The Rain, Three Parks, and Other Things

You know how Ken Griffey Jr. is the SECOND all-time hits leader by a left-handed outfielder born in Donora, Pennsylvania on November 21st. Well, Earl Torgeson is the SECOND all-time hits leaders by a left-handed hitter born in Snohomish, Washington whose name was Earl1. With that fun fact out of the way, let’s take a look at Torgeson’s path to the v16 Club.

The First Four Days (The Rain)

Earl Torgeson debuted with the Boston Braves on Opening Day 1947. In a testament to the faith the Braves had in his bat and speed, this was after more than three years of overseas military service and an under-performing stint in Seattle of the Pacific Coast League upon his return. Facing the Dodgers is his first game on April 15, Earl went 0-for-4 with a walk.

The April 16 game was rained out.

On April 17, Torgeson collected his first big league hit going 1-for-4 with another walk.

The Braves returned to Boston for their home opener and Torgeson delighted the crowd with a 3 for 3 performance including his first home run.

LEDGER 1: April 18, 1947 vs Philadelphia Phillies

And this was the end of Earl’s first four days in the Major Leagues.

The Next 22 Days (The Other Things)

The Braves continued a mostly uninterrupted home stand for the next several weeks. Thanks to a good eye and timely hitting, Torgeson maintained an on-base percentage above .400 and hit two more ledgers.

LEDGER 2: April 30, 1947 vs Cincinnati Reds

LEDGER 3: May 6, 1947 vs Pittsburgh Pirates

The Braves concluded this run with a trip to New York for a three day, four game series against the Giants.

The Next Three Days (Three Parks)

In the second game of the Sunday double-header against the Giants, Torgeson collected another ledger.

LEDGER FOUR: May 11, 1947 (Game 2) at New York Giants

Remember when his happened a few sentences back in this article and a few days back in the real 1947?

It was rescheduled for May 12 as a simple pick-up while the Braves were in the vicinity of Brooklyn. The starting pitcher for the Dodgers that day was Ralph Branca. At this point, Branca didn’t know he was destined for v-Club lore as the man who would give up Dixie Walker’s 16th and clinching home run two years later and the first pitcher to give up ledgers to two v16 Club members.

LEDGER FIVE: May 12, 1947 at Brooklyn Dodgers

Since this game was scheduled as it was, surely the Braves would now take a short trip to their next game, perhaps back to Boston or down to Philadelphia. After all it’s 1947 and travelling afar still takes a whole day in many cases. No, the Braves hopped on a train (presumably) for the 15+ hour trip from New York to Chicago for a game the next day.

If Torgeson was train-lagged, he certainly didn’t show it. He went 4-for-5 with 5 RBIs and another ledger to open the series against the Cubs.

LEDGER SIX: May 13, 1947 at Chicago Cubs

And if you’re keeping track, that would be three ledgers on three consecutive days. Torgeson was first player to accomplish this and there have only been two more since2.

The End of ‘47

Torgeson played well for the rest of the season, including netting another ledger.

LEDGER SEVEN: July 28, 1947 at St. Louis Cardinals

With this ledger, Torgeson became only the thirty-sixth player to hit ledgers one through seven in a single season. 1947 was clearly a great year for the Earl of Snohomish, both on the field and for Ledger Lore, but now his story couldn’t continue unless he moved to another team.

Another Team, Another League

That team was the Phillies who acquired Torgeson in 1953 in a four-way trade which included future v-Club member Joe Adcock. Granted he was now a few years removed from his very ledger-efficient 1947, but it wasn’t too far fetched that Torgeson could easily get one against his former team in short order. That wasn’t the case.

LEDGER EIGHT: June 5, 1955 (Game 1) vs Milwaukee Braves

It took Torgeson 177 plate appearances in 43 games against the Braves before he hit a home run against them. Turns out it was in the nick of time. Torgeson was purchased by the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline only ten days later amassing only eleven more plate appearances against the Braves in his career.

Torgeson’s two seasons worth of games with the Tigers were statistically unremarkable. However, he was still hitting with enough power to ledger all seven AL opponents in his time with Detroit, starting off with his 100th career home run.

LEDGER NINE: July 8, 1955 vs Kansas City Athletics

LEDGER TEN: July 24, 1955 (Game 1) vs Washington Senators

LEDGER ELEVEN: August 10, 1955 at Cleveland Indians

LEDGER TWELVE: August 13, 1955 vs Chicago White Sox

LEDGER THIRTEEN: August 25, 1955 (Game 2) vs Boston Red Sox

LEDGER FOURTEEN: May 6, 1956 (Game 2) at Baltimore Orioles

Torgeson once again managed to get a needed home run a week before he was traded at the deadline.

LEDGER FIFTEEN: June 9, 1957 vs New York Yankees

This one against the Yankees held much less criticality than the one he squeezed in against the Braves as he would go on to three more against the Yankees before he retired.

Twilight in Chicago

Torgeson wrapped up his induction in Detroit when the White Sox and Tigers squared off in August.

LEDGER SIXTEEN: August 17, 1957 at Detroit Tigers

The remainder of his time with the White Sox and Yankees had little intrigue except to note that he finished his career with at least four home runs against every team except the Braves. If Torgeson’s time with the Phillies had resulted in a few more against his former team, we could have had our first inductee into the v-Club’s Gold level (at least four home runs against every opponent).

As it was, Earl Torgeson had a fine career. By all accounts he was a man of contrasts who is certainly an interesting addition to the v16 Club.

Sources and Further Reading

Earl Torgeson – Society for American Baseball Research