Talk:John Holland
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As GM of the PCL Angels, Holland had some experience signing “free-agents” for his club, but these were usually players released by other organizations who were hoping to resurrect their careers at L. A.'s Wrigley Field. Holland’s first foray into signing amateur free-agents for the Cubs was in 1957, the last full year the old “Bonus Rule” (1953-58) was in effect. Any club that gave a signing bonus in excess of $4,000 to a high school, college or foreign player, had to keep the “bonus player” in the major leagues on the club’s 25-man regular season roster for two full years (until the second anniversary date of the signing of the contract) or else place the player on special $1 irrevocable waivers. The ""bonus rule"" tended to stunt many bonus player’s development. (One bonus player who went straight to the majors out of high school in the years 1953-58 who did have success right out of the gate was the [[Detroit Tigers]] [[Al Kaline]], who won the American League batting championship in 1955 at the age of 20). The ""bonus rule"" was rescinded by MLB owners on 25 January 1958, and was made retoactive, so any ""bonus"" player signed prior to that date could be sent to the minors in 1958, even if he hadn't completed his two years on a major league 25-man regular season roster. Holland’s predecesor as Cubs GM ([[Wid Matthews]]) had signed three “bonus” players (RHP [[Don Kaiser]], RHP [[Moe Drabowsky]], and 2B [[Jerry Kindall]]) in the years 1955-56, but Holland signed no “bonus babies” in 1957 or 1958. In addition to the three bonus players, Matthews had left the Cubs farm system stocked with the likes of OF [[Billy Williams]] and a slew of promising young pitchers, including [[Glen Hobbie]], [[Dick Drott]], [[Bob Anderson]], [[John Buzhardt]], [[Jack Curtis]] and [[Jim Brewer]], all signed in the years 1954-56. ==HOLLAND AND THE "DRAFTS" 1957-1964== * 1957: [[Dick Bertell]], C (Iowa State); [[Harvey Branch]], LHP (Alabama State); [[Jim Woods]], IF (HS – Chicago). COMMENT: Bertell was pretty much the Cubs #1 catcher for four full seasons (1961-64), and was one of several talented youngsters the Cubs brought to the big leagues in 1961-62 with the hope that they would be helped by the “College of Coaches.” * 1958: [[Dick Ellsworth]], LHP (HS – Wyoming); [[Ron Perranoski]], LHP (Michigan State); [[Jack Warner]], RHP (HS – West Virginia) COMMENT: Ellsworth was considered a “blue chipper,” and although he won 22 games for the Cubs in 1963, he never seemed to quite meet the Cubs ultra-lofty expectations. The Cubs traded Perranoski to the Dodgers (for [[Don Zimmer]]) before he ever reached the big leagues, and he had a long career as one of the best lefty relievers in baseball, first for the [[Los Angeles Angels]], then with the [[Minnesota Twins * 1959: [[Ron Campbell]], IF (Tennessee Weslyan); [[Ken Hubbs]], IF (HS – California); [[Nelson Mathews]], OF (HS – Illinois); [[Ron Santo]], 3B (HS – Washington) COMMENT: Both Hubbs and Santo rocketed through the Cubs farm system, and were rushed to the big leagues, Santo arriving in 1960 at the age of 20, and Hubbs arriving in September 1961 at age 19. One of the purposes of the “College of Coaches” was to provide young players like Santo and Hubbs the same kind of instruction in the big leagues that they would have gotten if they had stayed longer in the minors. An interesting thing about Hubbs is that he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1962, the same year he led the league in strikeouts AND grounding into Double Plays. Can you find any other player in MLB history who has done that? But he also did set a consecutive errorless fielding record in his rookie year, and he was only 20 at the time. Mathews arrived in Chicago in 1960 at the age of 18 (and you think [[Corey Patterson]] was rushed?). He had one borderline-OK year with the [[Kansas City Athletics]] in 1964 after he got traded. His son T. J. was a big league pitcher in the 1990’s. * 1960: [[Lou Brock]], OF (Southern); [[Paul Popovich]], IF (West Virginia); [[Danny Murphy]], OF (HS- Massachusetts); [[Billy Ott]], OF (St. John’s) COMMENT: [[Buck O'Neil]] (the ex-[[Kansas City Monarchs]] manager who was hired as a Cubs scout in 1956 and then later appointed to the College of Coaches in 1963, thus becoming both the the first African American scout AND the first African American coach in MLB history) signed Brock to a Cub contract in 1960. Brock was a star at Southern U. in New Orleans, and O’Neil said watching Brock reminded him of Negro Leagues legend (and now Hall of Famer) [[Cool Papa Bell]]. Like Cool