The Cardinals had signed Oberkfell as an amateur free agent in 1975, and he joined the major league club for cups of coffee in 1977 and 1978. In 1979, he made his mark as the club’s starting second baseman, batting .301 with a .396 on-base percentage. He scored 53 runs and drove in 35.

Though he never provided much power (he never hit more than three home runs in a season with the Cardinals), Oberkfell was a consistent on-base presence. In 1981, with the emergence of Tommy Herr, Oberkfell moved to third base, where he led the National League in fielding percentage in 1982 and 1983.

In 1982, Oberkfell batted .289 with 55 runs scored and 34 RBIs en route to the National League East title. In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Braves, Oberkfell made arguably the biggest play of his career, hitting an RBI single off Gene Garber in the bottom of the ninth to score Green and give the Cardinals a 4-3 win.

“I had always hit Garber pretty well, and I remember hitting a ball that just went foul,” Oberkfell said. “I turned back to (Braves catcher Bruce Benedict) and said, ‘You still going to pitch to me?’ … He said yeah and then I got the hit.”[1]

In the seven-game World Series bout with the Brewers, he went 7-for-24 (.292) with a double, an RBI, and two stolen bases.

In eight seasons in St. Louis, Oberkfell totaled a .292 batting average and .364 on-base percentage, though he always faced criticism for his lack of power, particularly after he moved to third base, a position where run producers were prevalent.

“You think about Mike Schmidt, Ron Cey, and Bob Horner, who drive in 80 or 100 runs a year,” Oberkfell said. “I’ve never been an 80- or 90-RBI guy, but I’m capable of driving in 60. I really think I’m capable of hitting some home runs in Atlanta. I’m not saying I’m going down there and setting the world on fire, but it would be good if I could.”[2]

The trade cleared out the logjam the Cardinals had on the infield, allowing David Green to play first base, Herr to play second, and Andy Van Slyke to play third.  Now that Herr had proven he was recovering from a series of knee injuries, the Cardinals no longer needed to keep Oberkfell as a safeguard in case Herr couldn’t return to form.

“I’m sorry to see Obie go, but from our side, I think it solves problems,” Herr said. “Andy and Green will be in there every day, and they’re not going to worry about platooning. We’ll get more production out of them without Andy moving around so much and Greenie not playing against certain right-handers.”[3]

Herzog later said that the presence of Terry Pendleton at Triple-A Louisville also played a part in the trade. Pendleton hit .297 with four homers and 44 RBIs in Triple-A that season, and after he was called up to the majors in July, he batted .324 with 33 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

“If it hadn’t been that we had Terry Pendleton in the minor leagues and playing really well, we would not have traded him (Oberkfell),” Herzog said. “He was a really good defensive third baseman and a really good guy on the ball club. I really enjoyed managing him.”[4]

Oberkfell was equally positive about his experience in St. Louis.

“I’ve got no regrets,” he said. “I was a Cardinal fan. I signed with the organization. I got to play for them, I got to play in the World Series. My biggest thrill was when Bruce Sutter struck out Gorman Thomas for the last out of the World Series. All my dreams came true.”[5]

For the Braves, Oberkfell’s arrival filled the hole left when Horner went down with a season-ending injury. Atlanta originally pursued the Yankees’ Roy Smalley, but balked at his six-year, $3.9 million contract. Oberkfell’s contract called for him to earn $500,000 in 1984 and $600,000 in 1985.[6]

“We know he (Oberkfell) doesn’t have a lot of power and won’t hit homers,” Braves general manager John Mullen said. “It’s always appealing to add somebody who has been on a World Series team and gone through that experience. That means a lot to a club.”[7]

Dayley had been the Braves’ first-round draft pick out of the University of Portland in 1980 and, at one time, was considered the team’s top pitching prospect. In 1982, he started 11 of his 20 appearances, going 5-6 with a 4.54 ERA in 71 1/3 innings. The following season, he again served as a swingman, starting 16 of his 24 appearances en route to a 5-8 record and 4.30 ERA.

In 1984, he went 0-3 in four starts with a 5.30 ERA before he was sent down to the Braves’ Triple-A Richmond affiliate. There, he went 4-1 with a 4.04 ERA.

