JOE TORRE Interviewed by Leo Cloutier: "Good Luck Charm" 1972

hi everybody this is Leo Claudia with malis toight it's indeed a pleasure to have as our guest here today the most valuable player in the National League last year and the player of the year had a tremendous season I'd like to Welcome to our show with the St Louis Cardinals Joe Tor welcome Joe well Leo it's always nice talking to my good luck charm and I just hope it works out the same this year goly I'll never forget last year I talked to you in the morning at this time and you went on and hit three home runs they around too many days like that no it's not going to be today either cuz I'm not going to play so uh but I uh was a pleasure last year to not only to talk to you but to have the year had and I as I say I hope you bring me the same kind of Fortune except maybe bring the club a little more fortun than we had last year I'll see what I can do I'll do my share Jo I'm sure Joe this is the heels of a tremendous season the 1971 you bed 363 you led the league in hits you led the majors in hits you led the league in runs batted in a total bases you had a tremendous campaign well I tell you it's one of those years that you you really dream about but you figure that's as close as you're going to get as dreaming about it and I don't know you you have to be lucky you've got to have guys around you to hit 300 I had three of them and Aloo and Brock and and Simmons they all hit 300 around me so you know makes it a little easier uh for me and a little tougher for the opposing pitches to pitch around me and uh I don't know I I just feel the AST Turf has added an awful lot and of course you got to stay healthy so a few things put together and uh it worked out just fine I'm not not looking to try to top it or better or or do as well this year I'm just hoping to not in my share of runs which is why I bad forth Joe uh there are 400 other major league ball players in the major leagues they were in 71 and they all had the advantage of the asttr turf yet nobody bed 363 363 right-handed and 362 or rather against right-handed pitches and 362 against left-handed P yeah it was consistent I I had really uh had the concentration all year which which really helped me I I sort of wrapped myself up in a game I my wife hardly knew me because uh I was baseball 24 hours a day and uh I I'd start getting myself geared for the night's contest about 3:00 in the afternoon so it it was a full-time job and you really couldn't let down like a lot of times when you're younger or uh even as just a short time back like a couple years ago you get a couple of hits and you sort of relax a little bit and you feel you you know you you've done your work but last year I was just I guess you call it selfish and hungry I just every time up I I wanted to hit and I worked at it and concentrated and I just hope I can uh really retain that concentration this year because after the year over it's all worth it Joe you were hungry not because you were on a diet you were just hungry because you won a tremendous year right although you did lose quite a few pounds didn't you well I lost it actually be it's two years ago uh March and I lost most of the weight uh in 70 and I lost just another five lbs in uh 71 I'm about the same as I was last year right now which is what I'm real happy about I all the Banquets you know how busy I was not only that great when you had in Manchester but uh a lot of a lot of other places around the country and it's a little tough when you're on that kind of a schedule to keep your weight down but I uh managed to work at it that was probably harder to do it for me than to come out here and hit 363 Joe you also hit 24 home runs and for a fellow who hit 24 home runs you only struck out 70 times apparently you were not always swinging for the fences I don't ever swing for the fences if I can help but Leo in a ballpark we play in in uh St Louis it's not a home run hitters ballpark like it like I had in Atlanta and I just go out there and I try to hit line drives and the home runs pretty much take care of themselves I know when I do try at home runs I'm not near as good a hitter as I am when I just go out there and try to make contact Jo and to what do you attribute this sudden surgeon hitting not only the fact that you probably were in better physical condition and carried did not carry as much weight as usual but do you think that the transformation of yourself into a third basement rather than a catcher had anything to do with it at all I think it had an awful lot to do with it Leo it's uh just getting away from Catching you don't realize it until you do it how much uh concentration uh catching takes and uh how much uh how much it takes away from your concentration at the plate because if you tried to concentrate both uh defense and offense as hard equally as hard uh you're going to really burn yourself out by by July and uh just standing around a third base and not having those problems of who the opposing uh hitters are and who they got the pinch hit and if your pitcher has his good slider or as good