December 9, 1982: The Fred McGriff & Von Hayes 5-for-1 Trades

December 9, 1982: The New York Yankees trade 1st baseman Fred McGriff, young pitcher Mike Morgan and outfielder Dave Collins to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Dale Murray and 3rd baseman Tom Dodd.

Dodd did play 1 year in the majors, but for the Baltimore Orioles. Murray got hurt, and never contributed to the Yankees, either. Collins, once a star with the Cincinnati Reds, was pretty much finished.

In contrast, in 2001, 19 years after the trade, Morgan pitched against the Yankees in the World Series for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and McGriff was also still active. By trading him, the Yankees essentially traded 493 home runs for nothing. It was a horrible trade.

Or was it? McGriff was 19 at the time, and did not reach the majors for another 4 years. Had he done so with the Yankees, he would have smacked right into Don Mattingly at his peak. And the Yankees seemed to be loaded with designated hitters and pinch-hitters at that time. They may not have had any place to put him.

McGriff was involved in some other big trades: The Jays traded him to the San Diego Padres in 1990, a trade which brought them Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar, key figures in their 1992 and '93 World Champions; and the Padres sent him to the Atlanta Braves as part of their 1993 "fire sale," a pure "salary dump."

McGriff hit the 1st home run at the Rogers Centre (then called the SkyDome) in 1989. With the Jays that season and the Padres in 1992, McGriff became the 1st player in the post-1920 Lively Ball Era to have led both leagues in home runs. He helped the Braves win the World Series in 1995, and later played for his hometown Tampa Bay Rays. He served as the head baseball coach at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Lou Piniella's alma mater, and now works in the Braves' front office and hosts a sports-themed radio show in Tampa. (UPDATE: He finally got elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.)

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Another trade was made in baseball that day: The Philadelphia Phillies traded 2nd basemen Manny Trillo and Julio Franco, right fielder George Vukovich, catcher Jerry Willard and pitcher Jay Baller to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Von Hayes.

With 2nd base prospect Juan Samuel about to arrive in the major leagues, Trillo and Franco had become surplus to requirements, while the Phils needed a good hitter who could play all 3 outfield positions, and Hayes could.

Phils fans, who remembered Trillo as the 2nd baseman who made the difference for them in winning the 1980 World Series, hated this trade. They called Hayes "Five-for-One." He received Trillo's uniform number, 9, but they said it should be 541: Five-Four-One.

In 1983, his 1st season with the team, the Phillies won the National League Pennant. But he had little to do with it, batting .265 with 6 home runs and 32 RBIs. He got better: In 1986, he batted .305, led the NL with 46 doubles and 107 runs scored, and had a career-high 98 RBIs; made the NL All-Star Team in 1989; and hit 124 homers for the Phils in 9 seasons.

The Phils quasi-dynasty of 1976-83 got old before he hit his peak, and he never got into another Pennant race, but it wasn't his fault, and Phils fans began to accept him. A broken arm from being hit by a pitch by Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds in 1991 forced him to retire after 1 more season, with the California Angels. He went on to manage several teams in U.S. minor and Latin American leagues. (Ironically, Browning's own career was cut short due to a broken pitching arm.)

As with the McGriff trade, there was an unexpected long-term postscript. Just as Mike Morgan hung around a lot longer than people expected, so did Julio Franco. He and Hayes were born a few days apart in August 1958 (a month that also saw the births of hockey star Darryl Sutter; singers Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's; director Tim Burton; actors Colm Feore and Steve Guttenberg; actresses Angela Bassett and Madeleine Stowe; America Online chairman Steve Case; and Governors Rick Snyder of Michigan, Bill Haslam of Tennessee and Kathy Hochul of New York), but while Hayes was done at 34, Franco reached 7 postseasons, was still a regular player at age 46, and played his last game at 49, in 2007.

But Phillies fans who still lament this trade tend to be unhappy that it was Trillo that was given up, not Franco.

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December 9, 1982 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 2 games in the NBA. The Washington Bullets beat the Denver Nuggets, 98-90 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Calvin Natt led the Blazers with 30 points. Joe Barry Carroll, considered lazy enough as a player to earn the unflattering nickname "Joe Barely Cares," led all scorers on the night with 36.

And there were 6 games in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Washington Capitals, 6-4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* In an "Original Six" game, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 8-5 at the Boston Garden. Bruce Crowder and Barry Pederson each scored 2 goals for the Bruins.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 9-6 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Patrick Sundström scored a hat trick in a losing effort for the Canucks.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 7-2 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.

* And the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 3-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

December 5, 1990: The Trade That Made the Blue Jays

Joe Carter, October 23, 1993

December 5, 1990: The San Diego Padres trade outfielder Joe Carter, whom they've had for only one season, and 2nd baseman Roberto Alomar, to the Toronto Blue Jays for 1st baseman Fred McGriff and shortstop Tony Fernández.

