Detours on the road to Cooperstown
Willie McCovey
A pair of future Hall of Famers – first baseman Willie McCovey and pitcher Fergie Jenkins – find themselves on the move 51 years ago today in a pair of trades that send the iconic McCovey from the San Francisco Giants to the San Diego Padres and equally iconic Jenkins from the Chicago Cubs to the Texas Rangers.
McCovey, a star in San Francisco since his rookie season in 1959, is coming off a 1973 season in which he hits .263 with 29 home runs and a team-high .420 on-base percentage.
Solid numbers, for sure.
Fergie Jenkins
Nonetheless, the Giants have 24-year-old Dave Kingman ready to play first base, so off goes the 35-year-old McCovey to the Padres for pitcher Mike Caldwell, a 24-year-old lefty who enjoys his best seasons after the trade – but later with Milwaukee, not in San Francisco.
As for Jenkins, he is only 30 years old and just a summer removed from winning 20 or more games for a sixth straight season between 1967-72 when the Cubs decide to unload their best pitcher to Texas for a 22-year-old rookie third baseman.
Of course, the Cubs, being the Cubs, then watch Jenkins win a major league-high 25 games in 1974.
No one pitcher will win more games in a season until 1990, when Oakland’s Bob Welch wins 27 games, and no one has won more since.
With Jenkins, the Rangers improve their record from 57-105 in 1973 to 84-76 in 1974.
Bill Madlock
Oh, the rookie the Cubs acquire for Jenkins is Bill Madlock, who hits .313 in his first season in Chicago before winning a pair of National League batting titles in 1975 and ’76.
Then, the Cubs, again being the Cubs, trade Madlock – their best hitter – to San Francisco for serviceable-but-no-longer-spectacular outfielder Bobby Murcer.
Eventually, the Giants and Cubs bring back McCovey and Jenkins for the final seasons of their careers.
No such nostalgic reunion, though, for Madlock, who never again plays for the Cubs after batting .336 for them over three seasons.
Madlock does, though, go on to win a World Series in 1979 with Pittsburgh and two more National League batting titles with the Pirates. His four batting titles are the most by any player not in the Hall of Fame.