As the son of a Major League Baseball manager, Dale Torborg traveled places and saw different things than the average person. As an adult, Dale appreciates the life father Jeff has given him. That is never more evident than in his work on Jeff Torborg — A Wonderful Baseball Life, a recently released documentary.

A Last Comiskey Film, produced by Dale and directed by Matt Flesch, Jeff Torborg — A Wonderful Baseball Life is a biographical film about the former MLB player and manager. More importantly, it is the story of a man, husband, father and friend. Although it is filled with testimonials from Jeff’s baseball colleagues, it is his wife, Suzie, who steals the show. Her love and respect for her late husband is so powerful and heartwarming. I am not ashamed to say I teared up several times as she praised the man she knew since high school.

© The Last Comiskey, Matt Flesch & Dale Torborg

Jeff Torborg — A Wonderful Baseball Life was done so perfectly. Baseball fans will love the history and nostalgia. Jeff played with, managed or coached baseball legends including Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Frank Robinson, Billy Martin, Carlton Fisk and so many more. They are all included in the doc. There are also fascinating tidbits like his part in redesigning the Chicago White Sox uniforms.

You need not be a baseball fan, though. At its core, this is about a beloved man.

In our Talking Travel interview, Dale discussed all of this, with great reverence for his father. Jeff spent a lot of time with his dad, especially when he was a coach on his father’s staff when Jeff managed the Montréal Expos and Florida Marlins. Dale talked about being in Yankee Stadium as a kid. He also told interesting stories when he worked on A League of Their Own at Wrigley Field.

As a former player at Northwestern University and longtime White Sox coach, Dale spent a lot of time in Chicago. He shared some of his favorite spots and stories from that time, including winning the World Series in 2005, for which Sox fans are eternally grateful.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dale at a convention last year. Although it was not a baseball convention, Dale gladly discussed baseball with us for several minutes. He was humble, interesting and appreciative of his fans. I wanted to interview him ever since, and Jeff Torborg — A Wonderful Baseball Life was the perfect topic to start a Talking Travel interview.

Talking Travel is an interview series on Global Traveler. Subscribe to the GT YouTube channel to be notified of all future interviews and other travel-related videos.

— John Wroblewski, podcaster