Blue Jays Discussion: 2024-25 Off-season: The free agent watch begins (and sometimes old baseball radio broadcasts)

The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
89,672
34,741
Langley, BC
With the World Series wrapped up and now heading into the winter doldrums of GM meetings, free agency, the hope against hope that maybe the Jays aren't just a leverage trap for Juan Soto and the ever-increasing clickbait trash takes from US reporters that the Jays are going to dismantle the talented portion of their roster (like Vladdy), it felt like a good time to start a new thread.


And in honor of that I'm going to keep up with what I said I might do in the previous thread: posting youtube "videos" of vintage baseball radio broadcasts from 50-80 years ago.

If you weren't around for that, it's pretty simple. There are tons of freely available and apparently public domain radio broadcasts of old baseball games out there on the internet. I've gone through the collection I have and tried to find some games that feature historical feats, stars of the past, or just interesting matchups and history to post here. So if you've got some chores to do and need a soundtrack for it, or just a quiet night with no TV, maybe a fire, and maybe your favorite beverage then these are a way to possibly spend a couple of hours.

To christen this thread, I've chosen, from June 8, 1962, a regular season matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

What makes this game interesting? How about the combined resume of its lineups:
6 Hall-of-Famers (including both sides of the pitching matchup)
2 Cy Young awards (1968 and 70)
9 MVP awards (1943, 46, 48, 54, 64, 65, 67, 68, and 69),
3 World Series MVPs (1956, 64, and 67),
3 Rookies of the Year (1951, 58, and 59)
9 Batting titles (I didn't record the years for these)
1 Manager of the Year (1994)
and a combined 126 selections to All-Star teams (including both players who tied for the second most all-time with 24)


This complete broadcast is taken from the Cardinals' radio feed and features Harry Carey, Jack Buck, and Sparky Anderson on the call.

Here's the box score for the game, if you don't mind being spoiled for the final score

And the lineups

Giants
Chuck Hiller (2B)
Willie Mays (CF)
Willie McCovey (RF)
Orlando Cepeda (1B)
Felipe Alou (LF)
Jim Davenport (3B)
Jose Pagan (SS)
Tom Haller (C)
Juan Marichal (SP)

Cardinals
Curt Flood (CF)
Julian Javier (2B)
Bill White (1B)
Stan Musial (LF)
Ken Boyer (3B)
Carl Sawatski (C)
Julio Gotay (SS)
Doug Clemens (RF)
Bob Gibson (SP)

How's that for a pair of lineups? The Cards' lacks some thump as this is near the tail end of Musial's career (his second to last season, all with the Cardinals) but it's still star-studded. Really though, no matter what the rest of the lineup looks like it's hard to say no to Marichal vs Gibson on the mound.

These Giants would go on to the 1962 World Series to face off against the New York Yankees in a series that went 7 games (I only have radio of the 7th game) while the Cardinals would finish in the middle of the pack in the NL.

Strangely for all the star power in this game, not one of the players involved won a major award that year.

The MVPs were Mickey Mantle (AL) and Maury Wills (NL). However the NL race was close, with Mays finishing second by the slimmest of margins (just 7 points)

The sole MLB Cy Young winner (we're 5 years away from 2 league-specific awards) was Don Drysdale of the Dodgers

The Rookies of the Year were Tom Tresh of the Yankees in the AL and Ken Hubbs of the Cubs in the NL. Tresh spent 9 years in the league as a Shortstop and outfielder with the Yankees and briefly with the Tigers and seems like he was mostly a pretty good but not great player.

Hubbs' career was tragically much shorter. In 1964 after just his second full season with the team he died in a plane crash in his home state of Utah. Apparently he had always been afraid of flying and had decided to learn to fly during the 1963-64 off-season. Less than a month after receiving his pilot's license he and a friend flew from Utah to California while attempting to beat an incoming snowstorm. Unfortunately it seems that they got caught in the storm and they were found less than 10 miles away from their departure point.

