December 13, 2003: The Yankees Trade Jeff Weaver for Kevin Brown

December 13, 2003: The Yankees trade Jeff Weaver – 2 months 2 late -- and 2 other pitchers, Yhency Brazobán and Brandon Weeden, for a better pitcher. Or so we thought. It was Kevin Brown.

Neither Brazobán nor Weeden had yet reached the major leagues. Weeden never did. Brazobán soon did so, but was not especially distinguished. And Weaver... somehow won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. That still ticks me off. (Not that the Cardinals won that Series, but that Weaver was a part of it.)

Kevin Brown was a very good pitcher. In 1992, he went 21-12 for the Texas Rangers. In 1996, with the Florida Marlins, he went 17-11, and led the National League with an ERA of 1.89 and a WHIP of 0.944. In 1997, he went 16-8, and helped the Marlins win the World Series. In 1998, he went 18-7, and helped the San Diego Padres win the Pennant.

On December 12, 1998, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed him to a 7-year contract worth $105 million, the 1st contract in North American major league sports worth more than $100 million. At first, it seemed like it would pay off: He went 18-9 in 1999, and in 2000, went 13-6 and led the NL with a 2.58 ERA. He battled injury after that, but still went 10-4 in 2001. In 2003, he went 14-9 with a 2.39 ERA, and made an All-Star Game for the 6th time. He had a career record of 197-131. He was approaching Hall of Fame worthiness.

Sounds like the Yankees made a good acquisition. Except he would be turning 39 during Spring Training 2004. And he was not a big-game pitcher. Although the Marlins won the 1997 World Series, Brown had lost Games 2 and 6. In the 1998 World Series, he started Game 1 against the Yankees, and while he wasn't the losing pitcher, the Yankees did win; and he was the losing pitcher in Game 4.

In 2004, he posted a 10–6 record with a 4.09 ERA. On September 3, after being removed from a game he lost to the Baltimore Orioles, he punched a concrete column in frustration, breaking his hand. He returned to the rotation on September 26, and lost his last 2 regular-season starts: He didn't get out of the 1st inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, and lost to away to the Toronto Blue Jays.

During that season's Playoffs, Brown pitched well in the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins. But, with little choice, manager Joe Torre started Brown in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series against the Red Sox. He gave up a 2-run home run to David Ortiz in the 1st inning, left with the bases loaded in the 2nd, and was charged with all 3 runs that Johnny Damon drove in ahead of him when he subsequently hit a grand slam off Javier Vázquez -- whom the Yankees had acquired 3 days after Brown, as if that trade hadn't been bad enough. Brown had authored the worst start in Yankee postseason history -- emotionally, if not statistically.

Brown struggled with injury through 2005, and finished it 4-7 with a 6.50 ERA. The Yankees did not lift a finger to sign him to a new contract -- though many Yankee Fans lifted some fingers for him -- and he retired, with a career record of 211-144, a 3.28 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.222.

He became eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. He has never come close to election.

*

December 13, 2003 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. There were no college football games that day, and the NFL played the next day. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets, 95-88 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-63 at the Memphis Pyramid.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-102 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-98 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Paul Pierce led all scorers on the night with 41 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers, 86-75 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat their arch-rivals, the Houston Rockets, 86-73 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns, 106-91 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 112-108 at the Moda Center in Portland. Kobe Bryant scored 35 points in defeat.

And there were 12 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New York Islanders beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-0 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 5-1 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-2 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators played to a tie, 2-2 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-3 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then named) in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Colorado Avalanche and the Calgary Flames played to a tie, 1-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 2-0 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center).

* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Arizona Coyotes were not scheduled.

October 27, 2006: The 83-Win World Series Winner

October 27, 2006: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 in Game 5, to take the 2006 World Series. Jeff Weaver -- The goat of the 2003 Series? Are you kidding me?!? -- was the winning pitcher for St. Louis, who get a pair of RBIs from shortstop David Eckstein, who is named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

This win, in the Cardinals' 1st season at the 3rd Busch Stadium, is their 10th title (they've since won an 11th), 2nd all-time behind the New York Yankees, and 1st among NL teams.

