Biggest Trades in Dodgers History, 1958 to 1971
Los Angeles Dodgers history, that is, and this is part one in a series.
It's also one example of what and how we'll attempt to keep you busy with Dodgers-related material while there are no games to watch, no trade rumors to devour and just plain nothin'. This particular piece, lightly-edited from its original form, ran as a 2008 "Off Base" column at my old personal site, BaseballSavvy.com (yes, that's BS for short). Be warned that the site is long-dormant and filled with bugs now, so please don't hold it against me.
You'll notice a number of references to batting average and pitcher wins, but it was 2008, remember, so please don't hold that against me either. Here goes:
Inspired by a great Ross Newhan piece about the worst trades in Dodgers' history, I thought what the hey, why not take it a step further. The result is a look at the most significant trades of the Los Angeles era; good, bad and indifferent.
It's trades only, mind you. A chronicling of free agency is an entirely different animal, which perhaps we'll tackle some other time. Besides, do you really want another dredging up of Don Stanhouse, Dave Goltz and Rick Honeycutt (the latter two known collectively in BS circles as "Honeygoltz)?
Let's go chronologically, and start with the Dodgers acquisition of Wally Moon, in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, for Gino Cimoli, on December 4, 1958. Not to be confused with Dolph Camilli, who had some great years with the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1930s and 40s, Cimoli had a nice little career without particularly distinguishing himself, and after leaving town played for six teams over the final eight seasons of his career.
You know all about Wally Moon and the famous "Moon shots" story (and likely about his eyebrows), but suffice it to say the man had an immediate impact, serving as a key contributor to the Dodgers' run to the championship in 1959. Moon sported a .302 average that first year, with 76 extra base hits, including a baseball-leading 11 triples and 19 home runs while plating 74.
Following up with solid seasons in 1960 and 1961, Moon was a member of the Dodgers' World Championship teams of 1963 and 1965 as well. So, shall we say "thumbs up" on the Moon trade? Yeah, I think so. And an auspicious start to the club's 50-year history in Los Angeles.
December 4, 1964. Frank Howard, with Phil Ortega, Pete Richert, Ken McMullen and Dick Nen to the Washington Senators for Claude Osteen, John Kennedy and cash. Essentially Howard for Osteen. Many in Los Angeles were skeptical of this one, which had the Dodgers dealing their primary power man and 1960 National League Rookie of the Year award winner for a guy who had won 15 games the season before the trade; a cog in the wheel of what was an American League team of legendarily bad proportions.
Well things change now, don't they? Osteen became a rotation mainstay, serving the Dodgers with distinction for the next nine years, winning 15 games twice, 16 twice, 17 games another time, and 20 twice more. ERAs in the high twos and low threes in seven of his nine seasons with the club.
In what was arguably the biggest win in Los Angeles history at the time (and perhaps ever), and with the Dodgers down two games to none, Osteen pitched a five-hit shutout of the Minnesota Twins in Game 3 of the 1965 World Series, and recorded a lifetime Series ERA of 0.86. Yes, Mr. Howard had some monster seasons in D.C., but this deal goes down in history as a serious win for the Dodgers. And I'm sorry, but it's not close.
December 1, 1966: Described perfectly by Newhan: "In a spiteful move involving Maury Wills' protest over the absence of payment involving a team trip to Japan, Walter O'Malley ordered his shortstop and team captain traded to Pittsburgh for Bob Bailey (.227 in two seasons in L.A.) and Gene Michael (.202 in his only season with the club)."
A misguided trade, but to be fair, Bailey did develop into a good player, with some solid seasons as a Montreal Expo later. All I can say about Michael, on the other hand, is that never in baseball history was a sarcastic nickname ever more apt than was the "Stick" label pasted on that guy.
November 29, 1966: Tommy Davis and Derrell Griffith to the Mets for Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman. A semi-blockbuster, and the proverbial "year too early, rather than a year too late" for General Manager Buzzie Bavasi and the Dodgers.
Tommy D. is remembered locally for his 1962 and 1963 NL-leading batting averages of .346 and .326 to this day (to say nothing of his franchise record 153 RBIs in '62), but had been out of the lineup for most of the 1965 season, and played in but 100 games in 1966.
As it turned out, 1963 was Davis' last All-Star campaign, but he continued to hit in or around .300 for rest of his career, finishing at .294 lifetime with 2121 hits in 18 seasons.
Ron Hunt averaged .263 during his one season in blue, but disappointed in the hit-by-pitch department. A meager 10 HBPs for the one-time leader in lifetime plunks (243), which turned out to be his career low as a starting player. For comparison, Hunt was hit 50 times as an Expo in 1971. Slacker.
Hickman boasted a .163 average in 65 games his lone year as a Dodger, and will forever be remembered by those in the know as the man whose single in the 1970 All-Star Game sent Pete Rose crashing into the ever-so-grateful Ray Fosse. Consider yourself a baseball god if you can name the player who moved Rose into scoring position with a single, to set Hickman up for the game-winner (see Trivia below). Advantage, Mets.
