Rusty Torres

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Rosando "Rusty" Torres Hernandez (born September 30, 1948 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who happened to be in the ballpark when forfeits were called in three different games in the 1970s.

Torres made his major league debut as a 22-year-old rookie with the New York Yankees on September 20, 1971, singling in four trips against Baltimore; that same day, the Washington Senators announced they would move to Dallas/Fort Worth for the 1972 season. After a 4-for-5 day (with his first major league home run) against Detroit on September 26, the Yankees started Torres in right field for its final three games of the season in Washington - the last three games the Senators would ever play there.

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[edit] Strike One: Senators' last game in Washington

On the season's final day, September 30, the Senators were leading 7-5 with two outs in the top of the ninth when Yankee Horace Clarke stepped to the plate; if he got on, Torres (who already had two hits including a homer) would have been next to bat. Suddenly, outraged Senators fans stormed the field, causing the game to be forfeited to New York. In a 2007 interview, Torres gave his view of the situation: "Bobby Murcer hits a ground ball. He gets thrown at first. They thought it was three outs. It was only two outs. And they rushed us! They rushed the field. They took dirt. People were taking dirt, taking the bases. They were tearing up the seats. It was unbelievable. That was a real scary experience. Thankfully, none of us got hurt." [1]

For the year, Torres hit .385 (10-for-26); unfortunately, Torres hit just .211 in 199 at bats in 1972, and after the season he was dealt to the Cleveland Indians in a six-player deal that brought All-Star Graig Nettles to New York. Torres hit just .205 in 1973, but his excellent defensive skills were enough for him to claim a regular spot in the lineup of the lowly Indians.

[edit] Strike Two: Ten Cent Beer Night

On June 4, 1974, the Indians decided to hold a promotion to attract fans to the park in a game against Texas: the now-infamous Ten Cent Beer Night. Torres did not start the game, but was inserted as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning, delivering a single. Two batters later, John Lowenstein hit a sacrifice fly, tying the game at 5-5, and giving Torres (on second base) the chance to score the game-winning run for Cleveland. But with a crowd that had been consuming as much alcohol as they could for nine innings, the situation finally boiled over. After Texas outfielder Jeff Burroughs violently reacted to a fan stealing his glove, hundreds of fans poured into the outfield, many of them throwing whatever they could lay their hands on, even several chairs. As a result, the head umpire forfeited the contest to the Rangers—the same franchise, of course, as the old Senators.

Perhaps shaken by the ordeal, Torres hit a miserable .187 in 1974 and was traded to the California Angels in a deal that brought future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson to Cleveland. Torres spent the entire 1975 season in the minors before making in back to the bigs and having his best season at the plate in 1976 (a .205 batting average, but with several walks and decent power to make him a near-league-average offensive player that year). After a .156 season in 1977, however, Torres was granted free agency, and was signed by, of all teams, the Texas Rangers in 1978. Before he could play for them, though, Rusty was traded again, in a deal that involved yet another All-Star - Bobby Bonds - and wound up with the Chicago White Sox. Used only as a utility player, Torres managed to hit at a .316 clip (in 44 at-bats) in 1978 and was batting .286 for the 1979 season by the morning of July 12; that night, Torres would start in right field in the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers.

[edit] Strike Three: Disco Demolition Night

Unfortunately, that night the White Sox decided to stage a promotion: Disco Demolition Night. This time, at least, Rusty wasn't on the field when the madness started; the first game had ended and Torres (who had singled and scored the Sox' only run in the 4-1 loss) was in the dressing room when disc jockey Steve Dahl "blew up" a box of disco records, causing thousands of fans to run onto the field, which was eventually cleared by police in riot gear. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson refused to field his team citing safety concerns, which resulted in the forfeiture by the White Sox to the Tigers. Torres finished the 1979 season with a solid .253 average and a career-high eight home runs, but was released. He later played with the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and later in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, where he wrapped up his baseball career in 1981.

[edit] Later life

Today, Torres is founder and president of "Winning Beyond Winning," a group that helps prepare young athletes for a life beyond sports. "We help teach the kids how to excel in sports, but just as importantly, we tell them to make sure they get a well-rounded education." An excellent stickball player as a kid growing up in the Bronx, Torres was inducted into the "Stickball Hall Of Fame" in 2002 [2]. He now teaches a baseball afterschool club for grades 1-2 in St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville, NY.

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