Papa, Brock combined raw speed with raw power (Brock was only the second player in baseball history to hit a homerun into the center field bleachers at the [[Polo Grounds]]), but the Cubs liked the power a lot more than they cared about the speed. On the negative side, Brock was a TERRIBLE defensive player his first few years in the majors, had zero plate discipline and he struck out a LOT. (The year after Hubbs led the league in Ks and GIDP, Brock was 3rd in the NL in Ks... and they hit 1-2 in the batting order!). Brock, however, became a Hall-of-Fame electee; Broglio went 7-19 for the Cubbies, and burned his uniform after constant heckling by the Wrigley "faithful." Danny Murphy got a big bonus and a “Major League” contract to sign with the Cubs, and came up to the big leagues at the tender age of 17. He never made it as an outfielder, but he resurfaced as a PITCHER in 1969-70 in the White Sox bullpen. Popovich was a switch-hitting utility infielder who had two separate tours of duty with the Cubs. He was [[Leo Durocher]]’s favorite Cub pinch-hitter, even though he wasn’t any good at it. * 1961: [[Bill Connors]], RHP (Syracuse); [[Billy Cowan]], OF (Utah); [[Hal Gilson]], LHP (HS – California); [[Cal Koonce]], RHP (Campbell); [[Bobby Pfeil]], IF (HS - New Jersey); [[Jimmy Stewart]], IF (Austin Peay) COMMENT: Koonce got to the big leagues in a big hurry, but struggled with his control. The Cubs eventually ran out of patience with him (naturally), and so he ended up a member of the vaunted 1969 [[New York Mets]] pitching staff. Connors was a mediocre pitcher, and he also ended up with the Mets. Connors later would become a much-in-demand major league pitching coach. Cowan played CF for the Cubs in 1964 and did a nice job (19 HRs), earning him a trip to the Mets for George Altman redux. Stewart became a very good utility player as he gained experience, most notably with the [[Cincinnati Reds|Big Red Machine]] of the early 1970’s. * 1962: [[Philip K. Wrigley|P. K. Wrigley]] issues a one-year moratorium on signing amateur free agents. Makes sense. The Cubs had PLENTY of young players. They didn’t need any more, right? * 1963: [[John Boccabella]], 1B (HS – San Francisco); [[Jim Ellis]] (HS – California); [[Sterling Slaughter]], RHP (Arizona State) COMMENT: Slaughter was the first in a long line of ASU Sun Devils to play in the big leagues, though (by far) not the best one. Ellis was included in the deal that netted the Cubs [[Phil Regan]] and [[Jim Hickman]] from the Dodgers in 1968. Along with [[Clarence Jones]] and [[Roe Skidmore]], Boccabella was one of the guys seen as a potential replacement for [[Ernie Banks]] whenever Ernie was ready to retire, but Boccabella never made it as an everyday player. He eventually learned how to catch, and ultimately had a nice career as a back-up 1B-C-PH, mostly with the [[Montreal Expos]] in the 1970’s. * 1964: [[Chuck Hartenstein]], RHP (Texas); [[Don Kessinger]], SS (Mississippi); [[Jim Qualls]], IF (HS – California) COMMENT: The side-armin’ Longhorn Hartenstein got the Cubs “fireman” job pretty much by default in 1967, but was replaced by veteran [[Phil Regan]] (acquired from the Dodgers) in 1968. Kessinger was a tall and lanky offensively-challenged slick-fielding shortstop from Ole Miss who learned how to switch-hit after he reached the big leagues, and it saved his career. He was the last of the “player-managers” (with the White Sox in 1979). He was an excellent basketball player, and played in the ABA during the off-season. He also was named to the SEC ""Decade of the 60's"" first-team basketball squad (along with Pete Maravich, Louie Dampier, Dan Issel, and Neal Walk). ==Holland's Record in the Rule 4&5 AMATEUR DRAFT== The “AMATEUR DRAFT” (now the RULE 4 DRAFT) was instituted by MLB owners in 1965 in an attempt to help curb runaway signing bonuses. Only U. S. high school players (minimum age of 17) whose class had graduated and college players (any JUCO player, or for players at four-year schools, only after their Junior year or after they have turned 21) were eligible for the draft. Any U. S. high school or college player eligible for that year’s Amateur Draft who went undrafted could sign with any club. Foreign players were considered “free-agents” and were not eligible to be selected. X – denotes was drafted by Cubs, but did not sign. * FIRST CUBS AMATEUR DRAFT (1965) KEY PICKS: [[Joe Decker]], RHP (HS – California);X – [[Darrell Evans]], 3B (HS – California); [[Ken Holtzman]], LHP (Illinois); X – [[Tom House]], LHP (HS - California); [[Garry Jestadt]], IF (HS -California); [[Ken Rudolph]], C (Los Angeles CC) COMMENT: Holtzman and Decker (especially