December 9, 1980: On this day, the Chicago Cubs traded their best player, relief pitcher Bruce Sutter, to their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, for 1st baseman Leon Durham, 3rd baseman Ken Reitz, and a player to be named later, who turned out, 13 days later, to be utility player Ty Waller.
Waller went to Herbert Hoover High School in San Diego, as did Ted Williams. Waller was no Splendid Splinter: He played all of 47 games for the Cubs, and 63 in the major leagues overall, and never amounted to much. Reitz had been an All-Star and a Gold Glove, but got hurt, played just 82 games for the Cubs in '81, batted .215, was released, played 7 more games in the majors, and had to retire before his 31st birthday.
The key for the Cubs appears to have been Durham: The latest in a long line of one-dimensional players they hoped would bomb home runs out of Wrigley Field. It almost worked: From 1982 to 1987, he hit very well for them. But he was not a good fielder, and if not for a former Cub, Bill Buckner, his error in the deciding game of the 1984 National League Championship Series might be the most famous fielding miscue in baseball history. He was done at 32.
Sutter gave the Cardinals 4 years, leading the NL in saves in 3 of them. In 1982, he helped them win the World Series. In 1984, he set a single-season record (since broken) with 45 saves. He would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He and Mariano Rivera are the only players, besides Jackie Robinson for whom it was universally retired, to wear Number 42 and have it retired by their teams.
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December 9, 1980 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 107-104 at Madison Square Garden. Ray Williams led all scorers on the night with 42 points.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 112-89 at the Boston Garden.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the San Diego Clippers, 114-87 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-83 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls, 123-108 at the Chicago Stadium. Leonard "Truck" Robinson scored 40 points for the Suns.
* The Los Angeles Lakers, the defending NBA Champions, beat the Dallas Mavericks, a 1st-year expansion team, 103-92 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Utah Jazz, 115-90 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat their arch-rivals, the Seattle SuperSonics, 111-98 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
There were 3 games in the NHL:
* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-1 at the Checkerdome (as the St. Louis Arena was then known).
* And the Buffalo Sabres and the Colorado Rockies played to a tie, 4-4 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
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