February 3, 1979: Having demanded a trade from Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith, due to having insisted that he will never play another game for a racist owner, Rod Carew, 7 times the batting champion of the American League, and the 1977 AL Most Valuable Player, is sent to the team then known as the California Angels, for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens and Ken Landreaux.
In 7 seasons for the Angels, Carew made 6 All-Star Games, batted .314, and helped them win their 1st 2 AL Western Division titles. On August 4, 1985, he joined the 3,000 Hit Club, collecting the milestone hit against Frank Viola -- of the Twins. Carew is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Griffith, despite being essentially the founder of an MLB team, is not.
The 4 players the Twins got for Carew? The biggest thing that can be said of any of them is that Landreaux caught the last out of a World Series -- but not for the Twins. It was for the Los Angeles Dodgers, against the Yankees, in 1981.
On the other hand, the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991, after all involved were no longer a factor. The Angels didn't win one until 2002.
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February 3, 1979 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. No games were scheduled in the NBA. There were 8 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 4-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 5-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Atlanta Flames, 4-2 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Detroit Red Wings lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Minnesota North Stars, 2-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-3 at the Checkerdome, as the St. Louis Arena was then known.
* And the Philadelphia Flyers were not scheduled.
There was only 1 game in the World Hockey Association, which was in its final season: The New England Whalers and the Birmingham Bulls played to a 2-2 tie at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (now the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Complex) in Birmingham, Alabama.
And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to Manchester, and beat Manchester United, 2-0. The teams would face each other again in the FA Cup Final, and Arsenal won a classic, 3-2.
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