December 3, 1969: The Mets Trade Amos Otis for Joe Foy

December 3, 1969: The New York Mets trade outfielder Amos Otis and pitcher Bob Johnson to the Kansas City Royals for 3rd baseman Joe Foy.

Otis was a center fielder. The Mets had Tommie Agee in center. They didn't need another center fielder. Johnson was a pitcher. The Mets had plenty of pitching. What they did need, perennially, was a 3rd baseman. So they traded Otis, 22 and with 168 major league plate appearances under his belt, and Johnson (who you don't need to consider) for Foy, a 26-year-old New York native with power and speed, who'd helped the Boston Red Sox win the 1967 American League Pennant.

On paper, this looked like a great trade. But baseball is not played on paper, it's played on grass. Or plastic.

In Kansas City, Otis became a 5-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove winner, a 2-time .300 hitter, an AL leader in doubles twice and in stolen bases once, and a 4-time postseason performer. In New York, Foy decreased his hitting, and increased a drug problem that the Mets didn't know about before the trade. After the 1970 season, they left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. 

He was taken by the Washington Senators, whose 1971 edition was one of the most dysfunctional teams in baseball history, with Foy, Denny McLain and Curt Flood all playing well below their previously established standards. Foy played his last game for them, or any other team, on May 27. He was sent down to the minors, and released on July 16. He never played in the major leagues again. He eventually beat his addictions, but the damage was done: He died of a heart attack in 1989, only 46 years old.

Johnson only pitched 1 season for the Royals. They traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and helped them win the 1971 World Series.

If the Boston Red Sox had finished the job in the 1986 World Series, as they very nearly did -- or the Houston Astros had done so in the National League Championship Series, and 1 more run in Game 6 would have meant the Mets would have faced Mike Scott in the Astrodome in a Game 7 -- we would now be talking about a 53-year title drought for the Mets, and The Curse of Amos Otis.

*

December 3, 1969 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 113-105 at the Boston Garden.

* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 118-117 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 36 points.

* The San Diego Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls, 146-131 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Don Kojis led all pro basketball players on the night with 40 points.

* And the Detroit Pistons beat the San Francisco Warriors, 106-102 at the Cow Palace, outside San Francisco in Daly City, California.

There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets beat the Los Angeles Stars, 108-97 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The Washington Capitols beat the Denver Rockets, 99-87 at the Washington Coliseum.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Floridians, 126-117 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 123-109 at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 3-3 at what was then being called the New Madison Square Garden Center.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Minnesota North Stars played to a tie, 5-5 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Oakland Seals, 3-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

June 21, 1967: The Yanks-Sox '67 Brawl

June 21, 1967: The New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. The rivalry between the team had been dormant for nearly a generation, since the Yankees had been great and the Sox had been far out of the race. In 1965, the Yankees collapsed, and in 1966, they got edged by the Red Sox for last place in the American League. Now, the situation was reversed: The Yankees were still struggling, and the Red Sox were challenging for the Pennant.

Carl Yastrzemski was a big reason why, and would go on to win the Triple Crown. Another big reason was Jim Lonborg, who would go on to win the Cy Young Award. Lonborg started this game, against Thad Tillotson.

The Sox already led 4-0, including a home run by Tony Conigliaro, in the top of the 2nd inning, when Tillotson hit Joe Foy in the head with a pitch. If it was done on purpose, it was a stupid thing to do: It loaded the bases, with only 1 out, and Yaz and Tony C up next. At 4-0, the game was still within legitimate reach; anything more than that, and it really wouldn't have been. Yaz singled Mike Andrews home to make it 5-0.

In the bottom of the 2nd, with 2 out and Tom Tresh on 1st base, Tillotson came up to bat. There would be no designated hitter in the American League until 1973. Lonborg, known as "Gentleman Jim" but already known as a pitcher who would hit a batter when necessary, beaned Tillotson.

The benches emptied slowly, as the first the Yankees, then the Red Sox, walked out of their dugouts slowly, as if they're not sure that they want to do this. But after a few seconds, all hell broke loose. It became one of the nastiest brawls in baseball history, and it may be the earliest one preserved in any kind of video.

The fight was, more or less, a draw. The game was a Boston win: George Scott hit a home run in the 3rd inning, Yaz and Tony C had back-to-back RBI singles in the 4th, and the only Yankee run was unearned, coming on an error in the bottom of the 5th. Red Sox 8, Yankees 1. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Despite the acrimony from this brawl, this was an anomaly in the teams' relationship in the era. It was not the beginning of the modern Yanks-Sox rivalry. That was still to come.

Foy was later to be a part of one of the biggest bonehead trades in history -- not surprisingly, by the New York Mets.

*

June 21, 1967 was a Wednesday. Basketball star Derrick Coleman was born. So was comedian Jim Breuer, who has worked being a fan of the Mets into his routine.