“It’s a great move for me,” Dayley said. “St. Louis is much more of a pitchers’ kind of park.

“The Braves were good people, but I guess they were pretty down on me. I thought I’d get 30 or 35 starts this year, but it’s great to be back in the leagues. At least I know I’m going to someone who wants me.”[8]

“I feel he’s ready,” Herzog said. “He’s paid his dues. I don’t know if he’s going to be good. The only thing I can say is that he’s got a chance to be a very good pitcher.”[9]

The 35-year-old Jorgensen, a 1973 Gold Glove Award winner, was in his 16^th major league season, including his 19-year-old campaign, when he played eight games with the Mets. At the time of the trade, he was the Braves’ top left-handed bat off the bench, batting .269 with five RBIs in 26 at-bats.

“I didn’t think this would happen, but I should be used to it by now,” he said. “If I have to go somewhere, at least I’m going to a good team.”[10]

Jorgensen served as a reserve for the Cardinals in 1984 and 1985, batting .219 with a .345 on-base percentage in 254 total plate appearances. He retired following the 1985 season, but continued to work with the Cardinals. He served in a variety of roles, including minor league hitting coordinator, director of player development, special assistant to the general manager, and even as the team’s interim manager after Joe Torre was fired in 1995.

Dayley started 13 games for Triple-A Louisville and two games for the Cardinals in 1984. Those two starts for St. Louis were the last of his major league career, as he found his niche as a relief pitcher.

In 1985, Dayley was a key member of the Cardinals’ bullpen as they recovered from the loss of Sutter in free agency. In 65 1/3 innings, Dayley posted a 2.76 ERA and ranked second on the team behind Jeff Lahti with 11 saves.

In the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, Dayley appeared in five games, pitching six scoreless innings and saving two games. He made four more appearances in the World Series against the Royals, winning Game 2 with a scoreless eighth inning. In total, he threw six scoreless World Series innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five.

During the Cardinals’ next pennant run in 1987, Dayley again played a vital role, posting a 2.66 ERA with nine wins in 53 appearances. In the NLCS against the Giants, he continued to be a shutdown postseason performer, saving two of the three games in which he appeared. In four shutout innings, he allowed one hit and struck out four.  In the World Series, he pitched 4 2/3 innings, earning the save in Game 4. He allowed just one earned run on a Game 6 home run by Kent Hrbek and struck out three.

Over 20 2/3 career postseason innings, Dayley posted a 0.44 ERA with 15 strikeouts.

In 1989, he posted a career-high 12 saves, but in 1990, his ERA climbed to 3.56. Following the season, Dayley signed with the Blue Jays, where he pitched the final two seasons of his major league career.

In seven seasons with the Cardinals, Dayley posted a 3.18 ERA over 374 innings, compiling 39 saves.

Oberkfell played five seasons in Atlanta, batting .271 with a .346 on-base percentage. In 590 games, he hit 15 homers, drove in 181 runs, and scored 214 runs. In the final years of his career, he bounced around the majors, playing for the Pirates, Giants, Astros, and Angels. He retired following the 1992 season, ending a 16-year big league career.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Rob Rains and Alvin A. Reid (2002), Whitey’s Boys: A Celebration of the ’82 Cards’ World Championship, Chicago; Triumph Books, Page 84.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

[4] Rob Rains and Alvin A. Reid (2002), Whitey’s Boys: A Celebration of the ’82 Cards’ World Championship, Chicago; Triumph Books, Page 85.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

[6] Gerry Fraley, “Braves get Oberkfell,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 16, 1984.

[7] Gerry Fraley, “Braves get Oberkfell,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 16, 1984.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

[9] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Oberkfell To Braves,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1984.

The post Ken Oberkfell: Traded for Dayley and Jorgensen in 1984 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

After finishing third in the National League East in 1984, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog made clear that his top priority was to find a starting pitcher who could add stability to the rotation. The Cardinals already had Joaquin Andujar to serve as the ace of the staff, but at age 34, Bob Forsch had thrown just 52 1/3 innings in an injury-plagued 1984 campaign and could no longer be counted upon to be a top-of-the-rotation starter.

