General
Jeff Torborg, Catcher of Three No-Hitters and a Manager, Dies at 83
He called every pitch of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965. After 10 seasons playing in the majors, he skippered the White Sox and the Mets.
Jeff Torborg, an unassuming baseball lifer who caught three no-hitters, including Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965, and as a manager revived the Chicago White Sox but flopped spectacularly with the New York Mets, died on Sunday in Port Orange, Fla. He was 83.
His death, in a hospital, was announced by the White Sox, with whom he won American League Manager of Year honors in 1990. He had struggled in recent years with Parkinson’s disease, his son Greg said.
During his 10 seasons playing in the majors, most of them as a backup catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Torborg had a reputation as a durable, cerebral backstop who couldn’t hit — a deficiency he overcame with the value he added in adroitly managing pitchers.
“I’ve always enjoyed the thinking side, the mechanical side of the game,” he told The Sporting News in 1973. “I’ve always gotten a thrill from doing something that doesn’t show up in the box score, like preventing a wild pitch.”
Torborg was one of just 18 catchers in Major League Baseball history to catch at least three no-hitters. His first — Koufax’s perfect game, during which the lefty struck out 14 Chicago Cubs batters — is among the greatest pitching performances ever.
It was only Torborg’s second season in the big leagues. He called every pitch of the game.
“Sandy didn’t shake off too many pitches in this particular game,” he said in a 2005 interview with Chicago Baseball Museum historian George Castle.