And the game itself




@Da Cool Rula, @MS, @HockeyThoughts , @the valiant effort, @td_ice, @PanniniClaus, @canucksfan, @Blitzkrug, @hockeywiz542, @kb, @torontoblood

Lastly, for anyone that is interested in this stuff, drop a like on this post. I will do my best to alert anyone who does whenever one of these vintage game posts goes up (previous likes are where the above list of posters comes from)
 

Blitzkrug

Registered User
Sep 17, 2013
27,397
9,244
Winnipeg
f*** i'd pay good money for someone to build a time machine so I could see that pitching matchup live.

For as much as Fernando Venezuela is credited with being a master of the screwball, I think that title probably rightfully belongs to Marichal.
 

Tony Romo

Registered User
Sep 25, 2011
15,318
2,225
Out of curiosity, I saw somebody mention it in the other thread. I also understand the athletics are a wild card when it comes to trades. But what would a normal package for a player like Rooker cost?
 

Blitzkrug

Registered User
Sep 17, 2013
27,397
9,244
Winnipeg
12 years ago today, the Blue Jays agreed to a pretty big trade with the Marlins;

Miami sent Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto in exchange for Henderson Alvarez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Yunel Escobar, Jake Marisnick, Anthony Desclafani, Justin Nicolino and Jeff Mathis.

Trade didn't really end up working out obviously. The Jays shot up the odds and were projected by many not just to be a playoff team, but a legitimate world series contender.

Johnson; was cooked the moment he put on a Jays uniform. Years of injuries + being a workhorse caught up to him and the canary in the coal mine is when he failed his physical.

Buck: Legit don't remember him being part of this deal. Had an all-star season as a Jay in 2010, cashed in with the Marlins that offseason, got traded back for all of a few days before he was shipped to the Mets in the Dickey trade.

Buerhle: Pretty much the one guy who came as advertised. Reliable albeit not particularly flashy middle of the rotation guy who could eat innings. Played 3 seasons here with an all-star nod in 2015

Reyes: He was...fine, i guess? Overpaid for a guy who largely just was a contact hitter. Was dumped off on the Rockies in the Tulo trade.

Bonifacio; sucked outside of the fact i could make his name Bonerfacio which was a real hit amongst us dumbshit young adults.
 

Killer Orcas

Registered User
Jul 2, 2011
8,257
6,473
Abbotsford BC
12 years ago today, the Blue Jays agreed to a pretty big trade with the Marlins;

Miami sent Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto in exchange for Henderson Alvarez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Yunel Escobar, Jake Marisnick, Anthony Desclafani, Justin Nicolino and Jeff Mathis.

Trade didn't really end up working out obviously. The Jays shot up the odds and were projected by many not just to be a playoff team, but a legitimate world series contender.

Johnson; was cooked the moment he put on a Jays uniform. Years of injuries + being a workhorse caught up to him and the canary in the coal mine is when he failed his physical.

Buck: Legit don't remember him being part of this deal. Had an all-star season as a Jay in 2010, cashed in with the Marlins that offseason, got traded back for all of a few days before he was shipped to the Mets in the Dickey trade.

Buerhle: Pretty much the one guy who came as advertised. Reliable albeit not particularly flashy middle of the rotation guy who could eat innings. Played 3 seasons here with an all-star nod in 2015

Reyes: He was...fine, i guess? Overpaid for a guy who largely just was a contact hitter. Was dumped off on the Rockies in the Tulo trade.

Bonifacio; sucked outside of the fact i could make his name Bonerfacio which was a real hit amongst us dumbshit young adults.
The excitement after this trade was insanity on boards I use to be on back in day. It didn't live up to be what was thought but man was it ever a good feeling knowing we had a shot to be great again !!
 

the valiant effort

settle down, bud
Apr 17, 2017
4,840
5,890
With the World Series wrapped up and now heading into the winter doldrums of GM meetings, free agency, the hope against hope that maybe the Jays aren't just a leverage trap for Juan Soto and the ever-increasing clickbait trash takes from US reporters that the Jays are going to dismantle the talented portion of their roster (like Vladdy), it felt like a good time to start a new thread.

