" Today is a Day that will live in INFAMY !!!"
For most Americans December 7th 1941 was ” A Day That Would Live In Infamy !”
For all Mets fans that date is today, June 15th 1977.
If you are too young to remember,or were yet to be born, sit right down and I’ll explain to you why this day will always be known as the “Midnight Massacre” for Mets fans.
At the time the Mets were still a good team. They had a strong starting rotation that was anchored by Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack. Craig Swan and a revolving door of starting pitchers completed the staff, and the Mets were always in the playoff hunt.
The Mets original owner, Joan Payson passed away in 1975. She was very passionate about her Mets, and even though she was a old school owner, Payson was never shy when it came to trying to obtain top flight talent.
After her passing, her husband, Charles Payson (an admitted Boston Red Sox fan) and her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet would take over the team. They really didn’t know – nor did they really want to deal with the daily operations of a Major League franchise. So they let Mets President, M. Donald Grant – the most polarizing figure in Mets history ( until Bernard Madoff) take over the day to day operations of the team.
Former Mets coach ,Whitey Herzog , once described Grant as a “banker who fancied himself a baseball mind” , Grant was old school. He hated free agency, and felt players should not be asking for exorbitant amounts of money.
Grant and Mets ace, Tom Seaver had a rather frigid relationship after their last contract negotiation, and it soon would develop into a full out war between the two. Grant enlisted the services of Daily News columnist Dick Young to help turn the public against Seaver, Young would tell stories of how Seaver – nor any other player should be making millions of dollars. He insinuated that Seaver was greedy, and then he wrote the column that started the Mets meltdown – he accused Tom’s wife , Nancy of being jealous of Nolan Ryan’s wife. This made Tom go nuclear and demanded to be traded as soon as possible !
Grant obliged by sending him to the Cincinnati Reds for former “Rookie of the Year” pitcher , Pat Zachry along with minor league outfielders, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman and second baseman Doug Flynn. But Grant wasn’t finished.
He proceeded to trade the very vocal ( and bitter) Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for washed up infielder ( and future Mets manager) Bobby Valentine and pitcher Paul Siebert.
Needless to say Mets fans everywhere were shocked and angered by these moves. It started a chain reaction of losing, and a black cloud anchored itself on top of Shea Stadium for several years.
I remember being five at the time. I was awoken by my father screaming and cursing . I was crying when he was calm enough to tell me that the Mets traded Seaver – one of my favorite players at the time.
Mets fans abandoned their team. Shea Stadium was known as ” Grant’s Tomb” in honor of the man who executed the death of many young Mets fans innocence.
Grant would be relieved of his duties 2 years later. But redemption would not come until this date in 1983, when the Metswould obtain first baseman, Keith Hernandez from the St Louis Cardinals for our reliever, Neil Allen and pitcher Rick Ownby.
Hernandez has since become a Mets icon. Mets fans have a affection with the man we refer to as the “stache and we clammor for his number 17 to be retired.
But still it doesn’t erase the pain and suffering we Mets fans endured on that day 34 years ago today.
It’s funny , I just watched “Mets Yearbook ’77” and watching the footage of then Mets manager, Joe Torre trying to spin the Seaver trade , and I felt – “Oh poor Joe – he looks so pained by trying to justify a bad trade.”. But Joe always tried to be a company man.
We will never forget.
And please – DON’T TRADE REYES !!!!
And with that said…HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Outfielder from the ’78 team, Ken Henderson is 65 (1946). Henderson’s tenure with the Mets was ” blink and you missed him” short ( 7 games). He was obtained in the trade that sent John Milner and Jon Matlack to the Rangers, and was traded that May to the Reds for relief pitcher, Dale Murray.
Fan favorite center fielder from the ’95 season, Brett Butler is 54 (1957) .
Reserve catcher from the ’90 season, Dave Liddell is 45(1966).
First baseman from the ’03 season, Tony Clark is 39 (1972).
Reserve outfielder from the ’09 season, Jeremy Reed is 30 (1981).
The New York Mets purchased outfielder, Gene Woodling from the Washington Senators on June 15, 1962.
The New York Mets purchased the contract of pitcher, Bob Friend from the New York Yankees on June 15, 1966.
The New York Mets traded second baseman, Kevin Collins, along with minor league pitching prospects, Steve Renko, Jay Carden and Dave Colon to the Montreal Expos for first baseman, Donn Clendenon on June 15, 1969. Even though the Mets sacrificed Renko – who would have a long and productive Major League pitching career, they got the services of Clendenon -a proven veteran who helped to mold the ’69 Mets into winners.
The New York Mets traded utility infielder, Mike Phillips to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder, Joel Youngblood on June 15, 1977. Youngblood was one of the most popular players during the Mets lean years.He was a Jack of all trades, playing in the outfield as well as the infield. In his six seasons with the Mets he batted a respectable .274 with 38 homers and 216 RBIs.