June 11, 1969: Wills returns to the Dodgers, along with Manny Mota, in a deal that sent Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich to Montreal. Maury bats .297, .270 and .281 in his final three seasons as a regular shortstop, and adds 69 steals to bring his franchise record to 490. Mota, of course, would go on to become the all-time leader in pinch hits (with 150) until Lenny Harris came along in 2001. He hit .318 as a Dodger, rising to the occasion with a .375 average in five postseason series. Los Angeles gets the nod here.
Old joke: What do you call a Dodgers' base coach with a flat tire? Manny Mota and jack. #Groan
October 5, 1970: Ted Sizemore and Bob Stinson to St. Louis for Richie Allen. We could write a book on the stories and accomplishments of Mr. Allen, but, well, we're lazy. So let's just say the Cards had their reasons, the man could really hit and it was a big deal for the Dodgers to trade for him. A really big deal. A huge deal.
Sizemore had been yet another Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers in 1969, and followed up with a .300 season in 1970, but this was Richie Allen we were talking about here. So GM Al Campanis made it happen.
Allen did everything that could have been expected while here, playing in 155 games, batting .295, with an on base percentage of .395, 23 homers, 90 RBIs, and representing the Dodgers in the Midseason Classic.
The Allen trade was an obvious winner for Los Angeles, but not just because of what happened between the lines during the calendar year. Stay tuned for that.
February 10, 1971: Straight trade, Andy Kosco to the Milwaukee Brewers for Al Downing. Kosco's claim to fame, such as it is, was leading the Dodgers in homers with 19 and RBIs with 74 in 1969. Just fyi, Wes Parker, with his 68 RBIs, was the only other Dodger to drive in as many as 60 that season. Ponder that a minute.
After five straight double-figure win seasons for the Yankees from 1963 to '67, including a strikeout title and an AL All-Star team selection, Downing's next three seasons were a bit off the mark. Bad for him, good for the Dodgers, who were the beneficiaries of the little lefty's career season in 1971.
Personal highs with 20 wins, 36 starts, 12 complete games, five shutouts and 262 innings that year, along with an ERA of 2.68. Downing finished third in the NL Cy Young voting and 10th in the MVP race, as the Dodgers just missed in the West, losing out to San Francisco by a game on the final day of the season.
Downing won 26 games over his last five seasons in Los Angeles and for his career, and served up, well, you know. Whatever, the Dodgers win this trade by a mile.
December 2, 1971: In what turned out to be about as good an example of the good-trade-for-both-teams as can possibly be, the Dodgers sent Allen to the Chicago White Sox for Tommy John and Steve Huntz. Little did any of the participants know.
Allen made the name change to his preferred "Dick" official and proceeded to win the AL Most Valuable Player Award, hitting .308, with 37 homers and 113 RBIs.
Tommy John is and was so much more than the man who gave his name to a breakthrough surgical procedure. So much more. He'd been a productive White Sox pitcher for years before coming to Los Angeles, and won consistently, primarily with the Yankees, for 11 more upon his departure.
John became a big-picture Dodger in 1973, posting a 16-7 record and 3.10 ERA, as the Dodgers fought for the division late into the season with the Cincinnati Reds "T.J." began the 1974 season on fire, going 13-3, with a 2.59 ERA, before succumbing to what was at the time a forearm injury from which no player had ever recovered, or ever really attempted to.
That the team managed to win the pennant anyway is a testament to Walter Alston's leadership. Plus, quite obviously, Don Sutton, Steve Garvey, Andy Messersmith, Mike Marshall, Jimmy Wynn and company.
Out all of 1975, John came back strong, winning 10 games for L.A. in 1976, 20 the next year, and 17 the year after that, helping his club to back-to-back pennants in 1977 and 1978, while notching three wins in the postseason.
Allen meanwhile, had one more full season of productivity and was out of baseball by 1977 at the age of 35. Like I said, a good trade for both teams, but the Dodgers (and I presume, John) were quite happy with this one, thank you very much.
December 2, 1971: A very busy Al Campanis sent Doyle Alexander, Bob O'Brien, Sergio Robles and Royle Stillman to Baltimore for Frank Robinson and ex-Dodger Pete Richert.
Alexander had started 12 games as a 20-year-old Dodger in 1971 and eventually became a pretty solid guy, winning 194 games, with well over 3000 innings in a 19-year career. Beside the deal for Robinson, Alexander is famous for another rather significant trade. It's an easy trivia question, so give don't give yourself too much credit if you know it, but do if you can name any of the other interesting players Alexander was traded with and for over the years. Answer below.)
Robinson had hit 503 of his 586 home runs before landing in L.A. at age 36 -- an actual member of the 500 home run club; a pretty big deal at the time -- and managed 19 homers, 59 RBIs and a .251/.353/.442 line his one year as a Dodger. But as with Allen the year before, it was exciting having Robby in town for any length of time, and his being available after that one season led to another important trade.
OK, that's it for part one. Part two is coming soon.
Trivia Answer: In a 1987 run for the American League East, the Detroit Tigers sought Alexander from the Atlanta Braves, who were kind enough to oblige. The Braves take? John Smoltz. During his career, Alexander was traded with and for these guys, among others: Frank Robinson, Pete Richert, Ellie Hendricks, Ken Holtzman, Grant Jackson, Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Scott McGregor, Rick Dempsey, Larvell Blanks, Pepe Frias, John Montefusco and Andy McGaffigan…Remember, glove conquers all.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