On December 12, in one of his final acquisitions before he resigned on January 3, 1985, Cardinals general manager Joe McDonald got Herzog the arm he wanted, trading outfielder George Hendrick and prospect Steve Barnard to the Pirates for left-hander John Tudor and catcher Brian Harper.

Trading Hendrick left the Cardinals in need of a middle-of-the-order bat. Hendrick hit at least 16 home runs each season between 1973 and 1983, but in 1984 his numbers dipped to nine homers and 69 RBIs in 120 games.

“George did a good job until the last two years,” Herzog said. “Last year, we’d put a guy on first, but he’d never drive in the guy with a ball in the gap.”[1]

To replace Hendrick, the Cardinals set their sights on San Francisco, where Jack Clark and the Giants had endured a tumultuous relationship. On February 1, 1985, the Cardinals and Giants finalized a deal that would send David Green, Dave LaPoint, Gary Rajsich, and Jose Uribe to the Giants in exchange for Clark.

“I think Jack Clark puts us in the situation of definite contenders again,” Herzog said. “Here’s a guy who can win a ballgame with one swing of the bat. He’s the only player in the league besides (Mike) Schmidt who could hit 20 homers a year playing in our park.”^[2]

A 13^th-round pick in 1973 out of Gladstone High School in Covina, California, Clark made his major-league debut as a 19-year-old September call-up in 1975. In 1978, he enjoyed his breakout season, batting .306 with 25 homers and 98 RBIs. He placed fifth in the MVP voting and was selected for the All-Star Game that season.

Between 1978 and 1983, Clark hit at least 20 runs in five of six seasons. In 1984, a right knee injury limited him to 57 games. He was batting .320 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs in June when he required season-ending arthroscopic surgery.

Clark, who had appeared in more Giants games than any other active player, with 1,044 appearances over nine seasons, had a complicated history with the club. Even though he could be counted on for 20+ homers per year, he had feuded with former manager Frank Robinson and hated playing in Candlestick Park, where the swirling winds made right field a daily adventure.

“There never was a day where it was really, really nice there,” Clark said. “You didn’t mind playing in the cold, but it was the wind. You’d see players on teams, even your team, go after fly balls like they had never played before. But I feel like I became a pretty good outfielder because I had to really improve my concentration.”[3]

In his 1988 autobiography, Wizard, Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith wrote that he knew Clark would benefit from a change of scenery.

“I told Lou (Susman) I thought there was a way we could obtain the power hitter everybody agreed we needed,” Smith wrote. “I had met Jack Clark several years back, and I knew that all the reports about him being a troublemaker with the Giants weren’t true. I had come from an organization – the Padres – that was similar to the Giants, and it seemed to me to be a situation where the organization was more to blame than the player. … I pointed that out to Lou and told him I thought Jack would fit into our organization and could give us 25 to 30 home runs a year. The key was to put Jack in a situation where he thought he had a chance to be on a winning team.”[4]

That knee injury was the first sticking point in the trade, as the Cardinals first requested that Clark undergo an examination of his injured knee. Once that was completed, a new wrinkle developed: Clark’s contract had provisions to pay him $250,000 if he were traded, provide a low-interest loan of $250,000, and give him another $250,000 payment if he signed with another team after the 1986 season. After some additional haggling, Cardinals attorney Lou Susman and Giants general manager Tom Haller agreed to split the final $250,000 payment, with the Cardinals paying the greater share. As a result of those negotiations, the Giants removed left-handed pitching prospect Colin Ward from the deal.

“I would have liked to have had the prospect,” Herzog said.[5]

The deal was finalized eight days after it was leaked to the press and four days after Clark completed his knee examination.

“This is the world’s longest trade,” said LaPoint, who had gone 33-22 for the Cardinals the previous three seasons. “It’s basically sixth-page headlines now. When they make it last an extra three days over $250,000, something’s wrong.”[6]

LaPoint’s frustration had less to do with the trade’s treatment in the papers than with a lack of communication about his family’s future. When the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reached out to him several hours after the trade had been announced, LaPoint said neither team had informed him of the trade.

“There’s more than ballplayers involved,” he said. “There are families involved. I think they should have at least let me know what was going on.”[7]

Herzog couldn’t disagree. “I wish it could have been handled more professionally,” he said. “Dave’s basically a really good kid, but he didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know what to tell him.”[8]

Haller told the San Francisco Examiner that the Cardinals’ lack of a general manager following McDonald’s resignation complicated the trade, leaving Susman, an Anheuser-Busch attorney, to handle the details on the Cardinals’ behalf.