The New York Mets purchased the contract of spot starter/middle reliever, Andy Hassler from the Boston Red Sox on June 15, 1979.
The New York Mets traded pitchers, Bob Myrick and Mike Bruhert to the Texas Rangers for Dock Ellis on June 15, 1979. The trade turned out to be a wash because neither Myrick nor Bruhurt ever distinguish themselves with the Rangers, and Ellis at this point was a washed up shell of his self.
The New York Mets sold the contract of first baseman, Mike Jorgensen to the Atlanta Braves on June 15, 1983.
Jorgensen was at the end of his career, and was made expendable with the acquisition of Keith Hernandez.
The New York Mets traded minor league pitchers, Jay Tibbs, Matt Bullinger and minor league infielder, Eddie Williams, to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher, Bruce Berenyi on June 15, 1984. Berenyi pitched parts of three seasons with the Mets, going a total of 12-9 with a E.R.A of 4.28. Jay Tibbs was the only player out of the three prospects to have a a prolonged Major League career , pitching for six seasons with a handful of teams.
The New York Mets released reserve outfielder, Gary Matthews on June 15, 2010. It was about time !, Matthews gave the Mets next to nothing in terms of productivity. I know Brian Stokes was not a great middle reliever, but he was a better fit for the team than the washed up Matthews who whose career years were a testament to the use of PEDs.
Mo Vaughn has been known to massacre his icebox on many a midnight !!!
37 comments
kingman 26
6/15/2011-8:09am at 8:09 am (UTC -4)
Great summary!
Rusty, I was 10 years old, and it was before the days of ESPN and Blackberries and 24/7 everything.
I remember sitting down for breakfast and seeing the Star Ledger sports section with its blaring headline.
Truly THE day which lives most in Met infamy!
34 years ago. Damn. That’s a long time.
Your two copies of Forever will be on the way early next week at the very latest!
rustyjr
6/15/2011-8:18am at 8:18 am (UTC -4)
Thank you sir – btw what deal devastated you more – the Seaver or Kingman trade ?
kingman 26
6/15/2011-8:57am at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
Both really. I would have to say my 3 all-time favorite Mets are, in order, Keith, Seaver, and then Kingman.
It was horrid. My Dad has been a huge fan since game 1 in 1962, so Seaver was royalty in my house growing up. And I loved seeing Kingman hit those blasts to LF on WOR as a kid. So, I was pretty devastated by both really. I suppose my brain was more devastated by Seaver going and my heart by Kingman.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-8:28am at 8:28 am (UTC -4)
I was a generation older than you Rusty and I’ll never forget it either. Back then, we really only had the newspapers and talk radio for our baseball news. Not all agreed with the picture Young was trying to paint and there was at least one who told quite the opposite story, going on to question Grant’s motives. I can’t really remember what paper that was but I want to say the Star Ledger since back then we had it delivered on a daily basis. If you read Young regularly you knew he hated the players union and FA as well. Wasn’t hard to figure why Grant enlisted Young’s help in trying to disparage Seaver’s reputation.
I remember thinking to myself no matter what was really going on, Grant couldn’t be dumb enough to trade him. Well, not only did he do it but he got nothing back in return. Just goes to show you that Whitey was probably right. Grant knew next to nothing about running a baseball team. Ignoring FA and the changes it was going to bring was like the studios who first ignored ‘talking’ movies saying it was just a fad.
Dark days indeed. Even though I am by no means comparing Alderson to Grant it will be another dark period in Mets history if Sandy doesn’t find a way to resign Reyes.
kingman 26
6/15/2011-9:01am at 9:01 am (UTC -4)
It was the Ledger. Remember Dan Castellano? The great Met beat writer forever? He was, in all ways–especially politically and morally–the opposite of Dick Young, who in some ways is the father of today’s obnoxious, “gotcha” paparazzi-style sports journalism. Before Young, reporters and players were often friends, and reporters kept dirt out of the news. Thanks to Young and his ilk, now all they do is seek dirt.
And I think Grant knew exactly what he was doing—they just had zero intention of paying Seaver or Kingman what they were worth.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-9:13am at 9:13 am (UTC -4)
I thought it might have been the Star Ledger. I was a faithful reader of Dan Castellano back in the day.
I know Young was instrumental in getting reporters into the clubhouse. That’s probably when things changed. Nothing was sacred anymore. He might have been privy to the latest and greatest sports rumors but his columns often read like soap operas. Back in that day, most baseball fans weren’t much interested in a ball players personal life and I’ll go one step further to say some were probably very uneasy reading about personal dirt. Airing dirty laundry just wasn’t done when in came to baseball until Young came along.
