Baseball Digest on Thursday presented its third annual Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have made “significant contributions” to the game of baseball, to Joe Torre for his work as a player, manager, broadcaster, executive and philanthropist.  

Torre joins Willie Mays (2021) and Vin Scully (2022) as the first three recipients of the award.  

“Joe Torre has led a remarkable baseball life,” said Baseball Digest publisher David Fagley. “Whether as a player, a Hall of Fame manager, broadcaster or executive, he handled each role with dignity and class and, of course, great success. Joe has been a wonderful ambassador for our national pastime for more than 60 years and we are honored to recognize him with our 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.” 

Torre, who currently acts as a Special Assistant to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, had an 18-year playing career from 1960-77 in which he was a lifetime .297 hitter, earning nine All-Star selections and taking home the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player Award, a season in which he also won a batting title.

After serving as player/manager of the Mets in 1977, Torre became a full-time manager in 1978 and spent 29 seasons in that role with the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees and Dodgers. His greatest success as a manager came with the Yankees, as he took home four championships across five seasons from 1996-2000. His 84 career wins in the playoffs are the most in MLB history; his 2,326 regular-season wins rank fifth on MLB’s all-time list. Torre was elected to the Hall of Fame as a manager in 2014.  

From 1985-90, he worked as a broadcaster with the Angels and served as an analyst for NBC’s “Game of the Week” and ESPN. In 2011, Torre joined the Commissioner’s Office as MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations before shifting to a special assistant role in 2020.  

Away from baseball, Torre and his wife, Ali, have a long history of philanthropic work. The Torres created the Safe at Home foundation in 2002 to provide in-school safe spaces for children affected by domestic and community violence. Their Margaret’s Place program, specializing in trauma healing for these children, is currently offered in 20 schools in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York state.  

“It is truly an honor to receive Baseball Digest’s Lifetime Achievement Award and I am grateful to my family and the countless people who have been a part of my time in baseball,” Torre said. “This is even more special because I am following in the footsteps of two of my childhood idols who became dear friends, Willie Mays and Vin Scully. As a kid, I learned the game from the pages of Baseball Digest and I am proud that the best sport in the world and this magazine are still thriving.”