fast ball and close game in the ninth inning uh how we going to start maze off uh for an example and those things as I say you don't realize that you don't have that problem until you alleviate it it's so true Joey among the categories in which you sted you got 230 hits you are the only the fifth player in 40 years to ever achieved that number of hits you led the league in four different departments you are the only player in 25 years since Stan muel did it in 1948 those are tremendous categories to have achieved in which to have starred I tell you Leo 5 years ago uh if You' have told me I'd have done that or uh and make made the money I've been making the last couple of years uh I'd have to think you were crazy because uh since I come over to St Louis it's just been a tremendous like uh I feel like reincarnation for me I I'm just feel like I'm brand new and starting all over again and I feel younger than I do uh I I feel younger than I did five six years ago I can't give any reason for it except that it's a great feeling and to walk out on the field uh after we traded Richie Allen in after the 1970 season everybody said there's going to be a lot of pressure on you because you're the only guy supposedly supposed to knock in runs on the club with Richie gone and I don't look it as uh as pressure I look at it as responsibility and as long as I can retain that kind of uh knowledge and and and feeling I think we're going to be all right because I like being the one that they look forward to do it and I just hope I don't let them down you're so dedicated and devoted and that's why you play in that fashion Joey you just signed a tremendous contract for 200 a report of $280,000 $130 for this year to150 for next year those are pretty fancy figures well thank stay healthy to collect it now Leo that's the trick cuz uh it's a year-to-year basis even though it's a two-year contract you still got to be able to play next year to to get it and uh yeah it is a I didn't really want a two-year contract I think uh get that straight because a lot of people when I see I turn down $28,000 they figure look at this guy he's a real pig but uh it's just a matter of uh we're talking about two years and one year and I wasn't real sure if I wanted a 2-year contract and it took some thinking and that's what took us all the time to get together and I finally agreed to the 2-year contract so uh we're all happy a big happy family and I just hope I can end my career right here in St Louis and I know if there's a Joe CH he'll want to B not 363 but 364 or better this coming year incidentally all that 363 average uh which you compile I imagine a great deal of that too we haven't mentioned this time was attributable to the fact that you were swinging an Adon de bat manufactured by your brother that's right uh my brother's uh what do I say I'm Batman and he's the bat maker you know he he kept me stock pretty well with the Adon deex this year and uh I I worked with them all winter uh when I wasn't traveling around the Banquets I did some sporting good shows with the adonic people and uh it worked out fine he's finally bragged that I'm his brother and I just hope I can hit 300 again so he can keep bragging that's a good combination the Batman and the Batman Joey one more question uh you certainly covered you mentioned 35,000 miles in the Banquets I saw your map the itinerary of your tour during the winter time and of course I was glad to see that Manchester New Hampshire was on there oh yeah well I can't forget Manchester's free pretty tough to uh to forget an affair such as that uh and uh I hope if I if it come back up there we can find some other food to name me after of course Leo that that fruit cup did raise a few eyebrows I remember your comment about it to before the microphone Joey I noticed that in your itinerary and the listing of the mileage that you covered during the season you had 35,000 for a total I want to add a few more miles because whoever made out their chat only had Manchester 150 mi from Fort Lee and it's really 300 is that right well whoever looked into that that's the one that I looked I tried to look in at ogag on the plane and they didn't have that so uh I I'll make mention it to them it's it was Neil Russo did wrot for the sporting news but for those few miles here and there we're not going to count it however if I paid you on 150 mil for transportation let's leave it that way that's right Joe I certainly want to thank you very much for this interview and I want to wish you another tremendous season if I am your good luck charm I'm going to stay close to you so that you will have one well you won't be able to get away from me if we compete this year don't worry about it thank you very much Joe this was an interview with Joe T the National League Most Valuable Player and the player of the year in baseball 1971 until tomorrow at the same time this is Leo Claudia with mice toan good day thanks brought to you by posterfix at posterfix we bring your vintage posters back to life to learn more about Leo cler's Sports World visit leer.com [Music] what