Yeah, Grant was definitely one cheap SOB. Wasn’t even his money. He just hated the whole idea of FA and the fact the he believed ball players cared more about the money than playing the game. I’m not going to say any player is worth the mega millions they’re being paid today but paying them a reasonable salary was going to be the wave of the future. Grant just didn’t get that there was very little he could do to stop it. And given how awful those mid 70-to late 80s teams were with the cheap ‘talent’ they were fielding, all should have got that.
IB_Twaddle
6/15/2011-10:51am at 10:51 am (UTC -4)
You are right on again Kong. Dick Young was, at least in my mind, the prototype for most modern sports “columnists”.
Young was a man of boundless moral hypocracy, false sanctimony and transparent hatred for all things sports and athletes.
I clearly remember, also, the “cokie farm” rants from this miserable souse. God, do I not miss him! Yet, we have his brilliant protoges to keep his flame alive.
Red Smith, where are you??
kingman 26
6/15/2011-11:34am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
Thank you!
And boy is this quote right on the money:
“Young was a man of boundless moral hypocrisy, false sanctimony and transparent hatred for all things sports and athletes.”
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-9:01am at 9:01 am (UTC -4)
I can’t think of whom would really compare to the massacre these days. At the time, it was probably Kazmir, but he was not a star like Tom.
stickguy
6/15/2011-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
that had nothing to do with money. Just dumb people pretending to be the FO making a stupid move. If anything, it cost them money to do it!
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-11:29am at 11:29 am (UTC -4)
Looks like he’s going to be released, so we can re-sign him!
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
Off topic but O.K., I should know better…..
Getting into a debate with our ‘friend’ Alex (jajaja, yes that Alex) over on MMO on his idea of trading Wright for pitching b/c we don’t really need him? Ugh….
rustyjr
6/15/2011-9:52am at 9:52 am (UTC -4)
To quote Red leader in Star Wars “Stay on target !”
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-10:02am at 10:02 am (UTC -4)
Alex is actually on MMO?
And while you can always use pitching, (AKA, sign me up for a Rotation of Ubaldo, Lincicum, Halladay and Johnson, + Johan), but looking at this team, you have the following: Santana, Niese, Pelf, Gee, Dickey.
Maybe Gee is a mirage, Dickey isn’t an ace and Pelf is, well, Pelf. You’ll still have Harvey &, once healthy, Mejia coming along, + Familia down the line too. So, come 2012/2013, I think you’ll see Santana, Harvey, Niese, Mejia & Gee (Pelf would be gone due to FA). That isn’t shabby. Again, adding a top notch pitcher is always welcome, but at what expense? For Wright? Yeah, I’m not ready to do that unless it was a top flight pitcher, and teams don’t trade top flight pitchers away unless they are in their walk year. King Felix (and an extension) for Wight… I’d probably do it, but it would take a couple of beers and Pro/Con list or two.
What’s his plan to fill in 3B? Turner?
stickguy
6/15/2011-10:10am at 10:10 am (UTC -4)
hope Lutz stays healthy for more than 2 weeks at a time?
I think the Wright haters are focusing on how the team did not seem to miss a beat when DW went on the DL. Though to be fair, with the broken back, he had been pretty bad for a good month or so before that.
Now, if someone wanted to give a juicy SP prospect that was ready for the show, and a strong catching prospect, you have to think about it if part of the deal is keeping Reyes.
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-10:22am at 10:22 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, DW is not completely untouchable, for sure, but who in their right mind is going to go, here’s my best pitching prospect who is major league ready plus another hot chip (catcher or another position) for DW? I just can’t see someone doing that, but then again, I didn’t think Vernon Wells would ever be traded…
saltygary
6/15/2011-10:48am at 10:48 am (UTC -4)
Instead of clamoring for a Wright trade maybe folks should be thankful that collins has squeezed every drop of talent out of this crew. Reyes has also been an inspiratio. Since I have always been pro trade of Reyes I will still stick to my opinion of how do you rebuild without giving away talent? Reyes really wants a contract bad and has essentially made himself untradeable. It has been a joy to watch him this season. Who would of thought that he would perform like this. He really is the first half league mvp.
saltygary
6/15/2011-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
Please bear with my typing. In a banks board meeting where I don’t need to participate
kingman 26
6/15/2011-11:44am at 11:44 am (UTC -4)
I honestly think that barring a complete collapse during the upcoming hell stretch of TEX/DET/NYY/LAD/SF/PHIL/FLA/STL/FLA/CIN from June 24–July 28, that there’s no fire sale, no trade of Wright or KRod, and maybe not even of Beltran.
