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Undeniable facts about Jeff Torborg

AG/DC Jun 18 2008 09:32 AM

Managed four teams, five if you count Florida and Montreal seperately, but only one with a winning record. Had a son who was his trainer, and wrestled under the name "The Demon," in Gene Simmons-trademark makeup. Gave up the ship with Florida in fourth place at 16-22 in 2003, only to see them led to a championship by his successor. In an otherwise forgettable playing career, he caught three no-hitters, each by a guy who would at one time or another be on the Met payroll: Sandy Koufax, Bill Singer, and Nolan Ryan. Said "Wait until you see Bill Pecota."

seawolf17 Jun 18 2008 09:34 AM

Why now? Is he dead?

Benjamin Grimm Jun 18 2008 09:37 AM

I remember, during his post-managing days, he was in the broadcast booth during a game I was watching, and he said, "I have a grandson who's a pig." And he didn't mean a slob; he meant the four-legged kind of pig with a curly tail.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 18 2008 09:39 AM

Took No. 10 from Dave Magadan when named manager.

soupcan Jun 18 2008 09:49 AM

Wore big ugly glasses and was on the cover of the '92 yearbook which was voted 'Yearbook With Largest Number of Douchebag Mets on Cover'

SteveJRogers Jun 18 2008 10:10 AM

Hope you aren't putting Eddie Murray on the douchebag list with Sabes, Bobby Bo and Torborg.

Willets Point Jun 18 2008 10:12 AM

I always thought Torborgasm would be a funny handle for the Mofo.

AG/DC Jun 18 2008 10:15 AM

While working as a Braves broadcaster in the nineties, he inspired a fan club to dub themselves "Torborg South."

metirish Jun 18 2008 10:16 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 18 2008 10:23 AM

I remember his stint on FOX as a color commentator , I remember not liking him. Torborg was the 1990 AL Manager of the Year with the White Sox.

batmagadanleadoff Jun 18 2008 10:18 AM

Went out of his way to acquire his beloved Dick Schofield. Gave Schofield almost 500 PA's. Confiscated Mag's #10

AG/DC Jun 18 2008 10:20 AM

Dick Schofield was his beloved? That's a fact? Do dish!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 18 2008 10:26 AM

Willets Point wrote: I always thought Torborgasm would be a funny handle for the Mofo. It's not too late for that to be funny here. Chage that ID!

batmagadanleadoff Jun 18 2008 10:30 AM

AG/DC wrote: Dick Schofield was his beloved? That's a fact? Do dish! Torborg loved that guy. In a platonic baseball sort of way. Like the way Wilpon loved Ordonez.

AG/DC Jun 18 2008 10:35 AM

Yeah,maybe, but we're definitely spilliing out of the "undeniable facts" territory.

soupcan Jun 18 2008 10:37 AM

SteveJRogers wrote: Hope you aren't putting Eddie Murray on the douchebag list with Sabes, Bobby Bo and Torborg. Oh yes I am. Surly bastard.

batmagadanleadoff Jun 18 2008 10:43 AM

Worst Team Money Could Buy.

Grote15 Jun 18 2008 10:53 AM

Was Rutgers first baseball All American & caught a Koofoo no hitter

batmagadanleadoff Jun 18 2008 11:09 AM

soupcan wrote: ... the cover of the '92 yearbook which was voted ... 1992 Yearbook. 1991 uniforms. (No William Shea commemorative "S" patch).

Frayed Knot Jun 18 2008 11:16 AM

Ownership was so anxious to portray him as the father-like figure of the newer family-friendly Mets (following the bleach & firecracker years) that he was set up with a daily chat on WFAN rather than the once-a-week shows most mgrs have had since. He was on that station so often that Lupica took to calling him 'Jeff from Flushing' McKeon's run to the World Series after taking over from Torborg in Florida was helped A LOT by the fact that they brought up Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis right around the time of the switch.

metsguyinmichigan Jun 18 2008 11:39 AM

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="soupcan"]... the cover of the '92 yearbook which was voted ... 1992 Yearbook. 1991 uniforms. (No William Shea commemorative "S" patch). And nice uniforms, too -- the racing stripes AND buttons down the front. The dreaded "wardrobe of failure" as dubbed by Metstradamus would follow.

HahnSolo Jun 18 2008 03:19 PM

Liked to say his teams "hit the dickens out of the ball."

G-Fafif Jun 18 2008 03:51 PM

He did Davis Optical ads on Diamondvision. In early 1993, I saw it and I started booing loudly. Others picked up on it. Two weeks later he was fired. Hands down my least favorite manager.

