Tony Torchia

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Anthony Lewis Torchia (born December 13, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois), is a former minor league baseball player and manager. He was a lefthanded throwing, righthanded batting first baseman who played 13 seasons in the minors. Originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox after his rookie season, 1962, and he would spend 24 years in the Boston organization. ^[1]

Torchia holds the distinction of having been the only man who has served as a player, coach and manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox. After he retired as a player in 1974, he coached for the "PawSox" in 1975 (under skipper Joe Morgan). He then managed Class A and AA Boston farm clubs from 1976-82. His first team, the Winston-Salem Red Sox, won the 1976 Carolina League pennant. Torchia returned to Pawtucket as the third manager in the club's AAA history in 1983. After two seasons there, he served as the bullpen coach for the Red Sox in 1985, his only full campaign in Major League Baseball. He then managed Boston's AA New Britain farm club in 1986 before leaving the organization for good. He later sued the Red Sox, claiming he was fired because of a medical disability.

Beginning in 1987, Torchia coached and managed at the minor league level for the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros.^[1] He most recently managed the Mid-Missouri Mavericks in the independent Frontier League.^[2]