Their 83 regular-season wins are the fewest of any team to win a World Series in a full 162-game, or even 154-game, season:

* 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that COVID-shortened season, they went 43-17, to win the NL West. They then beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, and the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

* 1994 Texas Rangers: When the Strike of '94 cut the season off, with the postseason eventually canceled, they had a 52-62 record, but they were still in 1st place in the American League Western Division. Although none of the 6 teams in 1st place at the time of the strike are officially recognized by MLB as 1994 Division Champions, the '94 Rangers remain the only team ever to end a season in 1st place in a Division despite having a losing record.

* 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that strike-shortened season's split-season format, they went 36-21 in the 1st half, and 27-26 in the 2nd half, for an unofficial total of 63-47. Since their 1st half total was enough to win the NL Western Division, they got into the Playoffs, beat the 2nd-half Champion Houston Astros, beat the overall Eastern Division-winning Montreal Expos, and won the World Series over the Yankees.

* 1918 Boston Red Sox: The season was cut short by a month due to World War I restrictions, but the federal government permitted a World Series. It was won by the Boston Red Sox, who had won the AL Pennant with a 75-51 record.

* 1973 New York Mets: They won the NL East with an 82-79 record, and then beat the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. This makes them the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 144 games to win a Pennant (some of the 1995 Division Champions had fewer wins), and the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 154 games to win a Pennant. But they lost the World Series to the Oakland Athletics.

In 2006, the Cardinals' 83 wins were enough to beat the Houston Astros for the NL Central Division title by 1 game. Under the NL East that was in operation from 1969 to 1992, which they shared with the Mets, the Expos, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs, they would have finished 3rd, behind the Mets with 97 wins, and the Phils with 85.

But they beat the Padres in the NLDS. The NLCS between the Cards and the Mets went to a Game 7, and Yadier Molina hit a home run in the 9th inning to give the Cardinals the Pennant. The AL Champion Tigers, who had won 95 games but had blown a big NL Central Division lead to the Minnesota Twins, rebounded to beat the Yankees in the ALDS and then sweep the A's in the ALCS.

But they were no match for the Cards, led by 1st baseman Albert Pujols and 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame; and catcher Molina, center fielder Jim Edmonds, and pitcher Adam Wainwright, who could each make the Hall someday. (UPDATE: As of 2025, they haven't.)

Game 1 was the 1st time in World Series history that both starting pitchers were rookies: Anthony Reyes for St. Louis and Justin Verlander for Detroit. Verlander would build a career statistical record that would suggest he's going to the Hall of Fame -- as of October 27, 2022, he is still active, and thus ineligible -- while Reyes only lasted 5 seasons in the major leagues. But that would be Reyes' night, and he retired 17 consecutive batters in Game 1, establishing a World Series record for a rookie pitcher.

The Tigers won Game 2, but the Cards won the rest, in spite of Game 4 being postponed a night by rain. The Game 5 win at home capped a season in which the Cards opened their new stadium and won the World Series. This feat had previously been accomplished by the 1912 Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, and the 1923 Yankees at the original Yankee Stadium. It has since been matched by the 2009 Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium.

UPDATE: The Cardinals have a team Hall of Fame. From their 2006 World Champions, they have inducted manager Tony La Russa, general manager Walt Jocketty, coaches Albert "Red" Schoendienst, Dave Duncan and José Oquendo; scout George Kissell, broadcasters Mike Shannon and Al Hrabosky; 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, and pitchers Jason Isringhausen and Chris Carpenter.

La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Kissell, Shannon, Hrabosky, Isringhausen, Carpenter, shortstop David Eckstein, center fielder Jim Edmonds, pitcher Jeff Suppan, and team president Mark Lamping were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Shannon, Hrabosky, Rolen, Edmonds, Isringhausen, Carpenter, and team owner Bill DeWitt Jr. were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

*

October 27, 2006 was a Friday. The NBA season started 4 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 in a shootout at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

There was 1 college football game that night: The University of Tulsa beat the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 30-20 at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Edison, 42-28 at Matthew J. Drwal Stadium in Edison, Middlesex County.

October 22, 2003: The Jeff Weaver Game

October 22, 2003: The Jeff Weaver Game. As Phil Rizzuto would have said, I get agita just thinking about it.

It's Game 4 of the World Series at the Dolphins/Marlins Stadium. I’ve seen the location listed as "Miami," "Miami Gardens," "Miami Lakes," "Carol City" and "Opa-Locka." Just as the stadium itself has gone through several names: Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, Sun Life Stadium, and, currently, Hard Rock Stadium.

