The '76 Yankees trade with Tippy, etc.

[Just Regular]

Can someone explain the context of this deal to me?

MLB is randomly showing a Fidrych-mania game from June 28, 1976.  He is being opposed by Ken Holtzman, and this is the first time with the aid of B-Ref I am appreciating the Tippy, McGregor, Dempsey deal was in mid-June that year, as it was only Holtzman's third game after coming from us.   I had always kind of figured a straightforward buy/sell kind of structure, except that in the 1976 AL East, the Orioles were 2nd to the Yankees.  In 1975, the second place Orioles beat the Yankees.

Were we breaking up an aging nucleus early the way Duquette didn't?

Elrod homered off Fidrych for the Yanks only run this game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/1976-transactions.shtml

It is also crazy to me the Orioles first transaction after the big deal was signing Nate Snell as an amateur FA.  Yes, the same Nate Snell that didn't come through the big league team until the mid-80's.

[WillyM]

Ken Holtzman, though he had pitched fairly well for the Orioles in the early part of the '76 season, was getting near the end of his career (and besides that, his teammates couldn't stand him).  He pitched OK for the Yankees in the balance of the '76 season, but only lasted another three years in the big leagues and was never that effective again.

Grant Jackson went 6-0 for the Yankees in the rest of '76, but then was taken by Seattle in the expansion draft.  He never played for the Mariners, as he was traded to Pittsburgh, but lasted another six years in the majors.

Doyle Alexander had a lot left in the tank.  He went 10-5 for the Yankees in the rest of '76, but was signed by the Rangers as a free agent during the offseason.  I guess if his asking price was too high for the Yankees, it would have been too high for the Orioles.  He continued to pitch in the major leagues until 1989.

I knew a Yankee fan who was delighted with the trade, simply because it got Dave Pagan out of a Yankee uniform.  Pagan went 1-4 for the Orioles in '76.  Like Jackson, he was taken by Seattle in the expansion draft.  He was out of the major leagues after one more season.

Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, and Rick Dempsey were, of course, hugely instrumental in the Orioles' winning the World Championship in 1983.  On balance, I'd have to say it was a trade that worked out well for the Orioles.

[murph]

I would like to hear more from the veteran (nice way of saying old ) posters who were actively following the O's during this time.  Seems like a fairly large trade for two teams which were both doing well, just seems like a trade which never would happen these days.  @Frobby @SteveA, others have thoughts? 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, murph said:

I would like to hear more from the veteran (nice way of saying old ) posters who were actively following the O's during this time.  Seems like a fairly large trade for two teams which were both doing well, just seems like a trade which never would happen these days.  @Frobby @SteveA, others have thoughts? 

I do think that trades with division rivals and trades with other contending teams were far more common in those days.    For one thing, free agency hadn’t really started yet in earnest and teams weren’t used to filling their gaps by just buying players on the open market.    

[now]

On 3/25/2020 at 10:20 AM, murph said:

I would like to hear more from the veteran (nice way of saying old ) posters who were actively following the O's during this time.  Seems like a fairly large trade for two teams which were both doing well, just seems like a trade which never would happen these days.  @Frobby @SteveA, others have thoughts? 

Hard to guage the value of that trade at the time. Far more significant in present time (then) was the blockbuster trade earlier that year, of Torrez and Baylor for Holtzman and Reggie. That seemed a fair trade on balance but you had to be excited as an O's fan because of Reggie's superstar-power. Too bad it didn't work out long-term (except in Tony's alternative universe).  

[Just Regular]

This was a fun read.

https://www.camdenchat.com/2013/1/18/3889674/reggie-jackson-baltimore-orioles-year-in-orange-and-black-a-lost-classic

I never knew the baseball card air brushing stuff.

I wasn't there but had heard Reggie wasn't happy at all to be here and kind of dogged it early in the year.  I can also see the 2nd half surge once the team was well out of it in that vein too.

If ever I get to a library with 1976 Sun microfiche, I'd love to see the quotes Earl gave the paper as this stuff was going on.  Hank Peters was only hired as GM in November 1975 after Cashen resigned.

[Tony-OH]

On 3/31/2020 at 1:26 PM, OrioleDog said:

This was a fun read.

https://www.camdenchat.com/2013/1/18/3889674/reggie-jackson-baltimore-orioles-year-in-orange-and-black-a-lost-classic

I never knew the baseball card air brushing stuff.

I wasn't there but had heard Reggie wasn't happy at all to be here and kind of dogged it early in the year.  I can also see the 2nd half surge once the team was well out of it in that vein too.

If ever I get to a library with 1976 Sun microfiche, I'd love to see the quotes Earl gave the paper as this stuff was going on.  Hank Peters was only hired as GM in November 1975 after Cashen resigned.

Well here's a Jackson quote about playing for Earl.

"Reggie Jackson only played one season for Weaver but said: “I loved the little Weave. If you made a mental mistake, you saw him waiting for you on the top step of the dugout when you came back in. He’d just say one word, ‘Why?’ And you better have an answer. On his team, if you didn’t ‘think the game,’ you had a problem. He was right in your face.”

[Tony-OH]

Here's a great article by the Hardball times on Jackson's year with the Orioles including their attempts to resign him. 

https://tht.fangraphs.com/unenchanted-interlude-reggie-jacksons-lost-season-in-baltimore/