Holtzman) had some fine years in the big leagues, but it would have been a lot better of a draft if the Cubs had signed Evans and House (especially Evans). Rule V Draft Choices by Holland: * 1956:[[Cal Neeman]], C (from the [[New York Yankees]]) COMMENT: Was the Cubs #1 catcher in 1957, and the platoon mate of [[Sammy Taylor]] in 1958-59. Good power. * 1957: [[Tony Taylor]], 2B (from the [[San Francisco Giants]]) COMMENT: The Cubs lead-off man and second baseman in 1958-1959, Taylor was the main guy sent to Philadelphia in 1960 in the deal for [[Don Cardwell]] and [[Ed Bouchee]], and he went on to be the Phillies second baseman and lead-off hitter for a decade. * 1960: [[Cuno Barragan]], C (from the [[Milwaukee Braves]]) COMMENT: A back-up catcher for a year or so. * 1963: Wayne Schur, RHP (from the Giants); [[Vic Roznovsky]], C (from San Francisco MINOR LEAGUE - AA) COMMENT: Schur did an OK job as a middle reliever for the Cubs in 1964, and Roznovsky was another in a long line of back-up catchers acquired by the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft. * 1964: Chris Krug, C (from [[St. Louis Cardinals]] MINOR LEAGUE – AA) COMMENT: See? Another one. KEY CUBS PICKS IN THE FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT 1959-66: * 1962 [[Glenn Beckert]], SS-2B ([[Boston Red Sox]]) COMMENT: Beckert was moved from SS to 2B after Ken Hubbs died in 1964. * 1963: [[Byron Browne]], OF ([[Pittsburgh Pirates]]) COMMENT: Durocher liked him, so By Browne was the Cubs starting right fielder in 1966. He hit 16 homeruns in his rookie season, but unfortunately, he also led the National League in strikeouts. The Cubs traded him to the [[Houston Astros]] in 1968, but he ended up playing for several teams over the next few seasons, mainly the Phillies. The Cubs lost no players of note in the course of this draft. ==KEY IMPACT TRADES EXECUTED BY CUBS GM JOHN HOLLAND 1956-65== Holland made a number of significant trades during the years 1956-65 that (through various degrees of separation) directly or indirectly impacted the "Durocher Cubs" of 1966-72. * FALL 1956: ** Traded 3B [[Don Hoak]], RHP [[Warren Hacker]], and OF [[Pete Whisenant]] to the Reds for LHP [[Elmer Singleton]] and 3B [[Ray Jablonski]]. COMMENT: Holland’s first trade, and it was a bad one. Hoak went on to have some fine years in Cincinnati and in Pittsburgh, while long-time minor leaguer Singleton did nothing with his "last-chance to make it" opportunity with the Cubs. Although he was a decent third baseman, Jablonski got traded (in Spring Training 1957) before he ever played one game for the Cubs! ** Traded LHP [[Sam Jones|"Toothpick Sam" Jones]], IF-OF [[Eddie Miksis]], LHP [[Jim Davis]], and C [[Hobie Landrith]] to St. Louis for RHP [[Tom Poholsky]], LHP [[Jackie Collum]], and C [[Ray Katt]]. COMMENT: Another VERY bad trade. Jones had several very good years as a starting pitcher ahead of him, and Landrith was a decent lefty-hitting platoon-catcher in the 1960’s with the Giants, Mets, Baltimore and Washington. Poholsky was a big-time pitching prospect in the Cardinal organization at the time of this trade (that’s why Holland made the deal), but he failed to make the grade. None of the players the Cubs got back in this trade contributed anything worthwhile, other than to be used in subsequent deals. ** Purchased LHP [[Bill Henry (henrybi01)|Bill Henry]] from Boston. COMMENT: Good pick-up. Henry turned out to be a very fine lefty reliever. Except the Cubs didn’t keep him very long. * SPRING 1957: ** Traded Jablonski and Katt to the Giants for LHP [[Dick Littlefield]] and OF [[Bob Lennon]]. COMMENT: Jablonski was better than what the Cubs had at third base at that time, and Littlefield was washed-up by the time the Cubs got him in this deal. Lennon was useless. ** Traded OF [[Jim King]] to St. Louis for OF [[Bobby Del Greco]] and P [[Ed Mayer]]. COMMENT: King was acquired by GM [[Wid Matthews]] from the Cardinals in the 1954 Major League Draft (Rule 5 Draft), and the Cubs would have done well to hang onto King. He had some decent years playing right field for the expansion [[Washington Senators]] in the 1960’s. ** Traded 1B [[Dee Fondy]] and 2B [[Gene Baker]] to Pittsburgh for 1B [[Dale Long]] and OF [[Lee Walls]]. COMMENT: Holland’s first really good trade, and it was a VERY good trade for the Cubs. Both Walls and Long had excellent power years in ’57 and ‘58, while Baker was used as a utility infielder by the Pirates, and Fondy (who was an early version of [[Mark Grace]]) had just one more decent year left (1957) before crashing and burning in 1958. ** Traded LHP [[Jackie Collum]] to Brtooklyn for RHP [[Don