Who is the man: Hector Torres played in just 31 games for the Astros in 1970 before he was traded to the Cubs, for shortstop Roger Metzger, in October.
Can ya dig it: Torres is likely wearing the Astros jersey over the collared warm-up jacket that he was wearing on his 1970 Topps card.
Right on: Even though he is featured as a Cub on both his 1971 and 1972 cards, Torres is not wearing any sign of Cubs gear on either card. His '72 card is very similar to this one.
You see that cat Torres is a bad mother: Torres pitched the Monterrey, Mexico, Little League team to the LL World Series title in 1958.
Shut your mouth: After appearing in the '72 Topps set, Torres disappeared from Topps cards until he was playing with the Padres in the 1976 set. Torres, who was a good fielder but struggled at the plate, played the entire 1974 season for the minor league Hawaii Islanders.
No one understands him but his woman: Torres was the first player to play for both Canadian major league teams. He played for the Expos in 1972 and he played in 91 games for the expansion Blue Jays in 1977. You can only find Torres as an Expo on a team issued postcard. And you can only find him as a Blue Jay on a team post card or on one of those Sportscaster series cards.
(A word about the back): Torres was the first Mexican Little League alumnus to be signed to a major league contract.
Do you intentionally crop out the edge wear, or are your '71's actually that pristine?
ReplyDeleteSometimes the edges get cropped, sometimes they're that pristine. In this case, the wear on the bottom edge got cropped. The only reason edges get cropped is because a lot of cards from that period are miscut and to include full card I'd have to feature a wide scan and that doesn't look good.
DeleteIf you look through other posts, you'll see some worn cards.
Also of note, he hit the first grand slam in Blue Jays history, off of Ron Guidry.
ReplyDeleteTorres could play 2B, SS, and 3B. That would make him a much in-demand utilityman in today's game when skippers carry 12 pitchers. I could see him as a favorite of Joe Maddon type.
ReplyDelete