Talkin’ Baseball – 7-21 – What Were Your Feelings When Tom Seaver Was Traded

Good morning 

Question –

            Do you remember what your feelings were when Tom Seaver was traded? What were your thoughts at the time and how did it affect you?

 If you were not yet alive or following the team, did we trade somebody that really affected you negatively or positively?

Reese Kaplan says –

            I remember that day as if it was just yesterday.  I was in high school when the news broke about the three trades that came down that night -- Seaver going to Cincinnati for Pat Zachry, Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn and Dan Norman, Dave Kingman going to San DIego for Bobby Valentine and Paul Siebert, and Mike Phillips going to St. Louis for Joel Youngblood. 

While on the rational level the Mets did receive a decent if not spectacular haul for Seaver, he represented so much more to the team than his mere pitching ability.  He almost singlehandedly gave the team respectability after having been a laughingstock for the first half dozen years of its existence, culminating with leading the Miracle Mets to the 1969 World Championship pennant.  True, he was 32 and the projection from then GM M. Donald Grant was that he would be paying big bucks for past achievements as he entered the twilight of his career. 

Grant was wrong, of course.  Seaver spent parts of six seasons with the Reds and was dominant in four of them.  The stadium became known as Grant's Tomb as people stayed away in droves due to their outrage over trading away "The Franchise" (though the caliber of play during those years might have had a lot to do with it, too). 

As bad as the Seaver situation was, the Kingman one was even worse.  He was due to become a free agent at year's end (much like Jay Bruce and company are this year year for the Mets), but the return of once promising but never fully recovered Bobby V (who was out of baseball before age 30) and soft tossing setup reliever Paul Siebert.  For a guy who stopped everyone in their tracks to watch his ABs, this return seemed pitiful. 

Overnight the Mets went from a winning 86-76 record in 1977 it seemed very strange they would ship out their two greatest players and throw in the towel on a disappointing 1977 season (and future).  I remember walking around school in a fog, never having before feeling the same sense of betrayal by someone for whom I'd pledged my undying loyalty.  (As a kid, I didn't realize how foolish it was to put that much stock into an entertainment entity). 

Tom Brennan says –

Tom Seaver was the man who turned the Mets from farce to champion.  

Great...super consistent...winner.

The Mets basically stunk in the second half of the 1970s, but Seaver was Seaver...and then the idiots came up with a trade of 3 mediocrities for one of baseball's greatest ever pitchers.

I remember thinking there 3 guys won't make up for the loss of Tom Terrific - you don't surrender quality for quantity.

After the trade, the acquired player's mediocre performance only made the feeling worse. A lot worse.

The good part was seeing what Seaver could do with a team that could really score runs.

If you trade a future Hall of Famer, the deal has to be a WHOLE lot better.

The third trade that most people forget brought Joel Youngblood who was a credible player both in the infield and outfield for the newly revamped Mets and it spelled the end of the playing days for new manager Joe Torre to create the roster spot.  That one was most definitely a win for the Mets, but it did little to take the sting out of what transpired. 

I am guessing part of the reason the Mets never seriously entertained trading away David Wright was fear of another similar reaction from the fan base given his connection to the people who buy the tickets and jerseys.  

David Rubin says - 

I can still remember hearing about it from my dad right after it was announced..in fact, the trade of Tom Seaver to the Reds had an effect on me that lingers to this day, some 40 years and a few weeks later...so much so that I'm going to have to spin the question out into my own post later this weekend, so be on the look-out for it- and NO, I will NEVER FORGIVE DICK YOUNG OR M. DONALD (WORTHLESS) GRANT!!!