Elston]] and LHP [[Vito Valentinetti]]. COMMENT: Cubs got Elston back in this deal (he was traded to Brooklyn in 1955 in the deal for [[Walt Moryn]]). He had some nice years as the Cubs bullpen "fireman" before [[Lindy McDaniel]] arrived in 1963. * DECEMBER 1957: ** Traded RHP [[Bob Rush]] and RHP [[Don Kaiser]] and IF [[Eddie Haas]] to Milwaukee for LHP [[Taylor Phillips]] and C [[Sammy Taylor]]. COMMENT: Former Cubs ace Rush pitched three seasons for the Braves (mostly out of the bullpen), and Kaiser was a "bonus baby" bust. Taylor had some good years (1958-61) as the Cubs left-handed hitting platoon catcher. * SPRING 1958: ** Traded OF [[Bob Speake]] to the Giants for OF [[Bobby Thomson]]. COMMENT: Although he was getting a bit "long in the tooth," Thomson (the man who hit "The shot heard ‘round the world" in the 1951 N. L. playoff) played CF and had a renaissance year in the power department for the 1958 Cubs offense that finished second in the N. L. in runs scored. ** Traded RHP [[Turk Lown]] to the Eedlegs for RHP [[Hersh Freeman]]. COMMENT: Bad trade. Lown was a mainstay in the ’59 White Sox bullpen. Cubs could have used him. ** Traded RHP [[Jim Brosnan]] to the Cards for 3B [[Alvin Dark]]. COMMENT: Brosnan was a professional writer, so he got traded a lot, but he was also a good relief pitcher for several years (he was [[Bill Henry (henrybi01)|Bill Henry]]’s partner in the Reds bullpen for several seasons). Dark (like [[Bobby Thomson]], a key member of the 1951 [[New York Giants]] "Miracle of Coogan’s Bluff" surprise pennant-winner) played third base and hit second in the order for the Cubs in 1958 and 1959, and did a nice job. Good trade for both clubs, although the Cubs sure could have used Brosnan's arm in the pen. * AUGUST 1958: ** Claimed 1B [[Jim Marshall]] off waivers from the [[Baltimore Orioles]]. COMMENT: Future Cubs manager, whose main claim to fame was that he was one of the first Americans to have a lengthy and successful career playing baseball in Japan. * MAY 1959: ** Traded LHP [[Taylor Phillips]] to the Philles for LHP [[Seth Morehead]]. COMMENT: One disappointment exchanged for another. * FALL 1959: ** A two-stage deal where the Cubs traded OF Thomson, 1B Marshall and RHP [[Dave Hillman]] to Boston for 1B [[Dick Gernert]] and RHP [[Al Schroll]]. COMMENT: The power hitting Gernert had been the Red Sox everyday first baseman for several years, and was (understandably) initially handed the starting first base job with the Cubs, but he did not hold the job very long. However, he WAS the right-handed platoon at first base (with [[Gordy Coleman]] the lefty) on the 1961 Reds National League pennant winning club. Thomson was at the end of the line at this point. Hillman later surfaced with the 1962 Amazin’ Mets. ** Traded Walls, OF [[Lou Jackson]] and Henry to Cincinnati for 3B-OF [[Frank Thomas]]. COMMENT: Thomas was a power-hitter DE-luxe who could play 1B-3B-LF-RF (though not particularly well), so it probably seemed like a good trade at the time, except Thomas lasted only a year with the Cubs, while Henry was a nifty lefty reliever for the 1961 National League champion Reds. ** Purchased OF Al Heist from Milwaukee. COMMENT: Useful player who platooned with [[Richie Ashburn]] in center field in 1961. He was one of the Cubs players selected by the [[Houston Colt .45s]] in the 1961 National League expansion draft. ** Purchased RHP [[Barney Schultz]] from Detroit. COMMENT: Excellent acquistion. Schultz was a knuckleballer, and made a nice complement and contrast with [[Don Elston]]’s heater in the Cubs bullpen. * JANUARY 1960: ** Traded RHP [[John Buzhardt]], 3B [[Alvin Dark]], and INF [[Jim Woods]] to Philadelphia for OF [[Richie Ashburn]]. COMMENT: The veteran Ashburn was a member of the 1950 National League pennant winning Phillies "Whiz Kids" club, and was a perennial league BB leader (116 BB for the Cubs in 1960) and .400+ OBP lead-off hitter, but he only lasted two years with the Cubs, who decided to "go young" with phenom [[Lou Brock]] in centerfield in 1962. Buzhardt was a rotation starter in Philly, and then later was a prominemt member of the White Sox "tough-as-nails" staff in the mid-60’s. * APRIL 1960: ** Sold 1B [[Dale Long]] to San Frsancisco. COMMENT: Long had the good power years for the Cubs in 1957-1958, then went into a prolonged slump in 1959 that never ended. * APRIL 1960: ** Acquired 3B [[Don Zimmer]] from the Dodgers for LHP [[Ron Perranoski]], INF [[Johnny Goryl]], OF [[Lee Handley]], and $25,000 ca$h. COMMENT: Perranoski turned out to be a superlative lefty reliever with a long big league career, while Zimmer played regularly with the Cubs for only