Please accept this reply as another “like”!
 

Suntouchable13

Registered User
Dec 20, 2003
44,622
20,866
Toronto, ON
The excitement after this trade was insanity on boards I use to be on back in day. It didn't live up to be what was thought but man was it ever a good feeling knowing we had a shot to be great again !!

Why didn't it work out that year? I remember we were all excited for the first time in a long time, then the Jays proceed to finish last place. Brutal.

12 years ago today, the Blue Jays agreed to a pretty big trade with the Marlins;

Miami sent Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto in exchange for Henderson Alvarez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Yunel Escobar, Jake Marisnick, Anthony Desclafani, Justin Nicolino and Jeff Mathis.

Trade didn't really end up working out obviously. The Jays shot up the odds and were projected by many not just to be a playoff team, but a legitimate world series contender.

Johnson; was cooked the moment he put on a Jays uniform. Years of injuries + being a workhorse caught up to him and the canary in the coal mine is when he failed his physical.

Buck: Legit don't remember him being part of this deal. Had an all-star season as a Jay in 2010, cashed in with the Marlins that offseason, got traded back for all of a few days before he was shipped to the Mets in the Dickey trade.

Buerhle: Pretty much the one guy who came as advertised. Reliable albeit not particularly flashy middle of the rotation guy who could eat innings. Played 3 seasons here with an all-star nod in 2015

Reyes: He was...fine, i guess? Overpaid for a guy who largely just was a contact hitter. Was dumped off on the Rockies in the Tulo trade.

Bonifacio; sucked outside of the fact i could make his name Bonerfacio which was a real hit amongst us dumbshit young adults.

Then Buerhle fell off sharply later that year, wasn't even on the post season roster for the ALDS or ALCS.
 

The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
89,672
34,741
Langley, BC
Why didn't it work out that year? I remember we were all excited for the first time in a long time, then the Jays proceed to finish last place. Brutal.

It didn't work out because as was said above, none of those guys really moved the needle.

Johnson was in the dumpster by the time the trade happened. He pitched less than 100 innings that year, was awful, and then was done because he was broken.

Reyes was fine, I guess. But he got a stupid contract from the Marlins, was already breaking down physically, and was also kind of always overrated because he was a high energy contact-hitting switch hitter. He had a career year in his last season in New York so that he could cash in with Miami, but he never had any power and if you look at his OPS+ he was more often closer to the league average than he was to the "really good hitter" range. His first year with the Jays he missed almost half the season, had basically no extra base power to speak of, and was just kind of an OK starter.

Buehrle was as advertised, but by that point in his career that was merely an OK middle/back of the rotation workhorse. He wasn't terrible but by bWAR it was still one of the worse seasons in his career.

Buck was sent out right away so he's irrelevant

and Bonifacio was more projection than reality. Everyone was excited for the idea of a multi-positional speed merchant but forgot that he couldn't hit. So he didn't hit and was shipped out to Kansas City for nothing.

If there's a silver lining it's that the Jays didn't give up a ton in return

Henderson Alvarez had a no-hitter with the Marlins and one good year following it, but then he suffered a rash of injuries and imploded and was toast within 3 years of the trade.

Anthony DeSclafani was flipped to the Reds a year later for Mat Latos and his carer has been a roller coaster of 2 very good mid-rotation years sandwiched by a bunch of years of being mediocre-to-poor or missing a bunch of time.

Yunel Escobar was traded to the Rays during that same off-season. He had one good year for them and then the bottom fell out on him as he became basically defensively unplayable. His enduring legacy is probably that time he wrote a slur on his eye-black and tried to plead ignorance of doing anything wrong.

