Jeff Torborg hiring defied logic
Under pressure from ownership, the Mets hire Jeff Torborg as manager. It didn't take long to find out it was a huge mistake.
Jeff Torborg’s brief tenure as manager of the New York Mets defies logic.
Torborg took over the sagging Chicago White Sox in 1989 and by 1991 transformed them into a pennant contending team in the American League West. The Sox had a young, talented roster including Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Ozzie Guillen, Lance Johnson, Sammy Sosa, Jack McDowell, Bobby Thigpen and quality veterans (Carlton Fisk and Tim Raines) made up a core of the team that won 94 games in 1990 and 87 in 1991.
“I didn’t want to leave the White Sox. Why would I?” asked Torborg. “This was a good young team ready to win.”
Then, why?
According to The Worst Team Money Could Buy:
Owner Fred Wilpon, in particular, wanted to homogenize his ballclub … It was Wilpon who ordered Al Harazin to go hire Jeff Torborg … [Wilpon] wanted a manager with a reputation for winning and handling the dreaded press … So, Harazin, without interviewing even one other candidate, went out and made Torborg one of the highest paid managers in baseball …
On the final weekend of the 1991 season, baseball reporter Peter Gammons reported that Torborg’s job was “in jeopardy.” The rumors led to a meeting between Torborg and Sox GM Ron Schueler.
“The Mets called me, and they want to talk with you about the managing job,” Schueler told Torborg.
“Ron, I appreciate it, but I have no interest,” said Torborg. “I’ve got to ask you, where do I fit in with the organization?”
“I think both of us would feel bad if you turned it down and then something happened,” replied Schueler.
Alarm bells started ringing loud and clear in Torborg’s head. He had been backed into a corner: Take the Mets offer (and the money) or wait for the White Sox to fire him?” The writing was on the wall. Torborg had to make a decision.
“When the Mets called, I took the offer,” he said.
Torborg was leaving a young upstart Chicago team — a team he helped build into a contender — for a group of overpaid, underperforming, egomanical veterans in desperate need of wholesale changes.
The 1992 Mets finished 72-90 in fifth place. Eddie Murray refused to speak to the media; the “never normal, always entertaining” David Cone; and Bobby Bonilla’s aloof character; John Franco shouted down fans; and Vince Coleman’s embarrassing on the field tirade. Even Torborg, known for his steady character, eventually lost his cool, succumbing to the media pressure that only New York can heap on a person.
By Opening Day 1993, Torborg knew he was already on the hot seat. He was officially fired after 38 games (13-25).
"Disappointed is the word. I may be even more disappointed than Jeff is. We couldn't go through again in 1993 what we did in '92 … It's a joint failure. We have all let Jeff down -- players, staff and management. I felt like I let Jeff down and he felt like he let me down … I couldn't feel worse about putting him through this. I just told the players that this is about my lowest point in baseball. This is the worst part of the game."— Al Harazin
“It was the best thing for me financially,” said Torborg, ‘but it was the worst move professionally I could have made.”
Torborg hung around the game, mostly on periphery as a broadcaster, until he was hired to replace Felipe Alou as manager the Montreal Expos in 2001. He managed the Florida Marlins (2002-2003), before being fired again.
Torborg passed away on January 19, 2025. He was 83.