a couple of years before drifting from team-to-team (he was even a BACK-UP CATCHER at one point with the Senators!) and then on to Japan. Zimmer was one of many Dodgers in the 1950’s who were perceived as potential stars if only they could just go someplace where they could get a chance to play regularly (and the Cubs fell for THAT one several times!). Zim of course is best known by Cubs fans as manager of the 1989 National League East Champion Cubs team, known to even occsasionally call for a hit & run with the bases loaded! * MAY 1960: ** Traded 2B [[Tony Taylor]] and C [[Cal Neeman]] to the Phils for RHP [[Don Cardwell]] and 1B [[Ed Bouchee]]. COMMENT: After the Cubs got snowed-out of several early season games at Wrigley and were further buried with a 3-13 start, Holland decided he needed pitching more than a lead-off hitting 2B. But it actually was a good trade for both teams, and probably gave Holland the confidence to make the Altman & Cardwell-for-Jackson & McDaniel deal in 1962 and Brock-for-Broglio trade in 1964. Taylor was the Phillies second baseman and lead-off hitter for a decade, and Cardwell was the Cubs #1 starter for about three years before being used as the bait used to land [[Lindy McDaniel]] and [[Larry Jackson]] from the Cards. Cardwell threw a no-hitter (with the famous final-out game-saving catch by the defensively-challenged [[Walt Moryn|Moose Moryn]] in LF) versus the Cardinals at [[Wrigley Field]] (the second game of a Sunday double-header) in his very first Cubs start after the trade. * JUNE 1960: ** Traded Moryn to St. Louis for IF-OF [[Jim McKnight]]. COMMENT: A month after saving Cardwell’s no-hitter with his glove (and Moose was NOT known for his defense!), Moryn was sent to St. Louis for a utilty infielder-outfielder of little or no value. * MARCH 1961: ** Traded RHP [[Moe Drabowsky]] and LHP [[Seth Morehead]] to Milwaukee for INF [[Andre Rodgers]] and SS [[Daryl Robertson]]. COMMENT: Although Drabowsky would later have some fine years pitching out of the bullpen in Kansas City and Baltimore (he set a World Series record for most Ks by a relief pitcher in a World Series game in Game #1 of the 1966 WS), Rodgers was the Cubs starting shortstop (and did a nice job) 1962-1964. ** Traded OF [[Lou Johnson]] to the Angels for OF [[Jim McAnany]]. COMMENT: After having some fine years with the National League champion Dodgers in the mid-1960’s, the Cubs reacquired "Sweet Lou" (who had an odd habit of clapping his hands as he ran around the bases) to be their #1 right fielder in 1968. Acquiring Johnson was thought at the time to be the final piece to the puzzle (right field was the one weak-link in the Cub line-up in 1967), but Lou was a MAJOR disappointment, and more than a few Cub fans were observed applauding as he boarded a plane for Cleveland. * MAY 1961: ** Traded OF [[Frank Thomas]] to the Braves for IF-OF [[Mel Roach]]. COMMENT: A VERY bad trade for the Cubs. Roach was a one-time Milwaukee Braves "bonus baby" who never recovered from a knee injury suffered in 1959, while Thomas still had a couple or three good years left in him (most notably as the one "big bopper" on the truly terrible 1962 Amazin’ Mets). * OCTOBER 1961: NATIONAL LEAGUE EXPANSION DRAFT: The New York Mets selected Bouchee, Zimmer and OF [[Sammy Drake]], and Houston selected OF [[Al Heist]] and RHP [[Dick Drott]]. (Also IF [[J.C. Hartman]] and IF [[Ron Campbell]] were sold to Houston). COMMENT: The Cubs had already decided to move [[Ernie Banks]] to 1B in 1962, so Bouchee was "odd man out." Same goes for Zim at 2B ([[Ken Hubbs]] took his place), and Heist in center field (where [[Lou Brock]] was already penciled into the lineup). Drott was never able to fully recover from shoulder problems that had plagued him since his rookie season (1957), when he was that year’s [[Kerry Wood]]. * FALL 1961: ** Traded 2B [[Jerry Kindall]] and Roach to the [[Cleveland Indians]] for RHP [[Bobby Locke]]. COMMENT: By this point in time, Hubbs had passed Kindall as the Cubs second baseman of the immediate future, so it was no surprise that Kindall would get moved. Kindall was a one-time Cub "bonus baby" signed off the campus of the University of Minnesota (NCAA CWS Champs in 1956) whose career was probably adversely affected by not being able to play in the minor leagues his first two years of pro ball due to the "bonus rule" in effect at the time. Kindall later would serve as the the Head Baseball Coach at the University of Arizona for many years, and currently is a commentator-analyst for ESPN’s college baseball broadcasts. ** Sold Ashburn to tme Mets. COMMENT: No Room at the Wrigleville Inn for Ash with Brock