Adeiny Hechavarria had a long career, but remained what he was with the Jays: a no-bat Shortstop whose late career transitioned into a no-bat utility infielder

Jeff Mathis was a dime-a-dozen replacement level backup catcher

Jake Marisnick had a long-ish run as a member of all those good* Astros teams, but he never did learn to hit and was a batless defensive outfielder for most of his career.

Justin Nicolino was once touted as on the level of Syndergaard and Sanchez in the Jays system, was a member of that title winning Vancouver Canadians squad with all 3 of them, and was considered to maybe have the most upside because he was a lefty. The Arrested Development narrator will tell you that he did not have that much upside. He made it up to the Marlins in 2015 and was godawful over parts of 3 years before being waived.
 
Last edited:

Suntouchable13

Registered User
Dec 20, 2003
44,622
20,866
Toronto, ON
It didn't work out because as was said above, none of those guys really moved the needle.

Johnson was in the dumpster by the time the trade happened. He pitched less than 100 innings that year, was awful, and then was done because he was broken.

Reyes was fine, I guess. But he got a stupid contract from the Marlins, was already breaking down physically, and was also kind of always overrated because he was a high energy contact-hitting switch hitter. He had a career year in his last season in New York so that he could cash in with Miami, but he never had any power and if you look at his OPS+ he was more often closer to the league average than he was to the "really good hitter" range. His first year with the Jays he missed almost half the season, had basically no extra base power to speak of, and was just kind of an OK starter.

Buehrle was as advertised, but by that point in his career that was merely an OK middle/back of the rotation workhorse. He wasn't terrible by by bWAR it was still one of the worse seasons in his career.

Buck was sent out right away so he's irrelevant

and Bonifacio was more projection than reality. Everyone was excited for the idea of a multi-positional speed merchant but forgot that he couldn't hit. So he didn't hit and was shipped out to Kansas City for nothing.

If there's a silver lining it's that the Jays didn't give up a ton in return

Henderson Alvarez had a no-hitter with the Marlins and one good year following it, but then he suffered a rash of injuries and imploded and was toast within 3 years of the trade.

Anthony DeSclafani was flipped to the Reds a year later for Mat Latos and his carer has been a roller coaster of 2 very good mid-rotation years sandwiched by a bunch of years of being mediocre-to-poor or missing a bunch of time.

Yunel Escobar was traded to the Rays during that same off-season. He had one good year for them and then the bottom fell out on him as he became basically defensively unplayable.

Adeiny Hechavarria had a long career, but remained what he was with the Jays: a no-bat Shortstop whose late career transitioned into a no-bat utility infielder

Jeff Mathis was a dime-a-dozen replacement level backup catcher

Jake Marisnick had a long-ish run as a member of all those good* Astros teams, but he never did learn to hit and was a batless defensive outfielder for most of his career.

Justin Nicolino was once touted as on the level of Syndergaard and Sanchez in the Jays system, was a member of that title winning Vancouver Canadians squad with all 3 of them, and was considered to maybe have the most upside because he was a lefty. The Arrested Development narrator will tell you that he did not have that much upside. He made it up to the Marlins in 2015 and was godawful over parts of 3 years before being waived.

AA was still learning at that point of his career. He tried for a couple of home runs, ended up swinging and missing. But then he redeemed himself in 2015 so it all kinda evened out. He has been a really good executive since.
 

TheMadHatTrick

Registered User
Nov 2, 2008
7,092
3,252
What's Vladdy's favorite Dominican restaurant? We need to see if he's made any recommendations. lol
 

Tony Romo

Registered User
Sep 25, 2011
15,318
2,225
I'd be perfectly fine with a trade for Rooker or Lu Bob, while waiting on Soto!
 

Canada4Gold

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
43,053
9,239
Clearly all the other teams aren't giving him the money he wants and this is a last ditch effort to up their offers to match Toronto's. He should be a Jay by tomorrow afternoon once it's clear this tactic does not work as intended. In person meetings with the New York teams not required, the relationships already irreparable.
 

GreytWun

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
1,858
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Ontario
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