The Florida Marlins lead the Yankees 3-1 after 7 innings, but as he strikes out Luis Castillo (a name that will feature in the Yankees-Mets rivalry in 2009) to end the 7th, Roger Clemens walks off the mound, and a crowd of 65,934 gives him a standing ovation, thinking that the 41-year-old legendary fireballer is walking off the field as an active player for the last time. (Within weeks, this will prove to have been, as his distant cousin Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, might have said, greatly exaggerated -- and not because Clemens could have appeared in Game 7, had this Series gone that long.)

Marlins starter Carl Pavano holds the Yankees to 1 run through 8 strong innings. Like Clemens' retirement, Pavano's frustration of Yankee Fans is happening for the first time, but by no means for the last.

The Yankees rally in the 9th against reliever Ugueth Urbina, whose post-baseball career will be more troubled than even Clemens', as he will serve 7 years in prison for attempted murder in his native Venezuela. Bernie Williams singles with one out, Hideki Matsui walks and Jorge Posada grounds into a force play. Pinch-hitter Rubén Sierra fouls off two full-count pitches before tripling into the right-field corner to tie the ball game.

This is Sierra's 2nd tenure with the Yanks, having made up with manager Joe Torre after Torre had him traded for Cecil Fielder in '96 due to disciplinary issues. This is the biggest hit Sierra ever got for the Yankees – or for anyone else, for that matter. But he is stranded on 3rd.

No matter, as the momentum seems to have shifted to the Yankees, and if they can win the game in extra innings, they will take a 3-games-to-1 lead, and can clinch their 27th World Championship tomorrow night over a Marlins team that really was unworthy of being there. This unworthiness is almost certain now that nearly everybody suspects Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez of steroid use.

The Yankees threaten to score in the top of the 11th when they load the bases with one out off Chad Fox. Braden Looper relieves and strikes out Aaron Boone, and replacement catcher John Flaherty pops out to third. (Yes, the same John Flaherty who has since parlayed one big regular-season hit, against the Red Sox in 2004, into a career as a mediocre broadcaster. At least he had one big hit, as Boone did 6 days earlier, which is more than the similar Fran Healy ever got.) Still, the Yankees have the chance to win this game.

But in the bottom of the 11th, Torre makes a mistake every bit as critical as the stranding of Sierra on 3rd in the 9th. He had already used Jeff Nelson, and José Contreras, originally a starter, had already pitched 2 innings. Torre could have left Contreras in.

He could have brought in his closer, Mariano Rivera. But he had this mental block about using Mo in non-save situations -- Game 7 of the ALCS, just 6 days earlier, being the most notable exception. He could also have brought in Chris Hammond, one of the best middle-relievers of that period, in his only season with the Yankees.

Instead, he brings in Jeff Weaver, who gets through the 11th with no trouble, but Álex González leads off the bottom of the 12th. This is not the Alex Gonzalez, ironically from Miami, who uses no accent marks on the A's in his name, and whose error at shortstop made the Cubs' collapse in the previous week's Steve Bartman Game possible. This is the Venezuelan shortstop, who had a .245 lifetime batting average, although he did hit 18 home runs that season, and a respectable 157 for a career that included a 1999 All-Star berth.

Weaver throws him a hanging curveball, and González hits it down the left-field line, and it creeps over the fence for a game-winning home run. Marlins 4, Yankees 3.

Not since Bill Mazeroski, 43 years earlier, had the Yankees given up a walkoff home run in a Series game. By bringing in Weaver – or, as Red Sox fans would say if this happened to them, Jeff Fucking
Weaver – Torre turned the Yankees from a team that was 1 run away from being up 3 games to 1 to a team that ends up losing the World Series to a team that was lucky to even get the NL's Wild Card and then needed both steroids and the Bartman-connected collapse.

The Yankees don't win another World Series game until October 29, 2009.

This loss really, really pissed me off. I was not heartbroken. I was enraged. And that was before I knew that Pudge, the Marlins' emotional leader, was a steroid cheat. And before I knew that Josh Beckett, who shut the Yankees out in Game 6 to clinch it, was going to become a typical classless Red Sock. This loss angers me more nearly 20 years later than it did at the time.