set to take-over center field in 1962. In their first few years of abject failure, the Mets had a peculiar habit of acquiring aging stars of the 1950’s at the very end of their careers. (Besides acquiring Ashburn from the Cubs, the Mets also provided a farewell tour for one-time All-Stars [[Frank Thomas]], [[Gil Hodges]], [[Duke Snider]], [[Warren Spahn]], [[Yogi Berra]], [[Ken Boyer]] and [[Roy McMillan]]). * APRIL 1962: ** Traded C [[Sammy Taylor]] to the Mets for OF [[Bobby Gene Smith]]. COMMENT: B. G. Smith was considered a top prospect but never developed. Taylor had had some decent years as the Cubs lefty-hitting platoon catcher, but had lost his part-time backstop gig (to [[Cuno Barragan]]) by 1962. ** Traded Locke to St. Louis for OF [[Al Herring]]. COMMENT: Locke for Herring? Cubs probably should have just kept Locke, a decent middle reliever for Cleveland in 1961. ** Traded LHP [[Jack Curtis]] to the Braves for RHP [[Bob Buhl]]. COMMENT: EXCELLENT trade. Curtis was a promising lefty starter, and was eight years younger than Buhl, but Buhl had plenty left and gave the Cubs four VERY good years, before going to Philly in the deal for [[Ferguson Jenkins]]. Buhl used to sweat like a pig when he pitched. He looked like he had stepped into the shower (with his clothes on) after each half-inning. He’d get absolutely, totally drenched on the days he pitched, even on a cold day in April. * JUNE 1962: Traded OF B. G. Smith and SS [[Daryl Robertson]] to St. Louis for OF [[Don Landrum]] and IF [[Alex Grammas]]. COMMENT: Landrum was one of several defensive-oriented outfielders who got a chance to play center field for the Cubs after Brock was traded. Landrum was REALLY good degfensively, but he didn’t hit much (he had no power, but he made up for it by not hitting for average, either). He was the other player sent to the Giants (along with [[Lindy McDaniel]]) for Giants top prospects [[Randy Hundley]] and [[Bill Hands]] after the 1965 season. * FALL 1962: ** Traded LHP [[Harvey Branch]] to St. Louis for RHP [[Paul Toth]]. COMMENT: Toth had one pretty decent year (1963) as the Cubs #5 starter, then got included in the Brock-Broglio deal, after which he went into the Witness Protection Program. ** Traded OF [[George Altman]], RHP [[Don Cardwell]], and C [[Moe Thacker]] to St. Louis for RHP [[Lindy McDaniel]], RHP [[Larry Jackson]] and C [[Jimmie Schaffer]]. COMMENT: The single most important positive trade made by John Holland pre-Durocher, as it relates directly to the Cubs eventually acquiring [[Ferguson Jenkins]], [[Bill Hands]], [[Randy Hundley]], and [[Adolfo Phillips]]. McDaniel was named Nationasl League "Fireman of the Year" for his relief work with the Cubs in 1963, and Jackson won 24 games in 1964. McDaniel would later serve as the centerpiece in the trade with the Giants for Hundley and Hands in 1965, and Jackson was the main guy in the deal with the Philles in 1966 for Jenkins and Philips. One of five ex-Kansas City Monarchs (NAL) players acquired by the Cubs in the 1950's (thanks to Wrigley's friendship with [[Buck O'Neil]]), Altman had been an offensive force with the Cubs in 1961-1962 (he led the National League in triples in 1961, and hit 49 homeruns combined in 1961-1962), but for some reason, he was never the same player after the Cubs traded him. The Cardinals acquired Altman specifically to replace [[Stan Musial]] in left field (Stan the Man retired after the 1963 season), and if Altman had played as well for the Cardinals as he had played for the Cubs, the Cardinals probably never would have had any interest in acquiring Lou Brock! The Cardinals flipped Cardwell to Pittsburgh for SS [[Dick Groat]] a month after this deal with the Cubs, and Groat would help lead the Cards to the World Series championship in 1964. So it wasn’t necessarily a bad trade for the Cardinals... just a bit of a BETTER one for the Cubs! ** Traded RHP [[Bob Anderson]] to Detroit for IF [[Steve Boros]]. COMMENT: Anderson had been a member of the Cubs Kiddie Korps starting rotation (Hobbie, Drott, Buzhardt, Anderson, and Drabowsky) circa 1959, but by this time he was just a struggling journeyman middle-reliever. Boros was a failed Tiger "bonus baby" who didn’t get much of a chance to play for the Cubs before movin’ on down the road to Cincinnati in 1964, where he finally got a chance to play third base everyday (albeit for only one year). ** Traded IF-OF McKnight to Milwaukee for IF [[Ken Aspromonte]]. COMMENT: Aspromonte was the older brother of Houston’s young stud third baseman [[Bob Aspromonte]]. K-Aspro had been a starting second baseman at one time in the American League (for the Angels and