| Kelvin Torve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman | |
| Born: (1960-01-10)January 10, 1960 (age 65) Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 25, 1988, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 24, 1991, for the New York Mets | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .226 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 4 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .271 |
| Home runs | 20 |
| Runs batted in | 93 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Kelvin Curtis Torve (born January 10, 1960) is a formerMajor League Baseball andNippon Professional BaseballFirst baseman, and current head coach of theAmerican Legion Baseball Post 22 Hardhats inRapid City, South Dakota.[1] Torve batted left and threw right.
Torve was drafted by theSan Francisco Giants in the second round of the1981 Major League Baseball draft. Over four seasons in the Giants'farm system, Torve batted .284 with 36home runs and 227runs batted in. On April 9,1985 he was traded to theBaltimore Orioles for minor leaguepitcher Tommy Alexander. He batted .262 with 28 home runs and 150 RBIs over three seasons in the Orioles' farm system.
After the1987 season, Torve signed as aFree agent with theMinnesota Twins. He spent most of the1988 season in triple A with thePortland Beavers, but came up to Minnesota in late June. He hit the only major league home run of his career on June 27 off theCalifornia Angels'Stew Cliburn.[2] His only other RBI came on July 5 to blow asave forHall of FamecloserLee Smith.[3] He went 3-for-16 in his one month stint with the Twins before returning to triple A in late July. He spent the entire1989 season in Portland, where he batted .291 with eight home runs and 62 RBIs.
Torve signed with theNew York Mets for the1990 season. He made his Mets debut on August 7, and in his first Metsplate appearance, he was hit by aJosé DeJesús pitch.[4] More importantly, he made his Mets debut wearing number 24. Torve was the first Mets player to wear number 24 since the legendaryWillie Mays played for the Mets in1973. Then-team ownerJoan Payson had promised Mays that the Mets would not reissue number 24, so that it would not be worn again by a player on a New YorkNational League team in recognition of his years with theNew York Giants. The number remained unofficiallyretired after Payson died and the team was sold by her family toDoubleday and Company and toFred Wilpon, chairman of the board ofSterling Equities.
Equipment manager Charlie Samuels realized his mistake after receiving complaints from fans, and reissued Torve number 39 during the California road trip that began August 17. Torve kept the number for the remainder of the Mets' home stand, however, and batted .545 with twodoubles and two RBIs in his short stint in Willie Mays' number.[5] Number 39 batted .185 with no RBIs.
Torve joined the Mets again in1991 in late June. He had eightat bats without ahit.
In1992, Torve signed with theOrix BlueWave, where he became teammates with eighteen year old phenomIchiro Suzuki. His first season in Japan got off to a slow start, but he turned it around, and led the team with a .305 batting average. His eleven home runs and 58 RBIs were third on the team (behindSatoshi Takahashi &Kazuhiko Ishimine in both cases). In his second season with Orix, Torve batted .232 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs.
· Baseball Almanac