For Player-Coach Torres, Diamonds Are Forever

Phil just can’t seem to get his fill.

That’s why Phil Torres, a 38-year-old father of three, continues to pitch.

No longer does the Crescenta Valley High baseball coach dream of pitching in the major leagues. That dream ended in 1989, after six seasons in the Dodger and Houston Astro organizations.

But other dreams are coming true for Torres.

On Monday night, he was on the mound for the final out when the semi-pro Sacramento Cardinals defeated Puerto Rico, 16-15, for the Stan Musial World Series championship in Battle Creek, Mich.

“It was a blast,” said Torres, a right-hander who was 2-1 in the six-game tournament. “We were all rolling around on the ground like 10-year-olds and hugging each other. We didn’t want to leave the field.”

Torres, who has guided Crescenta Valley to three Pacific League titles in four seasons, might never leave the field.

“Let me tell you, he can still deal,” said Jordan Olson, who pitched for Torres at Crescenta Valley and played for the Cardinals this summer.

“He just loves the game, and he probably won’t stop until someone tells him he’s done.”

For four years, Torres has juggled teaching summer school, coaching Crescenta Valley’s Senior Babe Ruth team and shuttling to Sacramento for weekend games and tournaments.

In the last two months, Torres and Olson trekked to Kamloops, Canada, and San Mateo, as well as Sacramento and Michigan.

“My wife and family have been very understanding,” he said. “I don’t play slow-pitch softball, organized basketball leagues or anything else. This is all I do, and I do it only a few weeks a year.”

He does it very well.

Torres was 7-1 with two saves for the Cardinals (41-7).

He was on the mound when Sacramento clinched the Western Regional title at Blair Field in Long Beach, earning Torres a chance to atone for poor outings in two previous World Series appearances for the Cardinals.

At times, Torres said, he doubted he would ever get the opportunity to redeem himself, but team sponsor John McAllister promised to help build a team that would return to Battle Creek.

Sacramento rallied from a 9-0 deficit in the World Series final and Torres pitched the final seven outs for the victory.

“See?” McAllister told Torres afterward. “I told you we’d get you back here.”

Torres will have another thing to boast about tonight when he attends his 20-year reunion at Temple City High.

The championship was Sacramento’s third. The Cardinals won in 1994 and ‘95, while Torres was pitching for a rival team.

“Back then, we had to battle through Phil to get to the World Series,” Player-Coach Steve Eakes said. “He was a thorn in our side.”

So they recruited him.

In turn, Torres recruited Olson, who as a senior was The Times’ 1998 Valley pitcher of the year after leading Crescenta Valley to the Southern Section Division I title, the only time a Valley-area team has captured the major division championship.

“It was great actually playing together,” said Torres, the 1998 Valley coach of the year. “Whenever I went up there, I would drag Jordan along with me.”.

Olson, who spent his freshman season at L.A. City College, was supposed to play in the Alaska Summer League but stayed home to attend summer school and prepare for a sophomore year at USC.

He was 5-0 and gave up two earned runs in seven innings of a World Series start against a team from Atlanta.

Olson and an 18-year-old teammate helped bring down the team’s average age of 36.

Torres was only the sixth-oldest player on a 20-man roster that included eight high school teacher-coaches, including friend Steve Gewecke of rival Alhambra High.

“We heard all the age jokes when we were there,” Torres said of the World Series, which featured mostly teams of college-aged players and assorted 20-somethings.

Torres felt even older on Tuesday when he took a train from Michigan to Chicago to see Darryl Kile, his former roommate in the Astros’ organization, pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs.

Torres got off the train, then dragged his luggage for several miles along city streets in 95-degree heat to reach Wrigley Field in time for the game.

“I almost killed myself with all that luggage,” he said. “I was drenched. . . . It couldn’t have worked out better.”

Torres checked his bags at the stadium gate, bought a seat in baseball’s most famous bleachers and soaked it all in.

Sitting in a Chicago sports bar on Wednesday, he watched Rocky Biddle, whom Torres coached at Temple City High, make his first major league start for the Chicago White Sox.

It culminated a week-long high for Torres.

The Stan Musial title provided an opportunity for Torres to go out on top, something that crossed his mind at least once.

“After the final, I asked [General Manager] Joe LaTona if I could retire now,” Torres said. “He said I can retire when he tells me I can retire.”

That doesn’t appear to be any time soon.