October 21, 1981: The Sykes-McGee Trade

Yes, that's Willie McGee in a Yankee uniform,

probably during Spring Training 1981.

October 21, 1981: The New York Yankees take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, as Tommy John and Goose Gossage combine on a 3-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. Bob Watson has 2 hits and an RBI.

The Yankees were 2 wins away from their 23rd World Championship. No one could imagine it then, but the team would not win another competitive game until April 12, 1982, and it would take them 15 more years to get that 23rd title.

The Yankees also made a trade that day, sending 22-year-old outfielder Willie McGee to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Bob Sykes. It became one of the worst trades in Yankee history, as Sykes, a native of nearby Neptune, New Jersey, was already damaged goods, and never appeared in another big-league game, finished at 27.

McGee helped the Cards win 3 of the next 6 National League Pennants, including the next year's World Series. By the time his career began to slow down in the mid-1990s, Bernie Williams would have been ready to become the Yankees' next great center fielder. But, in the interim, the Yankees tried the following players at that position:

* 1982: Jerry Mumphrey. Good, but McGee was already better.

* 1983: Mumphrey. He had slipped a bit.

* 1984: Omar Moreno. He had slipped a bit from his peak years with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

* 1985: Rickey Henderson. He had a really good season, but he was playing out of position: He was normally a left fielder.

* 1986: Henderson. Another really good season.

* 1987: Claudell Washington. Injuries to Henderson meant that Claudell had to play the most games for the Yankees in center field that season, and Gary Ward in left field, although Henderson had more plate appearances overall than Washington. Both Washington and Ward were still good players, but both were also past their best.

* 1988: Washington. He had a good season, as Henderson became the full-time left fielder. Certainly, it wasn't either man's fault that the Yankees failed to win the American League Eastern Division title that season.

* 1989: Roberto Kelly. He had a good season.

* 1990: Kelly. He had another good season.

* 1991: Kelly, with Bernie Williams coming up. 

* 1992: Kelly, with Williams still coming up.

* 1993: Williams, from then until 2006, a Yankee Legend.

So maybe this isn't as bad a trade as we might think. But it was still a bad one. Like trading Fred McGriff, Mike Morgan and Dave Collins for Dale Murray was a year later, the problem was not what the Yankees gave up (McGriff played 1st base, and Don Mattingly was coming), but what they got. They should have gotten a serviceable starting pitcher each time, and only got a broken one.

*

October 21, 1981 was a Wednesday. On this day, Willis Andrew McGahee III was born in Miami. The former University of Miami star was plagued by injuries, but made 2 Pro Bowls while with the Baltimore Ravens. He rushed for 8,474 career yards in the NFL.

Antonio DeShonta Smith was born in Oklahoma City. A defensive end, he played in 2 Super Bowls, losing XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals, and winning 50 with the Denver Broncos. He last played in 2016, with the Houston Texans, having previously reached the 2011 Pro Bowl with them.

And Nemanja Vidić was born in Uzice, Serbia. He was a dirty soccer player, and was the Captain of Manchester United. I don't think we need a 3rd reason to loathe him. He won a League title and 2 national cups with Red Star Belgrade. With Man U, he won 5 League titles and the 2008 UEFA Champions League. Now retired, he is married to a woman named Ana Ivanović, although it's not the tennis star of the same name.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 9 days later. There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Washington Capitals, 6-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Rockies played to a tie, 4-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Buffalo Sabres and the Winnipeg Jets played to a tie, 2-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Hartford Whalers, 5-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.