By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Torre has won the third Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Baseball Digest.
A star player during 18 major league seasons and longtime manager for the New York Yankees and four other teams, Torre was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014. He was honored Thursday with an annual distinction that recognizes a living individual “who has made significant contributions to the game.”
Willie Mays won the inaugural award in 2021, followed by Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully last year.
“It is truly an honor to receive Baseball Digest’s Lifetime Achievement Award and I am grateful to my family and the countless people who have been a part of my time in baseball,” Torre said in a news release. “This is even more special because I am following in the footsteps of two of my childhood idols who became dear friends, Willie Mays and Vin Scully.”
The 82-year-old Torre, who grew up in Brooklyn, won four World Series championships and six AL pennants as manager of the Yankees from 1996-2007. He also skippered the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 13 division titles in 29 years on the bench. His 2,326 regular-season wins as a manager rank fifth in major league history.
As a player, Torre broke into the big leagues in 1960 with the Milwaukee Braves and batted .297 with 252 home runs and 1,185 RBIs overall. He made nine All-Star teams and was the 1971 NL MVP with the Cardinals.
Primarily a catcher, first baseman and third baseman, Torre finished with 2,342 hits and an .817 OPS for the Braves, Cardinals and Mets.
After retiring as a manager following the 2010 season, Torre joined MLB as executive vice president for baseball operations. He became a special assistant to Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2020.
In 2002, Torre and his wife, Ali, established the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. The organization provides school services to children exposed to violence, helping them heal from trauma.
His career in Major League Baseball has spanned seven decades as a player, manager, broadcaster, executive and philanthropist.
“Joe Torre has led a remarkable baseball life,” Baseball Digest publisher David Fagley said. “Whether as a player, a Hall of Fame manager, broadcaster or executive, he handled each role with dignity and class and, of course, great success. Joe has been a wonderful ambassador for our national pastime for more than 60 years and we are honored to recognize him.”
Torre was selected in voting by an 18-member panel from a list of candidates that also included Dusty Baker, Bob Costas, Sandy Koufax, Tony La Russa, Rachel Robinson, Bud Selig, Bob Uecker and Bill White, among others.
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