The trade of a baseball pitcher from one team to another might not technically qualify as a tragedy. But it certainly seemed like a tragedy to ten-year-old me. (Besides, I needed a word that began with T to complete my New York tabloid style headline.)
Dubbed The Midnight Massacre, it is one of the most famous trades in baseball history. But there are two notable aspects of this trade most people miss:
Damned Yankees
In one-town teams like Pittsburgh or Boston, ownership can do just about anything and not worry about fans switching their allegiance. Heck, the Red Sox don’t just have a city to themselves, they have the entire New England region. The Sox were able to go nearly a century between titles without losing any fans.
But in New York people have options. The Mets traded Seaver on June 15th. Almost exactly 6 months later, on October 18th, the New York Yankees won their first World Series since 1961. And they did it in style, as Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs in Game 6, earning the moniker Mr. October.
People outside New York think the Big Apple is a Yankee town, but that is not true. In 1962, the Yankees were the defending World Champions and the greatest team in the history of the sport – maybe any sport. That year the Mets were born and immediately fielded the worst team in the history of the sport – maybe any sport.
But by 1964 the Mets – who were still absolutely terrible, losing 109 games - were outdrawing the Yankees! For 12 straight seasons the Mets won the attendance title, until the Yankees took it back in 1976 – the year they returned to the World Series. A good Yankee team outdrew the Mets until 1984 – when the Mets returned to prominence. Yankees have held the title since, but the reality is both fans draw well.
But 1977 was a year to switch teams. The Mets traded the greatest starting pitcher of the post-war years – and the Yankees returned to Yankee domination. In 1975, the Mets outdew the Yankees by half a million fans. By 1979, the Yankees were outdrawing the Mets by over 1.7 million. Mets' attendance dropped so much that Shea Stadium was dubbed Grant's Tomb - for the odious GM (I hate to even type his name) who made the trade.
Other sports trades may have had worse W-L outcomes, but it’s hard to imagine a trade costing its team lifetime fans like the Midnight Massacre.
Little Red Machine
Of course, there is a 3rd franchise in this discussion: The Cincinnati Reds.
The mid-70’s Reds were a powerhouse. In 1976, they swept the Yankees in the World Series. In 1977, they beat the Red Sox in a classic series. Accounting for era and ballpark, the 1976 Reds featured arguably the best lineup in baseball history – including 3 Hall of Famers (Bench, Morgan, Perez), the all-time hit king (Rose), and a guy on the verge of the best hitting season of the decade (Foster). Ken Griffey ranked 7th in OPS in 1976 – heck, their #8 hitter, Cesar Geronimo, batted .307! This team could hit.
And in June of 1977 they added 3-time Cy Young winner Tom Seaver – giving up none of their superstars in return. This team would be unstoppable, right?
Nope. In fact, the Reds missed the playoffs in 77 and 78. They won the NL West in 79 but got swept by Willie Stargell’s Pirates. And that was it. That was the end of the Big Red Machine*.
* They did get gypped in 81, missing the playoffs despite finishing with the best record in baseball. The strike-shortened 81 season is a good template for sports leagues to avoid as they figure out post-pandemic seasons. And Seaver got gypped too, losing the Cy Young to Fernando Valenzuela, despite going 14-2 to Fernando's 13-7 - with comparable ERAs.
But there's a happy ending to this story. A week before the trade, the Mets drafted Wally Backman and Mookie Wilson. And on June 15th, 1983, the 6th Anniversary of the trade, the Mets made another trade. They shipped Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez.
Three years later, Hernandez, Mookie, Wally, and the rest of the Mets won the greatest World Series ever played. The demons were exorcised.
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