(Not) The Worst Trade Ever

     In 1964 the Cubs were middling through yet another season and wanted to make a splash in the trade market.  As a result, they decided to make a move.  On June 15 of that year, the Cubs sent Lou Brock over to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Jack Spring and Paul Toth.  In exchange, the North Siders got Bobby Shantz, Doug Clemons-and Ernie Broglio.  Broglio was coming off of an 18-win season in 1963, and looked like a safe bet that would help make the Cubs competitive.  Brock was 3 months into his 3rd full major league season, and so far seemed to be somewhat lackluster.  He only hit for .260 in his first two seasons, and Cubs management wanted to try something new.  And something new they did.  When they traded Brock for Broglio, the immediate impression was that the Cubs had suckered the Cardinals into giving up one of their best pitchers in exchange for a middling young player who wasn't going to live up to his potential.  Boy were they wrong.

     Lou Brock caught fire upon arriving in St. Louis, effectively plugging the hole left by Stan Musial's retirement at the end of the '63 season.  After being at the .500 mark at the time of the trade, the Cardinals gelled around their new player and won the 1964 pennant, going on to win the World Series for a final recorded of 93-69.  The Cubs on the other hand, didn't get nearly as much out of Broglio as they would have liked.  Broglio, after compiling a 70-55 record in St. Louis over the past 5 seasons, promptly went flat in Chicago, only going 4-7 after the trade.  Ultimately, Brock won one more Series with the Cardinals in 1967, played another successful 15 years after the trade, and was voted a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1985.  Ernie Broglio retired from baseball barely 2 years after the trade, and only went 7-19 for the Cubs.

     In the 50 years since the trade, the deal has been largely reviled as not only the worst trade in Cubs history, but one of(if not the) worst deals in the history of baseball.  And while that may look true on the surface, it actually isn't.  Not by a long-long-long shot.  The ACTUAL worst trade in Cubs history wouldn't happen for another 24 years.  On December 5, 1988, the Cubs traded away Drew Hall, Rafael Palmeiro, and JAMIE FREAKIN' MOYER.  True, the Cubs got 6 players back, and without the trade the Boys of Zimmer(not Summer) may not have rocked it in '89.  But seriously, we gave up 250 pitching wins(and the future Hall of Famer who threw them) and 544 home runs(yeah, Palmeiro got busted for juicing, but those homers still would've helped) all for 1 good season and a first-round playoff exit?  We were had, and we were had badly.  So on this 50th Anniversary of Brock-for-Broglio, just remember the legacy of that deal, and the true worst deal ever.