These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Jack Fisher pitched a 2-hit shutout to beat Jim Bunning.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ernie Banks did not play for the Cubs. Willie Stargell did not play for the Pirates. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-3, but drew a walk and had an RBI on a groundout.

* The Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers were tied, 5-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, when it was called in the middle of the 9th inning due to rain. All statistics counted. Harmon Killebrew hit 2 home runs, and Rod Carew, then a rookie and never to be known for power hitting, also hit one. Al Kaline and Dick McAuliffe homered for the Tigers. The next day was a day off for both teams, so the game was replayed, and the Tigers won, 5-2. The Tigers got 2 homers from Kaline and 1 from Norm Cash.

* The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 5-2 and 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. In a rarity during his career, Pete Rose was nursing an injury, and did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Cards needed 3 pitchers (Ray Washburn for 6 1/3 innings, Joe Hoerner for 2 1/3rd, and Nelson Briles for 1 out) to pitch a 4-hit shutout and beat Don Drysdale. Lou Brock went 2-for-5 with a stolen base. Roger Maris went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with a walk. Willie Mays went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

* And the California Angels and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up on August 21. The Angels won, 6-4.

April 14, 1967: The Billy Rohr Game

April 14, 1967: The New York Yankees host their home opener at Yankee Stadium. With CBS' appointee Mike Burke now completely in charge -- the last of the Topping-Webb shares of ownership having gone to the Tiffany Network and fallen under his control after the disastrous 1966 season -- he has already put his stamp on the big ballyard in The Bronx, painting the sandstone exterior white, and painting the famous lime-green seats royal blue.

The Stadium will retain these colors after the 1973-76 renovation that Burke will negotiate. While the new Stadium of 2009 will go back to a sandstone exterior, in an effort to evoke the original version of the old Stadium, the seats will keep Burke's blue idea.

In the wake of a successful policy across town at Shea Stadium, Burke allows fans to bring banners to Yankee Stadium, something the old regime refused. Many of the banners this season saluted Mickey Mantle, who was on his way to hitting the 500th home run of his career on May 14.

The Boston Red Sox spoil the opener. Reggie Smith begins the game by hitting a home run off Whitey Ford, who is battling an injury, and will retire within weeks. It was still only 1-0 in the 8th, when Ford gave up another home run, a 2-run shot by Joe Foy. That made the score 3-0 Boston.

It would stay that way, as Billy Rohr, making his major league debut, nearly pitches a no-hitter. He walked Bill Robinson and Joe Pepitone in the 4th, walked Ray Barker in the 5th, and walked Tom Tresh in the 6th, but stranded them all. In the 8th, Lu Clinton reached on an error, and Rohr walked Horace Clarke, but he got out of the jam with a double play.

He started the bottom of the 9th, with Tresh hitting a liner out to left field, but a great catch was made by the man who will come to define the American League season, Southampton, Long Island native Carl Yastrzemski. He got Pepitone to fly to right. There was 1 out to go. But Elston Howard hit a clean single to right, to break up the no-hitter. Rohr then got Charlie Smith to fly out to end the game. He became the toast of the town, the town being Boston, for the first few weeks of the season.

Four days later, Rohr beat the Yankees again, at Fenway Park. But he won only 1 more big-league game. Still, those 2 wins were vital to the Sox' "Impossible Dream" season. Rohr returned to San Diego, went to law school, became a malpractice attorney.

*

April 14, 1967 was a Friday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Chris Short outpitched Jack Fisher.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 3-for-4 with a walk. He did not hit a home run, but Felipe Alou and Joe Torre did. Willie Mays popped up to 1st base in the 1st inning, then left the game with an injury in the 2nd inning.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ernie Banks and Ron Santo hit home runs. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4, but had 2 RBIs, each on a groundout.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4. Eddie Mathews, after 15 seasons with the Braves, played for the Astros, and hit his 494th career home run. This surpassed Lou Gehrig to make him, at the time, 7th on the all-time list behind Babe Ruth, Mays, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Mel Ott and Mantle. He would finish with 512.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with a walk. Rod Carew, who made his major league debut 3 days earlier, went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Al Kaline went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Athletics, 7-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but both Semifinal series were between games. The Toronto Maple Leafs would beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Finals.

And Game 1 of the NBA Finals was played. For the 1st time since 1956, the Eastern Division representative was not the Boston Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 141-135 in overtime at the Philadelphia Civic Center. The Sixers got 32 points from Hal Greer, 30 from Wali Jones, 26 from Billy Cunningham, and 23 from Chet Walker. Wilt Chamberlain scored "only" 16 points, but he had 33 rebounds and 10 assists. Triple-doubles were not recorded at the time. Nor were blocked shots, so it's likely that he had a quadruple-double. In defeat, Rick Barry scored 37. The Sixers went on to win the series in 6 games.