Clifford Earl Torgeson (January 1, 1924 – November 8, 1990) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player from

Snohomish, Washington Snohomish () is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 10,126 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located on the Snohomish River, southeast of E ...

. A

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, he played on five teams for 15 years, from 1947 through 1961. He was known by his middle name, Earl, and his nickname was "The Earl of Snohomish", a nickname originally owned by

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

Earl Averill Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-tim ...

, also from Torgeson's hometown. In 1950, Torgeson led the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) with 120

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

and in 1957, he led the American League (AL) with a .999

fielding average In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

as a first baseman.

Early years and baseball

Torgeson was born in the lumber town of Snohomish, Washington on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

of 1924. He attended Snohomish High School and he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during World War II from 1943 to 1945. After the war, he played for Seattle in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Major League baseball

Torgeson had a lifetime .265

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 149

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 740 RBI and a .989

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. His best batting average for a full season was .290 and his highest home run total was 24. His career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

was .385 (the league average for the years he played is .339) and in , when he led the

with 120 runs scored, his on-base percentage was .412. Torgeson's peak years for drawing walks were and , when he drew 119 and 102 respectively. In 1959, he helped the White Sox win the American League Pennant. In one game in 1959, during an inning against

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where the

White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Fie ...

scored 11 runs on one hit, he got a pinch-hit walk. Torgeson was a regular player for nine years, and he would have been a regular in 1949 if not for a shoulder injury in May and broken thumb in August 1949 (also a broken rib when

hit by a pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

in 1950). He played another five years as a role player. As a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

, as per earlier in his career, his patience at the plate was key to his value. In , for example, playing out the string for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, he hit only .111 in 18

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

, but drew eight walks for a .385 on-base percentage. In Torgeson's final season of , he was sold by the

to the New York Yankees. Torgeson managed only three total hits in 33 at-bats between the two teams, playing also exclusively as a pinch hitter. The Yankees converted Torgeson from a player to a coach on September 2; the Yankees went on to defeat the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

in the World Series later that year. Torgeson did not appear in the World Series as a player, but was still part of the team as a coach. Torgeson is also notable for his

base stealing In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

. Although his highest total for a baseball season was only 20, it came during a period in baseball when almost no one stole bases, especially not first basemen. For the short period (1950–1952) that they had

Sam Jethroe Samuel Jethroe (January 23, 1917 – June 16, 2001), nicknamed "the Jet", was an American center fielder in Negro league and Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati & Cleveland Buckeyes he won a pair of batting titles, hit .340 over seven se ...

(who won bases stealing crowns in and ) and Torgeson, the

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The club was founded in Boston, ...

had the best base stealing tandem in baseball. In , with a combined total of 50

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, the Jethroe-Torgeson duo stole more bases than every other team in the

, except for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

Personal life and death

Torgeson returned to Snohomish County and served as a

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the County (United States)#County government, county government in some U.S. state, states of ...

and later the director of the county Department of Emergency Management. He died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at his home in

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

on November 8, 1990. He was 66 years old.

References

External links

The Deadball Era
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torgeson, Earl 1924 births 1990 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Detroit Tigers players Chicago White Sox players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen New York Yankees coaches Sportspeople from Snohomish, Washington Baseball players from Snohomish County, Washington Minor league baseball managers Wenatchee Chiefs players Seattle Rainiers players Spokane Indians players Deaths from leukemia in Washington (state) United States Army personnel of World War II American expatriate baseball people in Nicaragua

Early years and baseball

Major League baseball

Personal life and death

See also

References

External links