Why We Love Trades

Having grown up in the dark shadow of the evil Frank "Trader" Lane, I learned to fear trade rumors around The Wigwam in Cleveland. Lane's abysmal abomination of a trade of Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn still ranks as one of the most traumatic events of my life. Too, I believe players should not be chattel, and that they should make lots of dough. They earn it.

And yet, I now yearn for the era of the swashbuckling trader g.m.s. Today, the big transactions are all about the money. Back then, money was a factor only occasionally. The Yanks even kept payroll rather modest thanks to Casey's platoon system, which ensured that many key players only got to bat 350 or 400 times. So a star's salary rarely motivated a big trade.

What we fans back then loved about the blockbuster trade was the opportunity it gave us to second guess it. Among the savviest trading clubs was St. Louis. I was just reading an old Baseball Digest article today (July 1966) analyzing the Cepeda/Sadecki swap between the Giants and the Cards in May 1966. Just two years earlier, the Cards had hornswaggled the Cubs by dealing pitcher Ernie Broglio for future HOL Lou Brock. That may have been one of the most lopsided trades of all time. the Cubs never really recovered from it. Certainly, St. Louis thought it had outfoxed the Stoneham gang when it landed Cepeda. But in fact, that trade was just about a wash. True, with Cepeda in the lineup, the Cards won the pennant in 67 and 68. But Sadecki had an excellent (12-6) second year with SF and pitched well in 68, altho is 12-18 record didn't reflect it. His ERA was below 3.00 and he struck out 206 while walking just 70. Cepeda fell off badly in '68 and was shipped to Atlanta for Joe Torre, who would later be traded by the Mets for --Ray Sadecki! Both Cepeda and Sadecki had good, long careers, playing on World Champion teams.

But the real sleeper of a trade pulled off by the Cards in that era came before the 1967 season. The Yanks dealt an unhappy and unpopular Roger Maris to the Cards for the legendary Charlie Smith. All Maris did in his last two seasons was help the Cards to two pennants with his excellent outfield play and timely hitting. He even hit .385 with 7 RBIs in the 67 Series. Augie Busch was so pleased that, when Rog announced his retirement, Augie set him up with a beer distributorship in Florida, where he made more money before his early death than he ever made playing baseball.