“It was ridiculous in a way,” Haller said. “It boils down to a guy who never dealt in that arena before. Right now, he has been handling a lot of their important decisions since they don’t have a GM.”[9]

In Green, LaPoint, Rajsich, and Uribe, the Giants had an opportunity to add two new starters to their infield and LaPoint to their starting rotation.

Green, a highly touted prospect who came to St. Louis alongside LaPoint in the deal that sent Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Pete Vuckovich to Milwaukee, had claimed the Cardinals’ starting right field job in 1983 and hit .284 with eight homers, 69 RBIs, and 34 stolen bases. In 1984, the Cardinals moved him to first base, where he hit .268 with a team-leading 15 homers, 65 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. He missed three weeks of the season while rehabilitating from alcohol addiction.

“You’re really gambling on his potential,” Herzog said. “Of all the players I’ve had the opportunity to manage, David Green has more ability than anyone when you consider everything – hitting, hitting with power, speed, and arm. (Garry) Templeton and George Brett are in that category, but David has more power than either one, he runs better than either one, and he throws better than George.”[10]

LaPoint, a left-hander from Glens Falls, New York, was coming off a 12-10 season in which he posted a 3.96 ERA. As a rookie in 1982, he went 9-3 and received no decision in the Cardinals’ 7-5 Game 4 loss to the Brewers. LaPoint allowed one earned run in 6 2/3 innings in that start.

Uribe, a shortstop from the Dominican Republic, had hit .279 in Triple-A Louisville in 1984. Rajsich, whom the Cardinals had acquired from the Mets prior to the 1984 season, had appeared in just seven games for the Cardinals.

“It gives us quality players at three positions and help off the bench,” Haller said. “Green has sock in his bat, LaPoint strengthens our starting pitching, and Gonzalez (Uribe) has a good opportunity to be our starting shortstop.”[11]

Giants manager Jim Davenport said, “You hate to see a guy like Jack Clark get traded away, but any time you can pick up four players like that it’s bound to make you stronger. LaPoint will be one of our starters, Green will play first base, Gonzalez (Uribe) and (Johnnie) LeMaster will battle it out for the shortstop job, and Rajsich will give us strength off the bench.”[12]

Clark proved key to the Cardinals’ 1985 and 1987 National League championships. Before the 1985 season started, Herzog moved Clark to first base and Andy Van Slyke to right field.

That season, Clark earned All-Star recognition for the third time in his career, batting .281 with 22 homers and 87 RBIs. In the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he went 8-for-21 (.381), including a three-run home run off Tom Niedenfuer in the ninth inning of Game 6. In the World Series against the Royals, he went 6-for-25 (.240) with four RBIs.

Injuries limited him to just 65 games in 1986, but he returned in even better form in 1987, batting .286 with 35 homers and 106 RBIs, both career highs. He led the league in walks (136), on-base percentage (.459), slugging percentage (.597), and OPS+ (176).

“He’s the greatest fastball hitter I’ve ever managed, and he’s very good with runners on base. Our whole offensive game is geared to getting guys on base ahead of Clark, and everybody in the league knows it,”^[13] Herzog wrote in White Rat: A Life in Baseball.

Later in the book, Herzog added, “Jack Clark is one of the great power hitters and RBI men in baseball today, one of those guys you stick in the cleanup spot and then build your lineup around.”[14]

Clark injured his ankle on September 9 with three weeks remaining in the 1987 regular season when he tried to avoid a tag at first base. He took just one at-bat during the Cardinals’ NLCS win over the Giants and did not play in the World Series against the Twins. Despite missing the end of the regular season, he finished third in the MVP voting and earned a Silver Slugger.

In January 1988, Clark signed a two-year, $3 million free-agent deal with the Yankees, a move that prompted Herzog to say, “In all honesty, without Jack Clark for 162 games, we’ll be lucky to play .500. … We’re not a contender without Jack Clark.”[15]

Green played one season in San Francisco, batting .248 with five homers, 20 RBIs, and six stolen bases in 294 at-bats. In December 1985, the Giants traded him to the Brewers. The Brewers, in turn, sold him to the Kintetsu Buffaloes of the Japan Pacific League. In July 1987, Green returned to the Cardinals and appeared in 14 games. He played the remainder of his career in the minors and the Mexican League.