On July 5, 2002, the Yankees traded Ted Lilly to the A's. Lilly was a much-hyped prospect, but had been horrible for the Yankees.  When I heard he'd been traded, I used the old line: "Great trade. Who did we get?"

It was a 3-team deal, also involving the Tigers. The only player worth mentioning that the A's got was Lilly, who turned out to be a good pitcher -- when he wasn't wearing Pinstripes: He won 130 games in the major leagues, but only 8 of them for the Yankees. The Tigers got Carlos Peña, who ended up hitting 286 career home runs, and Jeremy Bonderman, who gave them some good pitching.

The only player the Yankees got as part of the deal was Weaver, who, to that point, was an average pitcher at best.  He would be less than that with the Yankees. He pitched poorly in the 2002 Playoffs, had nearly a 6 ERA in the 2003 regular season. Joe Torre didn't trust Weaver enough to put him on the Division Series roster, or on the League Championship Series roster. But he put him on the World Series roster.

In that Game 4, Torre used Clemens into the 8th, Nelson to get out of the 8th, Contreras in the 9th and 10th, and Weaver in the 11th. Aside from facing González to lead off the 12th, that was the only inning Weaver pitched in the entire postseason. Those 4 games against the Minnesota Twins, and those 7 games against the Red Sox, including the epic Game 7? No sign of Weaver. And the Yankees won both series.

As former UCLA quarterback Mark Harmon would say on NCIS, a TV series that began airing on CBS the previous month, would say in character as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, "There is no such thing as coincidence."

In Game 5 the next night, David Wells lasted only an inning, and Torre threw Contreras out there with no notice and about 20 hours' rest. He had nothing, and the Marlins won. In Game 6, the last World Series game ever played at the old Yankee Stadium, Beckett shut out a lifeless bunch of Yankees, and the Marlins were World Champions for the 2nd time -- both times as a Wild Card.

Torre trusted Weaver, and the World Series turned on that one pitch.

Does this look like the kind of guy you can trust?

On December 13, 2003, the Yankees traded Weaver and 2 guys you don't need to know about to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for a better pitcher. Or so we thought.

On April 29, 2004, I went to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets beat the Dodgers, 6-1. The losing pitcher was Jeff Weaver. I went to that game for the sole purpose of booing Weaver. Cheering for the Mets? That felt lame. But booing Jeff Fucking Weaver? Damn, that felt good.

On June 18 of that year, the Yankees went out to L.A. to play the Dodgers in an Interleague series. I did not go to any games of that series. The Dodgers won that day, 6-3. The winning pitcher was Jeff Weaver. That felt lousy.

But Weaver wasn't done screwing the Yanks over. You know that pitcher the Yanks got for him? Well, he also gave up a major postseason homer for the Yanks. It was Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. The batter was David Ortiz. The pitcher was Kevin Brown.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. On their Series roster was... Jeff Weaver. He has a World Series ring.

You know who doesn't have a World Series ring? Pre-expansion era greats Ty Cobb, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Luke Appling, Ted Williams, Early Wynn, Ralph Kiner, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Harmon Killebrew and Juan Marichal.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? The following players that I can remember seeing: Willie McCovey, Carl Yastrzemski, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Phil Niekro, Ferguson Jenkins, Bobby Murcer, Don Sutton, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Robin Yount, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Don Mattingly, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Trevor Hoffman, Ichiro Suzuki, David Wright and José Reyes.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? So far, the still-active Evan Longoria, Zack Greinke, Joey Votto, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

You know who else doesn't have a World Series ring? Jered Weaver, the younger and considerably better brother of Jeff. Reaching the majors with the Los Angeles Angels in 2006, he spent his entire career with them, before finishing in 2017 with the San Diego Padres. He won 150 games against only 98 losses, and an ERA+ of 111, making him 11 percent better at preventing earned runs since 2006 than the average pitcher over those 12 years.

Jeff, whose career ended in 2010, when he was only 34 years old, had a record of 104-119, and an ERA+ of 93 -- meaning he was 7 percent less effective at preventing earned runs from 1999 to 2010 than the average pitcher was over that stretch.

But Jeff Weaver has a World Series ring.

I would hate Jeff Weaver's guts -- if he had any guts to hate.

