The Old Trading Deadline

June 15 used to be an important day in baseball. The date once marked the old trading deadline, a date that remained in effect until the current deadline for making trades (July 31) became standard operating procedure. As a young fan in the seventies and eighties, I used to wait anxiously on this day, wondering whether one of my favorite teams–the Yankees, Pirates, or A’s–would do something to strengthen themseves for the second-half pennant run.

Thirty years ago, the most memorable trading deadline of my lifetime took place, consuming the back pages of newspapers for days. Ever controversial in the ways that he ran a ballclub, Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley sold off three star players as part of a blockbuster housecleaning. Finley sent Gold Glove left fielder Joe Rudi and ace reliever Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece, and No. 1 starter Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million.

The moves signaled that the A’s had conceded the American League West while allowing to Finley rid himself of three players he had no intention of signing once they became free agents at the end of the 1976 season. At the same time, the trade figured to have major ramifications on the American League East pennant race, where the defending league champion Boston Red Sox were trying to stave off the new-and-improved New York Yankees and the always formidable Baltimore Orioles.

Alas, Fingers and Rudi would not be able to help the Red Sox, while Blue would not rejoin former teammate Jim "Catfish" Hunter in New York. Why? Three days after the player sales, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the moves, saying they were "not in the best interests of baseball." Kuhn ordered the players to return to Oakland, but owner Finley would not allow manager Chuck Tanner to use any of them in a game until June 27. Finley’s decision might well have cost the A’s the postseason, considering they lost the AL West by just a pair of games.

Finley’s finagling aside, the June 15th trading deadline had its share of watershed moments. Let’s consider a few other blockbusters that were allowed to take place, thereby changing the outcomes of a few pennant races.

*On June 15, 1964, the St. Louis Cardinals made one of their best trades ever, acquiring outfielder Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens. In the short term, Brock would help the Cardinals win the National League pennant and the World Series in 1964; over the long haul, Brock would set the all-time stolen base record and reach the 3,000-hit mark.

*On June 15, 1969, the New York Mets made one of their best trades ever by acquiring first baseman Donn Clendenon from the Montreal Expos for infielder Kevin Collins and pitchers Steve Renko, Bill Carden, and Dave Colon. Clendenon would hit 12 home runs over the second half of the season and help the Mets to their first World Championship.

*On June 15, 1977, the Mets made arguably their worst trade ever by dealing franchise pitcher Tom Seaver just moments before the trading deadline. In an unpopular move, the Mets sent Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for four lesser players: second baseman Doug Flynn, outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, and pitcher Pat Zachry. Seaver would go on to win 75 games for the Reds in five and a half seasons. Flynn, Henderson, and Zachry would be given important roles in New York, but all three players would flame out as Mets regulars.

*On June 15, 1983, the Mets rebounded from the Seaver disaster by acquiring first baseman Keith Hernandez from the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Solidifying the team at first base and cementing the No. 3 spot in the batting order, the onetime MVP would help the Mets win the World Series in 1986.