LaPoint went 7-17 despite a 3.57 ERA in 206 2/3 innings in 1985. That fall, the Giants traded him to the Tigers. LaPoint’s career took him to San Diego, Chicago (with the White Sox), Pittsburgh, New York (with the Yankees), and Philadelphia, with his final major-league appearance coming in 1991. LaPoint signed with the Cardinals for the 1987 season but was traded to the White Sox at the trade deadline.

Rajsich played one season in San Francisco, batting .165 with 10 RBIs in 91 at-bats. The Cardinals purchased him in July 1985 and sold him to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League that December. He played three seasons in Japan, hitting 76 home runs and driving in 189 runs.

Uribe proved the key to the deal for the Giants. He claimed the starting shortstop job upon his arrival in San Francisco and wound up playing eight seasons with San Francisco, batting .241 with a .969 fielding percentage for his career. He helped the Giants reach the NLCS in 1987 and the World Series in 1989.

Ward, who originally was included in the deal, appeared in six major-league games for the Giants, all in 1985. He spent the remainder of his career in the minors.

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[1] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[2] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[3] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C4.

[4] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), “Wizard,” Chicago; Contemporary Books, Inc., 100-101.

[5] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[6] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[7] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[8] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C1.

[9] Glenn Schwarz and John Hillyer, “It’s official: Clark for 4 Cards,” San Francisco Examiner, February 1, 1985: Page F1.

[10] Rick Hummel, “It’s Official: Cardinals Get Clark In Deal With Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1985: Page C4.

[11] Glenn Schwarz and John Hillyer, “It’s official: Clark for 4 Cards,” San Francisco Examiner, February 1, 1985: Page F1.

[12] Glenn Schwarz and John Hillyer, “It’s official: Clark for 4 Cards,” San Francisco Examiner, February 1, 1985: Page F7.

[13] Whitey Herzog and Kevin Horrigan (1987), “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” New York, N.Y.; Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 6-7.

[14] Whitey Herzog and Kevin Horrigan (1987), “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” New York, N.Y.; Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 170.

[15] Rick Hummel, “Herzog: ‘We’ll Be Lucky To Play .500,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 7, 1988: Page D1.

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The trade didn’t draw much attention in the press. The New York Daily News, focusing heavily on the World Series, noted the trade in a collection of wire reports near the bottom of Page 105. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch didn’t make mention of the trade at all.

The trade was so quiet that neither the Yankees nor Cardinals even called McGee to tell him about it.

“I read about the trade in the small type in the newspaper,” McGee told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1985. “I called the club a few days later and said, ‘I think I belong to you? What are your plans for me?’”[1]

McGee originally was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 1976 amateur draft, but didn’t sign. The following season, the Yankees made him their first-round pick (15^th overall) and sent the 18-year-old to their rookie-ball affiliate in Oneonta, New York.

By 1980, McGee had advanced to AA Nashville in the Southern League, but a broken jaw and dislocated hip limited him to just 78 games. With just one home run, 22 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 15 attempts, his stat sheet wasn’t doing much to attract attention.

Just as importantly, there didn’t appear to be a clear path for McGee to reach the big leagues. That December, the Yankees signed Dave Winfield and placed him in left field, with Jerry Mumphrey in center and Reggie Jackson in right. On the bench, the Yankees had a proven veteran and former all-star in Lou Piniella. With that much talent already on their major-league roster, there didn’t appear to be a roster spot for McGee.

“After two or three years, I started seeing guys with lots of ability year after year have good years and not get moved up,” he said. “I learned with that organization to stop trying to predict because it seems everything you predict, they do the opposite.”[2]

The Yankees saw the same logjam as McGee. Upon signing Winfield, they needed to move someone off their 40-man roster to accommodate their new slugger. Bill Bergesch, the Yankees vice president for player personnel, said the decision was between keeping McGee or another player, and the New York Times identified that player as Ted Wilborn.[3] Wilborn had enjoyed a better season in 1980, batting .270 with six homers, 63 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases for Nashville. As a result, the Yankees outrighted McGee to Nashville, knowing they might lose him in the draft the following year.