*

October 22, 2003 was a Wednesday. This was the only baseball game played that day. Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 6 days. There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena (as the Meadowlands Arena was then known).

* The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a 1-1 tie at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars, 3-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center). Rob Niedermayer scored the winning goal with 3:50 left in overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

July 5, 2002: The Yankees Trade Ted Lilly for Jeff Weaver

Jeff Weaver. Middle name not mentioned.

July 5, 2002: A 3-team deal. The New York Yankees trade Ted Lilly, John-Ford Griffin and Jason Arnold (a minor-leaguer who never made it to the major leagues) to the Oakland Athletics. The A's send Jeremy Bonderman, Carlos Pena and Franklyn German to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers send the A's cash. And the Tigers send the Yankees Jeff Weaver. From the Yankee perspective, this was essentially a trade of pitchers: Lilly for Weaver.

Lilly was considered a great prospect. He did well after leaving the Yankees, and lots of people said the Yankees never should have gotten rid of him. Wrong: He was never going to handle the pressure of pitching in New York.

Weaver sure as hell didn't. As a Yankee, he was 12-12 with a 5.35 ERA and a WHIP of 1.492. A whopping WHIP. He should never have been on the 2003 World Series roster: He almost prevented the Yankees from making the Playoffs that season. But Joe Torre trusted him in extra innings in Game 4. With one pitch to Alex González of the Florida Marlins, Weaver turned a good shot at being up 3 games to 1 to losing the Series 4 games to 2.

Weaver's middle name is Charles. Since the 2003 World Series, however, in the tradition of what Red Sox fans call Bucky Dent, I have continually referred to him as "Jeff Fucking Weaver." The Yankees wasted little time in getting rid of him.

When the Los Angeles Dodgers made their 1st trip to New York to play the Mets in 2004, I bought a ticket -- just to yell at Weaver. The Met fans, who apparently never watch the World Series unless their team is in it (in other words, hardly ever), were clueless. I mean, more so than usual.

Then again, maybe getting rid of him was an even worse idea. On December 13, 2003, the Yankees traded Weaver, Yhency Brazoban and Brandon Weeden to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kevin Brown.

Brown had won the World Series with the 1997 Marlins and the Pennant with the 1998 San Diego Padres. Before that, he had pitched well for the Texas Rangers, especially against the Yankees. (Having him to start in Games 1 and 4, and maybe 7 if it got that far, was a big reason Padre fans and Yankee Haters thought the Padres would win the 1998 World Series. Instead, the Yankees swept.) The Dodgers signed him to baseball's 1st $100+ million contract for 1999, and he wasn't terrible: He won 18 games that year, and led the NL in ERA the next.

Although he would be 39 on Opening Day 2004, he was good the season before, and, having lost Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte to free agency, the Yankees thought he was worth a shot. But he only went 10-6. Late in the season, after a defeat, he punched the dugout wall and broke his hand.

He wasn't out for the season. The Yankees might have been better off if he was: Torre looked at his exhausted staff, and decided that Brown was the best choice to start Game 7 of the 2004 AL Championship Series. My 78-year-old grandmother might have been a better choice: It was the single most embarrassing game in Yankee history.

He went 4-7 for the Yankees the next year, was not re-signed, and retired. He was 211-144 with a 127 ERA+ and a 1.222 WHIP, but his very decent career had a terribly indecent last year and change.

Meanwhile, Weaver helped the Dodgers win the NL Western Division in 2004 and 2009. In between, he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, and helped them win the 2006 World Series. Think about that for a moment: Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Ernie Banks, Carl Yastrzemski and Don Mattingly don't have a single World Series ring between them, but Jeff Weaver does. Jeff Weaver has as many World Series rings as Willie Mays, as many as Hank Aaron, as many as Tom Seaver, as many as Nolan Ryan, as many as Jackie Robinson.

The hell?

*

July 5, 2002 was a Friday. This was the day that one of the greatest of all baseball legends, Ted Williams, died, from complications from several strokes, at the age of 83.

These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. Orlando "El Duque" Hernádez was the winning pitcher. Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada hit home runs. Derek Jeter did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins, 5-3 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Boston Red Sox lost to the Detroit Tigers, 9-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-6 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-5 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). David Eckstein singled home Scott Spiezio in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 9-6 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.