Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create trading cards for players missed in various sets over the years. It is a concept I borrowed from far too many to list, but I thank them all.
Catcher Jeff Torborg was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers sometime prior to the 1963 season. After making his MLB debut in 1964, he played with the Dodgers through the 1970 season. He was traded to the California Angels and played with that team for three seasons, before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He never played for the Cards though, as he was released in Spring Training, ending his career. All told, in 10 seasons, he played in 574 games, batting .214 with eight homers, 101 RBIs and 78 runs scored. He caught no-hitters from Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.
For his efforts, Torborg got cards in Topps sets 1965-73. He was omitted from the '74 set, which is understandable since he was traded in December and his future was uncertain. As I prepared to create his missing card, I found Gio from When Topps Had (Base)Balls already made a beauty. Gio's site has hundreds of awesome digital cards. He often beat me to creations, but at least I can give him his props.
Back to Torborg, he also appeared in some television shows during his career. Recently, Jeff Torborg: A Wonderful Baseball Life was released. I interviewed Jeff's son Dale (a former MLB coach) about the documentary at Talking Travel with Dale Torborg.
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