Tuesday, February 24, 2015

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 MIKE TORREZ

OK, so trying to say long-time Major League pitcher Mike Torrez "missing" from the 1972 set is a bit of a stretch, but it WAS the only set he didn't appear in during the decade, so I went and designed one anyway.
Take a look:


Torrez barely played in 1971, as he split time between the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos (for only one game), totaling 10 games and 39 innings of work.
But in 1972 he would begin a nice run when he posted a 16-12 record with a 3.33 earned run average and 112 strikeouts over 34 games, 33 of which were starts, and 243.1 innings pitched.
During the middle of the decade he did something I always thought was amazing: he won 14 or more games five years in a row, with FIVE different teams!
He won 15 in 1974 with the Expos, 20 in 1975 with the Orioles (of course, right?), 16 in 1976 with the A's, 14 in 1977 (after coming over from Oakland with a 3-1 record) with the Yankees, and then 16 with the Red Sox in 1978.
That's a pretty cool run! He even went on to win 16 games yet again the following year while still pitching for Boston.
By the time he retired after the 1984 season, Torrez fashioned himself a solid 18-year career that saw him go 185-160, with a 3.96 E.R.A., 1404 strikeouts and 15 shutouts over 494 games, 458 of which were starts.
He also won two games in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, pitching a complete game in both starts, yielding a 2.50 E.R.A. with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all…