Just one year earlier, the Padres had gotten Carter from the Cleveland Indians, for Roberto's brother, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. He might be the best player ever to be traded for both halves of a pair of brothers in Major League Baseball.

Carter was then 30 years old, had hit 147 home runs in the last 5 seasons, had just had his 4th season of at least 105 RBIs, and was defensively versatile: He could play all 3 outfield positions and 1st base. Alomar was 22, and had just batted .310, played in his 3rd All-Star Game, and won his 2nd Gold Glove. Why get rid of them?

It wasn't money: Combined, McGriff and Fernández were going to be paid roughly the same in 1991 as Carter and Alomar. And while McGriff and Fernández were roughly equal to Carter and Alomar, respectively, in terms of talent at that point, they weren’t noticeable upgrades.

To make it even more bizarre, in 1993, their 3rd season in San Diego, both McGriff and Fernández would be traded, in what was a clear "salary dump" by the Padres. And Carter and Alomar would both be key to the Jays' back-to-back World Series wins. In fact, Carter was involved with the final play both times: As the 1st baseman, he made the final putout in 1992; and in 1993, he hit the Series-winning home run.

If anyone can come up with a "Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame" for the Padres making this deal, then that person knows the Padres' history better than I do.

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December 5, 1990 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets, 148-140 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 43 points.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic, 119-110 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Phoenix Suns, 126-121 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-109 in overtime at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 110-108 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-85 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 93-89 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Golden State Warriors, 104-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks, 9-4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands. Claude Lemieux scored 3 goals and an assist. Patrik Sundström had 2 goals and 2 assists.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 3-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Winnipeg Jets and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 3-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

October 28, 1995: The South Rises In the World Series

October 28, 1995: The Atlanta Braves win Game 6 of the World Series, beating the Cleveland Indians, 1-0‚ on a combined 1-hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers.

David Justice's 6th-inning home run accounts for the game's only run. Having noticed that Cleveland's Jacobs Field (renamed Progressive Field in 2007) seemed a lot louder in Games 3, 4 and 5 than Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium had in Games 1 and 2, Justice called on the Braves' fans to be louder for Game 6. They were, especially when he hit his homer.

Catcher Tony Peña's leadoff single in the 6th was Cleveland's only hit. The Indians, who won 100 games in the strike-shortened 144-game season, and won their 1st American League Pennant in 41 years, led the majors in homers and runs scored. But in this Series, they batted just .179‚ the lowest average for a 6-games series since 1911.

This was the 1st time that two of the "Big Four" sports' titles were held by Southern teams. The Houston Rockets had won the NBA title in June.

It was Ted Turner's 20th season owning the Braves. By trusting John Schuerholz as general manager, and trusting Schuerholz's trust in Bobby Cox as field manager, he finally got his title.

In winning‚ the Braves become the 1st team to win World Championships representing 3 different cities: Boston in 1914‚ Milwaukee in 1957‚ and Atlanta in 1995. It was their 30th season in Atlanta, and despite having had such talents as Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy, they mostly struggled through their 1st 25 years, winning Division titles in 1969 and 1982.

They won the National League Pennant in 1991 and 1992, but lost the World Series both times. They lost the NL Championship Series in 1993, and the 1994 season was cut short by a strike. In 1995, they won it all, led by their pitching "Big Three": Glavine went 16-7, Greg Maddux went 19-2, and John Smoltz went 16-7. Justice, Fred McGriff, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko and Javy López led the attack. And so, the Braves became the 1st team from a former Confederate State to win a World Series.

How key for the Braves was Justice? The following season, the Braves won the Pennant again, but he was injured for the World Series, and they lost it to the New York Yankees. Foolishly, the Braves let him go, to the Indians, and he helped them win the Pennant in 1997. He later helped the Yankees win the AL Pennant in 2000 (winning the World Series) and 2001 (losing it). Although he fell short of career stats for the Baseball Hall of Fame -- 1,571 hits, 305 of them home rums -- he was one of the top clutch performers of his era.

UPDATE: Justice hit his homer off Jim Poole. Although a native of Rochester, New York, Poole had pitched in Atlanta, for Georgia Tech. He died of ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's Disease, in 2023, only 57 years old.

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October 28, 1995 was a Saturday. This was also the day of the worst subway disaster in human history. I have a separate entry for that event.

In college football, Number 1 Florida State were idle. They would lose their next game, away to the University of Virginia, and fall from the top spot.

These were among the games played that day:

* Number 2 Nebraska beat Number 7 Colorado, 44-21 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. Nebraska went on to win the last Big Eight Conference title, before the Big 8 took on half the Southwest Conference and became the Big Twelve. Colorado accepted a bid from the Cotton Bowl.

