Torre, Joe (Joseph Paul Torre, Jr.), 1940–, American baseball player and manager, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Torre first played major league ball as a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves (1960–68), then moved (1969–75) to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1971 he led the National League in batting and was named the league's most valuable player. Traded to the New York Mets in 1975, he retired from active play two years later; he then managed (1977–81) the team, but did not have a single winning season. He later skippered (1982–84) the Atlanta Braves, was a sportscaster in the later 1980s, and managed (1990–95) the St. Louis Cardinals. Hired (1995) by the New York Yankees, Torre led the team to a dozen consecutive American League playoffs (1996–2007) and four World Series titles (1996, 1998–2000), and became baseball's highest-paid manager. After the 2007 season, Torre declined the Yankees' offer of a one-year contract and became (2007–10) the Los Angeles Dodgers' manager.
See his Chasing the Dream (1997) and The Yankee Years (2008).
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