the Indians), but he was just a utility INF for the Cubs. * MARCH 1963: ** Traded RHP [[Dave Gerard]] and OF [[Danny Murphy]] to Houston for C [[Merritt Ranew]], RHP [[Hal Haydel]] and LHP [[Dick LeMay]]. COMMENT: A left-handed hitting platoon catcher and PH, Ranew hit the ground like hell-on-wheels for the Cubs in 1963 (batting .338), then lost the magic in 1964. Murphy was a failed "bonus" player (he debuted in the big leagues at age 17!) who later became a pitcher, and he was good enough at it to be a member of the White Sox bullpen in 1969-1970. Gerard had been a passable middle-reliever for the Cubs in 1962, but did nothing for Houston. * JUNE 1963: ** Purchased OF [[Ellis Burton]] from Cleveland. COMMENT: Another "round up the usual suspects" attempt to find a center fielder who could both play defense AND hit. Burton did OK with power, but was not a good hitter, and he was gone a year later. ** Traded RHP [[Barney Schultz]] to St. Louis for IF [[Leo Burke]]. COMMENT: In a test to see if they could make a stupid trade with the Cardinals, the Cubs succeeded by trading Schultz and his mysterious knuckler for still another totally useless utility player. * DECEMBER 1963: ** Traded LHP [[Jim Brewer]] and C [[Cuno Barragan]] to the Dodgers for RHP [[Dick Scott]]. COMMENT: Like Perranoski before him, Brewer would later use his screwball to achieve success pitching out of the Dodgers bullpen. The Cubs just would not wait for him to put it together. Brewer’s main claim-to-fame at the time of this deal was that he had had his jaw broken by a [[Billy Martin]] haymaker sucker-punch in an on-field brawl at Wrigley Field in 1960. ** Traded OF [[Nelson Mathews]] to Kansas City for LHP [[Fred Norman]]. COMMENT: This would have been a VERY good trade for the Cubs if they would have just had the patience to wait for Norman to develop (of course, they would have had to wait about seven years, but still...). The prototypical "late-bloomimg lefty," he was one of the best lefty starters in the National League in the 1970’s (first with San Diego, then with Cincinnati). * SPRING TRAINING 1964: ** 1. 2B Ken Hubbs was killed in a plane crash in Utah while en route to Spring Training in Arizona. ** 2. Purchased IF [[Joey Amalfitano]] from San Francisco. COMMENT: A veteran stop-gap replacement for Hubbs, Amalfitano was yet another future Cubs manager. ** 3. Claimed OF [[Don Young]] off waivers from St. Louis. COMMENT: It took a few years, but the "good field/no hit" Young finally got his Big Chance to be the Cubs everyday center fielder with Durocher’s 1969 Cubs. All Leo asked of him was to play defense and "catch the ball." * MAY 1964: ** Claimed LHP [[Jack Spring]] off waivers from the Angels. COMMENT: Wait. You’ll see. * JUNE 1964: ** Traded RHP [[Glen Hobbie]] to St. Louis for RHP [[Lew Burdette]]. COMMENT: Hobbie had been the Cubs provisional #1 starter before Cardwell arrived, and he was OK after that, too, but by 1964 he was struggling. Burdette had been one of the Braves "Big Two" starters (with Spahn) in the late 1950’s, when Milwaukee went to the World Series two years in a row (1957-58, with a World Series championship in ‘57), and almost went a third time (but lost a three-game playoff with the Dodgers) in 1959. By 1964, Lew was probably best-suited to pitch out of the bullpen, so naturally the Cubs used him mainly as a starter. Although he didn’t show much with the Cubs, he did pitch VERY well out of the bullpen for the California Angels in 1966. ** Acquired OF [[Len Gabrielson (gabrile02)|Len Gabrielson]] from Milwaukee for C [[Merritt Ranew]] and $40,000. COMMENT: Ranew was in a slump, and Gabrielson always hit well against the Cubs in Wrigley Field, so... ** Traded OF [[Lou Brock]], LHP [[Jack Spring]], and RHP [[Paul Toth]] to St. Louis for RHP [[Ernie Broglio]], LHP [[Bobby Shantz]], and OF [[Doug Clemens]]. COMMENT: With the trade deadline approaching, and the Cardinals in the doldrums, the team went on a trip to the West Coast. On 11 June 11 St. Louis played the first of three games with the Dodgers. They went on to lose all three games. From Los Angeles Cardinal GM [[Bing Devine]] telephoned Holland, his counterpart Chicago, to whom he had been talking over a period of months. "We can get Brock for Broglio if you want" he told his manager [[Johnny Keane]]. "Then what are you waiting for?" Keane asked. And so the deal was done. Whatever happened to that Brock fella? Broglio was a 27-year old top-of-the-rotation starter (before he hurt his arm), and if he hadn’t blown out his elbow, it MIGHT have been a more even deal. What the Cubs really needed to do at this point was move Brock from right