* Number 3 Florida beat Georgia, 52-17 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. They were played a home-and-home series on campus, because the old Gator Bowl, the neutral-site game where the game was usually played, had been torn down to make way for the new Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium. Florida went on to win the Southeastern Conference title. They turned down the accompanying automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl, to set up a Number 1 vs. Number 2 battle for an undisputed National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska beat them for that title.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 25 Iowa, 56-25 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 5 Tennessee beat South Carolina, 56-21 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Rivalry: Number 6 Kansas were upset by Number 14 Kansas State, 41-7 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Northwestern beat Illinois, 17-14 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Northwestern won the Big Ten Conference title for the 1st time since 1936, and went to the Rose Bowl for the 1st time since the 1948 season.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Michigan won the Little Brown Jug by beating Minnesota, 52-17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

* Number 10 Oregon were upset by Arizona State, 35-24 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon accepted a bid from the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Colorado.

* Number 11 Auburn were upset by Arkansas, 30-28 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

* Number 12 Notre Dame beat Boston College, 20-10 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame accepted a bid to the the Orange Bowl, where they played Florida State, which won the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Florida State won.

* Number 13 Southern California (USC) and Number 17 Washington played to a tie, 21-21 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. USC went on to win the Pacific-Ten Conference title, and beat Northwestern in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 14 University of Texas had the week off. They went on to win the last Southwest Conference title, and turned down the accompanying automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl to play in the more prestigious Sugar Bowl.

The deals had already been made: At the conclusion of the 1995-96 schoolyear, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor left the SWC, and joined the Big Eight, making it the Big Twelve Conference. The remaining SWC teams, joined other leagues: The 2 Dallas-area schools, Southern Methodist University (SMU) of Dallas and Texas Christian University (TCU) of Fort Worth; and the 2 Houston schools, Rice University and the University of Houston.

* Number 16 Penn State beat Indiana, 45-21 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Virginia Tech, as yet unranked, beat West Virginia, 27-0 at Mountaineer Field (now Milan Puskar Stadium) in Morgantown, West Virginia. Tech went on to win the Big East Conference title, and advanced to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Texas.

* Rivalry: The University of Nevada beat the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), 55-32 at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

* Among the service academies, Army beat Colgate, 56-14 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; Air Force beat Fresno State, 31-20 at Bulldog Stadium (now Valley Children's Stadium) in Fresno, California; and Navy had the week off.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat the University of Pittsburgh, 42-14 at the new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway.

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

* The New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* In an all-New England matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-0 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the ThunderDome (now Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

July 18, 1993: The San Diego Fire Sale

July 18, 1993: Having already traded All-Stars Tony Fernandez and Gary Sheffield as part of their cost-saving "fire sale," the San Diego Padres trade Fred McGriff to the Atlanta Braves, for pitcher Donnie Elliott and right fielders Melvin Nieves and Vince Moore.

The trade certainly works out for the Braves: They have McGriff for 5 years, win 4 Division titles, 2 Pennants and the 1995 World Series. The Padres, not so much: Finishing 84-78, 10 games out of 1st place in the National League Western Division in 1991, and 82-80, 16 games back, in 1992, they crashed to 61-101, 43 games back, in 1993.

Elliott appeared in 31 games for the Padres, making little impact. Nieves played in 127, having a good season for them in 1995, and was traded, playing well for the Detroit Tigers, before an injury ended his career. Moore never reached the major leagues, and while he was still hanging on after Elliott and Nieves were done, it was in "independent" minor leagues: He last played in affiliated pro ball just after turning 25.

But the Padres were able to rebuild, and won a Division title in 1996 and the Pennant in 1998. That Pennant led to voters approving a ballot measure that built a replacement for Jack Murphy Stadium, which became Petco Park, opening in 2004.

Still, the Padres, who have played since 1969 and have won just 2 Pennants, in 1984 and 1998, have a history of not hanging onto their talent. They have had 13 players who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tony Gwynn played 20 seasons for them; Trevor Hoffman, 16; Dave Winfield, 8. Of the other 10? Rollie Fingers, Ozzie Smith and Goose Gossage each played 4; Willie McCovey, Roberto Alomar, Fred McGriff and Rickey Henderson each played 3; Gaylord Perry and Greg Maddux each played 2; and Mike Piazza played 1.

The Padres let Winfield, Smith, Alomar and McGriff get away too soon; they got McCovey, Perry, Gossage, Henderson, Maddux and Piazza too late; and Fingers, both.

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July 18, 1993 was a Sunday. These games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 13-6 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning. Don Mattingly, Danny Tartabull and Mike Stanley hit home runs. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-6 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Mets got 2 home runs from Jeff Kent, and 1 each from Eddie Murray and Dave Gallagher. Barry Bonds hit a home run for the Giants.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Cal Ripken went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Steve Avery allowed 12 hits over 7 2/3rds innings, but Greg McMichael finished the 8th inning, and Mike Stanton allowed 1 hit in the 9th, to complete a 13-hit shutout.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. George Brett, in his last season, did not play.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the California Angels, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 5-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 12-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was called due to rain after 7 innings.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount, in his last season, went 1-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark Whiten hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning, driving Ozzie Smith home with the winning run.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. John Doherty pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 6-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.