By Cory Fallon
Trades are a regular part of the game of baseball. Here are five of the strangest to ever take place all involving Hall of Famers
1) Babe Ruth for a Play
Today in 1919, the @RedSox trade Babe Ruth to the @Yankees #TodayInSports #MLB #OTD ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/k0JQPO1uae
— TodayInSports (@TodayInSports3) December 26, 2020
Arguably the most famous trade in baseball history was when Babe Ruth went from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees, altering both franchises for decades. Ruth and the Yankees went on to win seven AL pennants and 4 World Series during his 15 seasons in New York, while the Red Sox went on an 86-year World Series drought.
The price for Ruth to go from Boston to New York? $125,000 so that Red Sox owner Harry Frazee could finance a play in Boston.
2) Cy Young for a suit
Something to keep in mind when Cy Young Awards are won tonight. Its namesake was traded from Canton to Cleveland in 1890 for $300 + A SUIT! pic.twitter.com/uZIR2sRmY6
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 16, 2016
Cy Young is one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, with the award for best pitcher bearing his name. He began his career pitching for a semi-pro team, and soon attracted the attention of the Cleveland Spiders. The Spiders purchased the eventual Hall of Famer in Young for the steep price of $250 and a new suit for the manager of the semi-pro team young was with.
3) Tris Speaker for Facility Access
According to story, the 1908 Boston Red Sox leased West End Park in Little Rock by exchanging a young Texan named Tris Speaker to the Little Rock Travelers. He went on to hit .350 for the Travs and was elected in to the Hall of Fame in 1937. He's pictured here in his Travs uni. pic.twitter.com/0YiHow6ja1
— Arkansas Baseball (@ArkBaseball) February 21, 2018
This is another trade of an eventual Hall of Famer for a short-term reward. Speaker began his career with the Boston Red Sox, who were looking to save some cash and shipped him to the Little Rock Travelers after his rookie season for access to the Travelers spring training facilities. The Red Sox would eventually re-acquire Speaker the following year, and he’d go on to play nine of his eventual 22 years in the big leagues for Boston before his Hall of Fame induction in 1937.
4) Dave Winfield for a Steak Dinner
Dave Winfield blasted 465 (career) Home Runs
2 came with the Cleveland Indians pic.twitter.com/Db7oiASMcq
— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) January 27, 2022
Dave Winfield was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians late in the 1994 MLB season for a player to be named later, right before the strike that caused a lockout, prematurely ending the season. Winfield never played for the Indians in 1994, so the Twins executives took the Indians executives out for a steak dinner, picking up the tab as the “player to be named later” and the trade was finalized. Winfield would eventually sign with Cleveland for the 1995 season, his last in the big leagues
5) Lefty Grove for a Fence
1931 American League MVP
Lefty Grove (31-4, 2.06 ERA and 27 CG) pic.twitter.com/LnVu9cu9dg
— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) May 14, 2022
Grove began his professional career pitching for the Martinsburg Mountaineers, attracting the attention of the Baltimore Orioles. A tornado had recently run through Martinsburg, West Virginia destroying the center field fence for the Mountaineers. The Orioles said that they could pay for the repair of their centerfield fence for a young Lefty Grove in return, and the Mountaineers accepted. Grove would spend five seasons in the Orioles system before being sold to the Philadelphia Athletics, launching his Hall of Famer career in 1925.
Photo Credit: Library Of Congress
