooge pitch opening day and get flamed. Tom instead was in the visiting dugout 2 years later watching Jesse Orosco strike out Marty Barrett to win the 86 classic. Rick April 14, 2005 He pitched for 20 years and has beaten every major league team with 185 wins. He was a real pitcher who actually played the whole game, unlike some of the swanks today. Most fans don't know that he had offers to go pro basketball which was his favorite but chose baseball because you could have a longer career. He is the epitome of the American Dream. A poor Mexican kid who worked on a potato farm throwing potatoes into a net with eight brothers and sisters who grows to be 6'5 and is in two World Series. Stop your bitchin' and do your homework. Someone should write a movie on this guy's life. richard morgan November 10, 2005 I saw him pitch many times at Fenway Park, although never at Shea. He was the complete opposite of Craig Swan, at least the many times I saw him, in that Torrez, at least with the Red Sox, seemed to get lots of offensive and defensive help from a strong team while pitching poorly. Wild in and out of the strike zone usually, but always good enough to win usually 11-9 or something like that. Mike was a workhorse and pitched a lot of innings giving the bullpen a rest. It always seemed that the fielders were at their best to help him out, usually making diving catches of hard hit line drives with 2 out and the bases loaded. Kiwiwriter December 28, 2005 The definitive hard-luck pitcher in some ways: served up the fatal home run to Bucky Dent, the fatal terrible of Dickie Thon. Soldiered on some pretty poor teams, including the 1983 Mets, and somehow hung on. I knew him from my newspaper days, and I chatted with him one night when his good performance got rained out, and stupidly said, "Well, you brought your ERA down." He hit the ceiling. I had forgotten that a rainout rains out the stats. He yelled at me and went to Jay Horwitz, the Mets' PR chief, who has been there forever. Horwitz told me I had to apologize. He was right. I did. But I have never felt that was good enough. Some day I want sit down with him and hand him that famous speech by Teddy Roosevelt about being in the arena. It applies to him. flushing flash January 7, 2006 Kiwi: the beaning of Dickie Thon wasn't quite "fatal". Thon actually made it back to the majors two years later. As the Pythons would say "I'm not dead!" Vince L August 19, 2006 One afternoon I decided to watch the Mets play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The game was televised and I turned the sound off because I was not in the mood to hear the announcers that day. Torrez just breezed through the Cubs lineup until late in the game when he gave up a home run. The combination of the silence and Torrez great pitching only to be followed by a 1-0 loss gave the whole experience a strange and eerie glow. Jim January 26, 2008 I was never a big fan of Mike Torrez. Especially watching hm catch the last out of the 1977 World Series. For the Yankees! People forget that he won some big games down the stretch in 77. In fact it was Torrez in relief of Guidry in game five of the ALCS that kept the Yankees in the game and were able to come back and win. I think it was games like this for the Yankees and what he did not do for the Red Sox and the Mets makes it hard for us to speak kindly of him. I do think for the past 30 years he has handled the Dent home run with nothing but class. He is right up there with Ralph Branca. Jonathan Stern May 4, 2012 After Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Mike Torrez was seen in the bowels of Shea Stadium yelling, "I'M OFF THE HOOK!" Sorry, Mike. We still remember the Bucky Dent home run even if the Bill Buckner play was a little more memorable. Nelson December 8, 2021 Never understood why the Yankees didn't re-sign Torrez after the '77 season. He went to their competitor, and had a good season in '78 (until his final pitch of the year, the Dent HR). Instead, the Yankees signed Gossage, while Sparky had just won the Cy Young Award. The Yankees' starting pitching was pretty thin at times in '78, after Guidry and Figgy. If they still had Torrez, they would've won the division in a cakewalk, without that 163rd game. Sadly, Mike was washed up by his Met years, losing his control. Not only did he hit Thon, but he and Gary Carter nearly got into it. He started the year 0-5, finally won a game, then got released. He signed with Oakland and got absolutely bombed; I remember the radio guys cracking up over that.

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