In 1981, McGee broke his jaw again, but returned six weeks later sporting a facemask. Cardinals scout Hal Smith saw McGee shortly after his return from the injury and found McGee’s determination as impressive as his speed.[4] That determination paid off, as McGee enjoyed the best season of his minor-league career, batting .322 with seven homers, 63 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases in 100 games that season.

Suddenly, the Yankees appeared certain to lose their young outfielder in the draft.

“Rather than lose him we tried to find out if we could get something in return,” Bergesch said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of interest in him, but we talked to the Cardinals about him. We had made a similar arrangement with them the year before when we got George Frazier for Rafael Santana, another frozen player we had.

“We’re sorry Willie had to get away from us, but under the circumstances, we didn’t have much choice. These things happen all the time in baseball.”[5]

Nonetheless, for the sensitive McGee, the trade was as emotional as it was life-changing. He was excited by the opportunity the Cardinals presented, but also hurt by the Yankees’ willingness to send him to St. Louis. He’d dreamed of playing in Yankees pinstripes. Now that dream was gone.

Weeping, he called his mother to tell her the news. She told him she would pray about it. The next day, she offered a bold prediction: “You’re going to go up next year, and y’all going to win the World Series,” she said.[6]

In exchange for McGee, the Yankees received Sykes, a left-hander from Miami-Dade College whom the Cardinals had acquired in a trade with the Tigers three years earlier. During his first season with the Cardinals in 1979, Sykes had surgery to repair a blood clot in his left shoulder, and he hadn’t fully recovered. In three season in St. Louis, he had gone 12-13 with a 5.08 ERA, splitting his 62 appearances evenly between starts and relief.

Sykes’ injured shoulder never allowed him to gain traction with the Yankees. In 1982, he allowed 33 earned runs in 37 innings with their Triple-A affiliate in Columbus before he was demoted to Double-A Nashville. There, he went 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 36 innings, but the Yankees released him anyway that spring.

His professional baseball career was over.

“I’ve gotten a lot of bad press and ridiculed about this,” Sykes said in 1985. “I’ve heard Howard Cosell and others joke about it like it was the worst trade ever made, but it was no lopsided deal. It was a trade for a guy on his way out for a guy on his way up. It just so happened the guy who went out was going way out and the guy on the way up was going way up – he turned out to be a superstar.”[7]

In May 1982, an injury to center fielder David Green prompted the Cardinals to promote McGee from Louisville. By the time Green was healthy enough to return to the lineup, McGee had taken his job. McGee placed third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that season, batting .296 with four homers, 56 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases. In Game 3 of the World Series, he put on one of the all-time postseason performances in franchise history, hitting two home runs and making a leaping catch to rob Gorman Thomas of a home run.

In 1985, McGee hit .353 to earn National League MVP honors, a Silver Slugger, one of three career Gold Gloves, and make one of four career All-Star Game appearances. His 18-year career would include 13 seasons in St. Louis, and in 2014 he was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

“I would have liked to do something for the people in St. Louis while I was there,” Sykes said. “No one was trying harder than me, but frankly, I helped the club a hell of a lot by being traded. I’ll be a Cardinal fan for the rest of my life.”[8]

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[1] “McGee N.L. Most Valuable,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 19, 1985.

[2] Jane Gross, “Ex-Yankee Minor Leaguer Becomes a Major Star,” New York Times, June 18, 1982.

[3] Dave Anderson, “Cardinals’ Willie McGee is Not ‘E.T.’” New York Times, October 17, 1982.

[4] Vahe Gregorian, “The Humble Hero,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 16, 1998.

[5] Phil Pepe, “Winfield was reason for trading McGee,” New York Daily News, October 13, 1982.

[6] Vahe Gregorian, “The Humble Hero,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 16, 1998.

[7] Dave Luecking, “Bob Sykes: A Redbird Footnote,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 19, 1985.

[8] Dave Luecking, “Bob Sykes: A Redbird Footnote,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 19, 1985.

The post Why the Yankees traded Willie McGee to the Cardinals first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.