Epitacio "La Mala" Torres Herrera (19 September 1921 – 21 April 1971) was a Mexican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Torres spent 19 seasons playing in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

(LMB), most of them with

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, considered as one of the best players in his position in the LMB's history. He was the first player to accumulate 1000 hits in the Mexican League in 1947 and was enshrined into the

Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame The Salón de la Fama del Beisbol Mexicano (in English, Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame), commonly called the Salón de la Fama (Hall of Fame) is a baseball hall of fame and museum located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, inaugurated on 10 ...

in 1964.

Career

Torres was born on 19 September 1921 in Villaldama, Nuevo León, Mexico. He debuted in the

in 1939, aged 17, with Carta Blanca de Monterrey under manager Guillermo Ornelas, who spotted him playing with a local amateur team from Monterrey, Cuauhtémoc-Cidosa, and invited him to play professionally. He played his first professional game with Carta Blanca against the Cafeteros de Córdoba. "La Mala," nicknamed for his similar playing style to Salvador Malacara, won the 1939 Mexican League Rookie of the Year Award. In 1943,

Lázaro Salazar Lázaro Salazar Vázquez (February 4, 1912 – April 25, 1957) was a Cuban professional baseball outfielder, first baseman, pitcher, and manager in the Negro leagues, playing four major league seasons with the Western Cuban Stars (1930), Pollo ...

was appointed manager of the Industriales de Monterrey (the team changed its name from Carta Blanca to Industriales in 1942). With Salazar, Monterrey won four Mexican League championships in 1943, 1947, 1948 and 1949; Torres was a key player for the team as the first bat for the Industriales, later known as Sultanes since 1948. He played in the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...

for the Tigres de Marianao during the 1943–44 season. In 183 at bats he recorded 27 runs, 49 hits, 14 RBIs and an average of .268. On 12 September 1947, Torres achieved his 1000th career hit in a game against the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their ho ...

at Parque Delta, becoming the first player to do so in the history of the Mexican League. Torres' teammate, Agustín Bejerano, had 999 hits while La Mala was three hits short of the thousand mark. Bejerano was the favorite; however, Torres batted three hits against México's pitcher Fred Martin, achieving the feat. In 1955, while still a player, he was appointed as manager of the Sultanes after the departure of Lázaro Salazar. He finished fifth in 1995 and 1956. In 1957 he was transferred to the

Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (English: Two Laredos Owls), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (English: Nuevo Laredo Owls), are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The Tecolotes are a binational baseball team, spli ...

. He also played for the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

during the 1957 Texas League. Torres retired after the 1957 season. Torres died on 21 April 1971 in Monterrey due to complications from lung cancer, aged 49.

Legacy

Torres was inducted into the

as part of the class of 1964, alongside Ángel Castro, Martín Dihigo,

Ramón Bragaña Ramón "El Profesor" Bragaña Palacios (May 11, 1909 – May 11, 1985) was a Cuban professional baseball catcher, outfielder, third baseman, pitcher, and first baseman in the Negro leagues and the Mexican League. A native of Havana, Cuba, Braga� ...

and

Genaro Casas Genaro (from the Latin Januarius, meaning "devoted to Janus") may refer to *Genaro (given name) *Genaro (surname) Genaro (from the Latin Januarius, meaning "devoted to Janus") is the surname of the following notable people: * Donald Genaro (born 193 ...

. His two sons, Héctor and Ricardo, were also baseball players. Héctor, nicknamed "La Malita" in honor of his father, played in

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 ...

for nine seasons between 1968 and 1977, with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. Ricardo played from 1967 to 1971 in the

with Monterrey and Alijadores de Tampico. On 16 May 1994, the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey (English: Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball club in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Monterrey, Mexico. Established in 1939 as Carta Blanca, the Sultanes have won ten LMB titles, most recently in 2018. Fro ...

officially retired Torres' number 7.

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán () are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. History In February 1958, Venados participated in an international tournament, dubbed the Pan-American Series, against two other c ...

also retired Torres' number 7.

Career statistics

Cuban League

Source:

Managerial statistics

Mexican League

References

External links

an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Epitacio 1921 births 1971 deaths Baseball players from Nuevo León Marianao players Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Mexican expatriate baseball players in Cuba Mexican League Rookie of the Year Award winners San Antonio Missions players Sultanes de Monterrey managers Sultanes de Monterrey players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Venados de Mazatlán players