When Braves owner Bill Bartholomay, shown on the right in this 1967 photo, signed Joe Torre to a new contract before that season, he made the eventual Hall of Famer the highest paid catcher in baseball.
At $65,000 a year.
“You can’t believe how much that was back then,’’ said Bartholomay, who had just brought the Braves to Atlanta from Milwaukee the year before. “We thought back then that was a lot of money.’’
Torre, who hit the first home run ever at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was coming off a third straight All-Star season, hitting .315 with 36 home runs and 101 RBIs during the inaugural year in Atlanta in 1966.
How much have salaries changed in major league baseball? Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was the NL starter in the All-Star Game last year and made $15 million. He did so hitting .282 with seven homers and 38 RBIs in 110 games, losing time because of a thumb injury.
When Torre signed his deal, he had been the club’s starting catcher since 1961 but his numbers dropped off the next two years in Atlanta, with 20 homers and 123 RBIs combined in ’67 and ’68. In ‘69, he was traded to St. Louis for Orlando Cepeda.
The Cardinals got the better end of the deal. Cepeda was on the downside of his Hall of Fame career while two years later, Torre hit .363, drove in 137 runs and scored 230 runs for the Cardinals and was named National League MVP.
The most Torre made in his 18-year playing career was $150,000 in 1974 with the Cardinals.
Interestingly, when Torre signed his 1967 contract, Hank Aaron was given a three-year deal at $92,500 a season. The most Aaron made during his 23-year career was $240,000 in each of his last two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Torre’s baseball playing career ended in 1977 with the Mets. He would make millions as a manager, though it was a somewhat bumpy road at first. Torre spent six seasons managing the Mets, three with the Braves and six with the Cardinals before winning four world championships in 12 seasons with the Yankees. Torre retired after two seasons with the Dodgers.
In 29 years as a manager, Torre went 2,326-1,997 and the veterans committee voted him into the Hall of Fame last summer. he went in with Braves manager Bobby Cox and pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.
Now 74 and working for MLB as an executive vice president for baseball operations, Torre’s reported net worth today at $60 million.
