The Iona University Graduate Program in Sports Communication and Media hosted former baseball players Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez for a night of conversation at the LaPenta School of Business on Sept. 28.
Dent and Torrez each shared stories from their careers and personal lives in front of a crowd of students, faculty and staff.
Director of the Iona Sports and Broadcasting Communication Department, Mike Damergis, interviewed the two players, who each played 12 or more years in Major League Baseball.
Dent began the night by recalling his chance encounter with former Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, at a Chicago Bulls basketball game. Dent said that this meeting led to his eventual trade to the Yankees in the spring of 1977.
Torrez first detailed the early years of his playing career. While with the St. Louis Cardinals, Torrez said that, after some convincing, Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson helped him develop his slider, a pitch that later became one of the best in his arsenal.
Following stints between five combined teams, the pair became teammates on the 1977 New York Yankees team that eventually won the World Series.
Dent said the Yankees’ 1977 championship squad was not free from off-the-field distractions but was able to turn things around when it mattered most.
“It was a lot of chaos,” Dent said. “But the one thing about that team that we played on is whatever happened off the field never affected us on the field.”
The pair are, perhaps, best known for their involvement in the infamous “Showdown in Beantown” game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox on Oct. 2, 1978. Torrez, now a member of the Red Sox, faced off against Dent and the Yankees for a tie-breaker game to decide the American League East Division. Down 2-0 in the seventh inning, Dent hit a three-run home run off Torrez to help lead New York to an eventual 5-4 victory.
“Mike tried to throw a fastball in on me and I hit it pretty good, but I didn’t know if it was going out,” Dent said. “I didn’t know if it was high enough.”
Torrez said he was never afraid of moments as such, despite the high stakes. He wanted to perform as best as he could for as long as he could in big outings.
“I felt good, I loved the challenge,” Torrez said. “I never was scared to get the ball, just give it to me.”
The Yankees won their second championship in a row later that month. Dent’s strong play led to him earning the honor to be named the 1978 World Series Most Valuable Player.
Both Dent and Torrez said that there was a mix of hatred and mutual respect between the two franchises, who remain as one of baseball’s oldest rivals to this day.
“They didn’t like us, and we didn’t like them,” Torrez said. “But I think both our teams were the two best teams in baseball.”
The event ended with Dent and Torrez answering questions from the audience, followed by a meet-and-greet with the two players.
