Tomorrow will be 10 years since the "perfect storm" hit my life. On May 14, 1998, within hours of each other, my favorite show (Seinfeld) ran its last show (a stinker, by the way). My favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, passed away. But worst of all, one of the most ridiculous trades in baseball history took place, and it involves my favorite player. Since this a (mostly) baseball blog, I will concentrate on this.
The Dodgers, recently taken over by Fox, decided instead of negotiating with potential free agent Mike Piazza, to trade him and third baseman Todd Zeile to the Marlins for OF Bobby Bonilla, OF Gary Sheffield, PH Jim Eisenreich, C Charles Johnson, and P Manuel Barrios. The Marlins, 5 days later, traded Piazza to the Mets. First, the stats for the players, post-trade Dodger career:
Bonilla- 72 games, .237, 7 HRs, 30 RBIs
Sheffield- 3 1/2 yrs, .312, 129 HRs, 367 RBIs
Eisenreich- 75 games, .197, 0 HRs, 6 RBIs
Johnson- 102 games, .217, 12 HRs, 35 RBIs
Barrios- 1 inning pitched
And the careers of the two traded Dodgers?
Zeile- 7 years, .260, 96 HRs, 470 RBIs
Piazza- 10 years, .295, 250 HRs, 772 RBIs
Lop-sided, to be sure- Sheffield was a productive pain in the ass, everyone else was riding the last train of their careers. But it was much more than this- in '98, the Dodgers were on the verge of greatness, 5 straight Rookies of the Year, 2 playoff appearances and a 90-win season- potentially a pitcher or two away from a couple World Series championships. And maybe even more importantly, the face of the franchise was gone- and the last one that LA has had. There are so few players who embody an entire team-think Jeter, Pujols, Gwynn. This was the beginning of the end of the tradition of Dodger baseball- 2 playoff appearances in 10 years, 0 playoff series wins. 6 managers in 10 years, after 2 in the previous 43 years. New ownership has tried to undo all the damage done by evil Fox's regime (Kevin Brown, anyone?), but it is a long painful process. And it all started when the greatest-hitting catcher in history was traded for the equivalent of a bag of baseballs.
3 comments:
My little Rainman of dates has struck again. :)
I don't even remember where I was last May, let alone in 1998!!!
Sheffield was a very good player 10 years ago (still decent today with his cream/clear connections), yet has alwats been a perpetual pain in the ass. Did Jim Eisenreich even have a position? I bet he didn't even bring a glove, just a bat. It has been a long wait for a playoff series win for the lowly Dodgers. I would say I know how you feel, but I would be lying.
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