Kelvin Torve

Kelvin Curtis Torve

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• School Oral Roberts University
• High School Stevens High School (Rapid City)
• Debut June 25, 1988
• Final Game July 24, 1991
• Born January 10, 1960 in Rapid City, SD USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"I hit well enough to be employed for 13 years." - Kelvin Torve, reflecting on his professional baseball career and his ability to hit

Kelvin Torve played 42 games in the majors over a three-year period. During his minor league career, which started in 1981, he hit over .300 three times. In the majors in 1990 he hit .289 (38 at-bats) on a team that hit .256.

He briefly wore uniform number 24 with the New York Mets in 1990, making him the first player since Willie Mays to sport the number. While the number had not been officially retired, issuing Torve #24 was considered to be accidental on the part of Mets' management and he was later given number 39. He hit quite well while wearing Mays' number. The next Mets player to wear number 24 would be Rickey Henderson, in 1999 and 2000.

He later played two seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan as a teammate of Ichiro Suzuki.

Torve as of 2008 was working for a packaging company in North Carolina.

Main source: 2008 interview