Diamond Gems: Trades earn special spot in baseball history
Madison Record
It isn’t often, maybe has never happened, that two future Hall of Fame players were traded on the same day. Last week as the trade deadline was approaching Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds and Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox moved on to new teams.
This trade was as much about giving Griffey one last chance at post season play as it was about improving the Reds. Griffey, currently with 608 lifetime home runs, is a slam dunk hall of fame selection.
The Boston Red Sox just got tired of “Manny being Manny” and unloaded him in a three-team deal. The Dodgers, desperately needing hitters for the stretch drive, made separate deals to acquire Ramirez and Casey Blake of the Cleveland Indians just before the trade deadline.
The key player the Sox received was outfielder Jason Bay from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Among others involved in the Ramirez trade was minor league pitcher Bryan Morris from Southern Tennessee, who moved from Los Angles to the Pittsburgh organization.
Skip Caray, long time broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves and son of the legendary Harry Caray passed away Sunday at 68 years of age. Caray began broadcasting in 1963 with the Tulsa Oilers and for the Braves in 1976. He was still on the air this season, actually scheduled to call games last weekend.
Skip was one of the few baseball broadcasters who could try to be funny and actually made me laugh. He will be missed.
Jim Sandoval can be reached at casandman@aol.com