field to left field, [[Billy Williams]] from left field to first base and trade [[Ernie Banks]] for a center fielder and/or right fielder (like maybe to Washington for [[Chuck Hinton]] and [[Jim King]], or to the Mets for [[Jim Hickman]] and [[Joe Christopher]], but Wrigley NEVER, EVER would have allowed Holland to trade Ernie Banks. * AUGUST 1964: Sold LHP [[Bobby Shantz]] to Philadelphia. COMMENT: Already the Cubs portion of the Brock-Broglio deal was collapsing. Shantz arrived in Philadelphia just in time to be a part of one of the biggest chokes in baseball history. * DECEMBER 1964: ** Traded C [[Jimmie Schaffer]] across town for LHP [[Frank Baumann]]. COMMENT: Baumann was the American League ERA champion while with the White Sox in 1960, but he had hit some hard times (and a sore arm) by the time this deal was made. Coming across town to the Cubs didn’t help, either. He was toast. Schaffer was a decent back-up catcher with the Cards and the Cubs, but an injury cut short his career. ** Traded SS [[Andre Rodgers]] to Pittsburgh for SS [[Roberto Pena]]. COMMENT: The Cubs went "young," trading their veteran shortstop with known average skills for a flashy kid who started off the 1965 season like a house afire, and then went into a deep, deep slump he probably is still in to this very day. * WINTER 1965: ** Traded OF [[Billy Cowan]] to the Mets for OF [[George Altman]]. COMMENT: Perhaps the Cubs thought Altman might get some of that old Kansas City Monarchs/Negro Leagues mojo back by returning to the Cubs and old mentor Buck O’Neil (who was a member of the Cubs "College of Coaches" by this time), but he did not. And Cowan lost HIS Utah mojo (well, there IS a Utah Jazz, isn’t there?) by going to the Mets. Oh, the humanity! * MARCH-APRIL 1965: **Purchased RHP [[Bill Faul]] from Detroit. COMMENT: Faul was considered a "flake" because he would hypnotize himself before each start. ** Acquired RHP [[Bob Humphreys]] from St. Louis for INF [[Bobby Pfeil]] and P [[Hal Gilson]]. COMMENT: It’s good to know that the Brock-Broglio fiasco didn’t stop the Cubs from making another deal with the Cardinals. That Pfeil kid coulda been something special! But seriously, Humphreys did a nice job working out of the Cub bullpen with [[Lindy McDaniel]] and [[Ted Abernathy]] in 1965, and he continued to pitch well for the [[Washington Senators]] and [[Milwaukee Brewers]] 1966-70 when the Cubs could have really used him. Except they traded Humphreys to Washington for OF [[Ken Hunt]] in early 1966, and Hunt never even played for the Cubs (he went from the Senators AAA club to the Cubs AAA club, and never played again in the big leagues!). If there was any one move that had under-the-radar negative effects on the Cubs success (or lack of) in 1967-1970, it was the unnecessary trashing of Humphreys. ** Purchased RHP [[Ted Abernathy]] from Cleveland. COMMENT: Abernathy had been a young hard-throwin’ over-the-top drop & drive fastballer back in the 1950’s before he hurt his shoulder, which caused him to find A New Way. This New Way was a submarine delivery (like [[Troy Bradford]]’s) that deceived hitters and brought a lot of success to Ab. Unfortunately, the Cubs traded him not once, but TWICE, and each time he went on to pitch well with other teams. Abernathy was the guy Durocher wouldn’t use as his #1 reliever late in the 1969 season, even as [[Phil Regan]] was imploding on a daily basis. After the season was over, Durocher said his one regret about the 1969 season was not using Abernathy as his #1 reliever the last two months of the season. And you know what? Leo was right. * MAY 1965: ** Signed Free Agent LHP [[Billy Hoeft]] (released by Detroit in April). COMMENT: A nice acquisition, a decent veteran LOOGY. ** Traded C [[Dick Bertell]] and OF [[Len Gabrielson (gabrile02)|Len Gabrielson]] to San Francisco for LHP [[Bob Hendley]], OF [[Harvey Kuenn]] and C [[Ed Bailey]]. COMMENT: Hendley was a GREAT pick-up for the Cubs. He did a nice job working out of both the starting rotation AND the bullpen in 1965 and 1966. The night [[Sandy Koufax]] pitched his "Perfect Game" versus the Cubs, Hendley threw a ONE-hitter back at the Dodgers... and lost! ** Sold Burdette to the Phillies. COMMENT: The Cubs had a peculiar habit in the mid-1960’s of acquiring big name 1950’s era starting pitchers at the very end of their careers. [[Robin Roberts]] and [[Curt Simmons]] were a couple of others who went directly from the Cubs starting rotation to Social Security. And then along came Leo!...
If comments were removed and only "big" transactions were included I would it would be fine to include it. --MichaelEng 18:50, 25 May 2006 (EDT)