Collins is the anti-Jerry in terms of maximizing what he has, and if Reyes, Gee, Niese and KRod continue doing what they have been doing, and if Wright and Ike return by the end of July and if we go .500 during the hell stretch, I cannot believe I am saying this, but we MIGHT contend for the postseason.
But still, that is a lot of “ifs”…
Regardless, I would bet a lot right now that Reyes re-signs with us.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-10:13am at 10:13 am (UTC -4)
Yes, Turner.
I like Turner but we’ve seen too small a sample size with him to anoint him heir apparent to Wright.
Ruvell
2/14/2012-10:25pm at 10:25 pm (UTC -4)
It’s posts like this that make srfuing so much pleasure
darknova306
6/15/2011-10:22am at 10:22 am (UTC -4)
Well, when this happened I was negative 5 years old, so I can only imagine how devastating it was to everyone. Nothing in my life as a fan has been remotely close to this, though I hated seeing the Kazmir trade and was pissed at the time that Hampton left.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-11:34am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
I see Kazmir is about to be released from the Angels. Hey, maybe Sandy could pick him up on the cheap. LOL.
Seriously, he’s only 27 but his career after 2007 has been just one injury after another. I’m sure those chronic elbow issues are a good part of the reason he’s never had any sustained success.
kingman 26
6/15/2011-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
If he is outright released and costs the minimum, they absolutely MUST try to sign him!
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
why the heck not, right?
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-11:50am at 11:50 am (UTC -4)
Wouldn’t that be something? He goes to AAA rehabs and/or works on strengthening his shoulder/arm and joins the rotation next year as the reinvented Kazmir.
Never going to happen though. I’m sure there’s like 20 other teams with the same thought. Plus I’m not sure he’d take a minor league deal.
kistics
6/15/2011-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
Bay sits again.
Could he be injured? I don’t know why he’s sitting again unless Collins decided to platoon LF.
I understand why he sat two games at Mil and Pit, but 2 more games in ATL? It looked like he was swinging better the past couple games I saw…
Dirtysanchez
6/15/2011-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
Mentally injured…the guy has serious issues going on. I dont know what is going on with him and I doubt anyone does at this point either. Right now he is usless to us, I can only hope they are working on his swing in the cage and what not otherwise I would expect a “phantom” injury to take place soon so he can work on it in the minors
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
I read a Rubin post this morning on Bay. Starting to feel sorry for the guy. I’ll give him credit in that his comments up to this point on his struggles and being benched have been nothing but professional.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/26282/bay-no-leg-to-stand-on-in-sitting-out
Dirtysanchez
6/15/2011-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
One more grandpa, one more lol j/k(about the grandpa bit) ;p Great story telling rus
I wasnt even close to born when this happened. I cant even imagine this going down today…thats some serious drama. Im glad that Seav was able to put that aside and still remain a visible figure of the Mets franchise. Never saw him pitch in real life but the video’s speak for themselves.
kingman 26
6/15/2011-11:36am at 11:36 am (UTC -4)
Seaver was amazing. Kind of like a better, classier Roger Clemens.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-11:52am at 11:52 am (UTC -4)
But with that same ego, which I guess he had a right to. He was one of the best of his era.
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
Ruben reporting:
The umpiring crew will be on the lookout on Wednesday night at Turner Field to ensure the infield playing conditions are up to major league standards, after the Mets complained of a soggy infield Tuesday, according to an official briefed on the matter. The Mets asserted gamesmanship by the Braves had overstepped its bounds in an attempt to slow down Jose Reyes and that the field was dangerously soggy in the series opener.
Reyes, who had footing problems, nonetheless stole two bases.
*****************************
Reyes is getting under every other team’s skin, isn’t he? LOL.
Seriously, he did slip at 1st when he got on and he did have that ‘non error’ out at SS b/c if that IF.
kistics
6/15/2011-2:21pm at 2:21 pm (UTC -4)
ATL using cheap tactics to gain advantage. They schedule for double header during the previous trip down in ATL. Now this crap.
I thought they were a classy organization.
njstuckintx
6/15/2011-2:26pm at 2:26 pm (UTC -4)
don’t let them fool you. They are worse than Philly.
oldnymetsfan
6/15/2011-12:32pm at 12:32 pm (UTC -4)
I was 18 at the time and I’ll never forget
I’ll never forget the mess of an organization Grant was making
I’ll never forget the battles in the press as Grant steadfastly refused to spend money on players. Not his own, not free agents.
I’ll never forget the atmosphere surrounding Seaver’s last games (complete game victories by the way) with the Mets
And mostly, I’ll never forget that night. The Mets playing in a vastly empty Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Matlack pitching, and Lindsey Nelson making the statement “Tom Seaver has left the dugout”
Baseball has never been the same
metsfan4decades
6/15/2011-3:24pm at 3:24 pm (UTC -4)
Well said.