40 years ago today, one of the most one-sided trades of the 1970s occurred. It was among the best deals the Yankees have made – and among the worst the Cleveland Indians agreed to.A bit before my fandom, but it'd be cool to see a 2012 or 2013 version of that trade.
On Nov. 27, 1972, the Yankees sent Cleveland Rusty Torres, Charlie Spikes, Jerry Kenney, and John Ellis in exchange for Jerry Moses . . . and Graig Nettles.
Five of those six names you’ve probably never heard of, with Nettles of course being the exception. Nettles would play 22 years in major league baseball, hit 390 homers (including a league leading 32 in 1976), and have a stellar defensive reputation.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Hardball Times: 40th anniversary: Graig Nettles trade
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13 comments:
A favorite.
Stanton!
Also, what's the deal with the host?
I think it was FG today had an article that Stanton is basically ungettable. No one has enough prospects to trade to balance all that surplus value. Can't make it up with MLB players either, because the Marlins want young, cost-controlled pieces. So there you go, Banasns.
Also, I kinda like the host issues. It's like we're Yankees fans in exile. Maybe the inconvenience will weed out some of the Morans that were spawned by the playoff collapse.
I can still dream Jon, I can still dream.
The only homegrown guys on those teams were Munson, Guidry, and Roy White. Gabe Paul really had a great run. From Paul's wikipedia page:
The key to re-building the Yankees was a series of trades that Paul pulled off. He acquired in succession: Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow and Oscar Gamble from his former team, the Indians; Lou Piniella from the Royals; Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa from the Angels; Willie Randolph, Ken Brett and Dock Ellis from the Pirates; and Bucky Dent from the White Sox. He also signed Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson as free agents.
The 90's teams filled out the roster with trades for O'Neill, Tino, Brosius, Knoblauch and Cone. Pretty similar, actually.
Mickey Rivers and Oscar Gamble, loved those guys. Oscar had something like a career OPS+ of 133 (too lazy to look it up). His afro reached half way down the right field line, which is why so many of his homers landed in the upper deck. The laws of physics dictated this result. Mickey was super fast and quirky. No plate discipline, however.
Cliff Johnson was badass too.
I think we would all be much more comfortable for next year if A-rod had an afro.
Loved Oscar Gamble, and looking at his b-ref page I can see why -- he hit .285/.383/.585 at Yankee Stadium in his career. He had that open stance and was good at hooking home runs into the RF seats. But yeah, a career 127 OPS+, great hair, great stance, great baseball cards. A really fun player.
I can just recall Nettles making some ridiculous grab on the line, but I was astounding to see he'd hit 390 HR and had a career WAR of 62. That snag, Guidry's '78, losing to Mussina all the time, being bemused by Gaylord Perry being good, and being unhappy about the Wade Boggs signing is all I recall from NYY up to about '94.
Baseball Reference has Nettles about as good as Adrian Beltre, or rather v.v., rather to my surprise.
I sat behind Oscar Gamble at the Stadium a couple of years ago and he was . . . bald. Which was probably a good thing for me, because I was sitting directly behind him and wouldn't have been able to see a thing over the old Afro.
Also the immortal quote:
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do.”
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