Farmer Ted Jun 18 2008 04:24 PM

The Mrs. and I were on the Diamond Club elevator with him a few years back. He was in his Expos uniform and it appeared going to one of the broadcast booths for a pre-game interview. I was encouraged NOT to urinate on him. God, I wanted to piss on his blue, smurf cleats sooo bad.

SteveJRogers Jun 18 2008 06:43 PM

="Frayed Knot"]Ownership was so anxious to portray him as the father-like figure of the newer family-friendly Mets (following the bleach & firecracker years)that he was set up with a daily chat on WFAN rather than the once-a-week shows most mgrs have had since. He was on that station so often that Lupica took to calling him 'Jeff from Flushing' Actually the bleach and firecracker incidents happened after Torborg was fired on May 19th, 1993. Both happened in July of 1993. From the New York Times, 8/11/1993 ]In a statement released by the Mets yesterday, Bret Saberhagen admitted responsibility for the July 27 bleach-spraying incident in the Shea Stadium clubhouse. The pitcher agreed to make amends for his actions and offered a formal apology both for his behavior that night and for his failure to acknowledge his role at an earlier date... Vince Coleman will be arraigned today in Los Angeles on a felony charge of igniting an explosive outside Dodger Stadium on July 25. And Saberhagen had previously admitted to tossing fireworks at a group of reporters in the locker room.

Herb Gardner Jun 18 2008 07:00 PM

="soupcan"]Wore big ugly glasses and was on the cover of the '92 yearbook which was voted 'Yearbook With Largest Number of Douchebag Mets on Cover' Yeah but those glasses were spring loaded, remember

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 18 2008 07:02 PM

Herrrrb

Herb Gardner Jun 18 2008 07:09 PM

Duuude....

Kong76 Jun 18 2008 07:11 PM

Uhhhh ...

SteveJRogers Jun 18 2008 07:47 PM

soupcan wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Hope you aren't putting Eddie Murray on the douchebag list with Sabes, Bobby Bo and Torborg. Oh yes I am. Surly bastard. Great teammate though. And once he felt comfortable with a writer that they weren't going to do what that guy in Baltimore early on did, he really would be a great introspective guy to talk to.

batmagadanleadoff Jun 19 2008 08:17 AM

metsguyinmichigan wrote: ="batmagadanleadoff"] ="soupcan"]... the cover of the '92 yearbook which was voted ... 1992 Yearbook. 1991 uniforms. (No William Shea commemorative "S" patch). And nice uniforms, too -- the racing stripes AND buttons down the front. Those front buttons were a huge improvement to the racing stripes. The pullovers were over.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 19 2008 10:24 AM

Fact: Torborg comments on a radio show, from Neil Best of Newsday-- ]Jeff Torborg weighs in on the Willie Randolph firing! Jeff Torborg, a ghost of Mets managerial flops past, was on XM Satellite Radio Wednesday recalling his own awkward end: “To this day, I don’t know if the Mets know quite how to fire their managers…I was fired at home, but I had not spoken to the general manager for four days prior to my firing…He originally would come down every night. "When I was fired, I came to a host of cameras. It was suggested I come in through the bullpen. I said, ‘I’m not going to go in through the back door here...’ I woke up that morning listening to the news that I had been fired…I was not flown across country. I was attacked [by the media] outside Shea Stadium. "It’s unbelievable to me…Willie has an impeccable reputation. Captain of the New York Yankees, that’s really something special, then a trusted coach for a number of years, now he takes the Mets and does, what I thought a terrific job…” Torborg on his reaction to the owners telling him not to take his firing personally: "It’s almost like you’re being patted on the head. Don’t make a comment that this is not personal…It’s certainly personal to the one who is losing his job and whose family is disrupted.”

Frayed Knot Jun 19 2008 10:32 AM

Remember that the news of Torborg's firing broke during the day (as he mentions above) but wasn't delivered until after the game was over (those leaks again) -- a game [url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199305190.shtml]in which the Mets scored several times[/url] in the 9th to tie it and again in the 10th (Bonilla 2R HR) to win the type of game they hadn't been able to win all year. Didn't help Torborg though.

G-Fafif Jun 19 2008 04:51 PM

Mets Walkoffs recently [url=http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/05/not-even-walk-off-could-save-him.html]remembered[/url] the final Torborgasm. ]As the newspapers described the next day, the crowd went bananas. It was the kind of win that could turn a team's fortunes around. Except that these were the 1993 Mets. I was actually a bit disappointed they won, 'cause I didn't think Torborg deserved to go out with a winning percentage better than .333.

AG/DC Jun 19 2008 08:25 PM

That's a weird thought.

G-Fafif Jun 19 2008 11:33 PM

It was a weird year.