Have glove, will travel

Felix Fermin turning a double play with Harrisburg in 1987

Less than two years after helping the Harrisburg Senators win the 1987 Class AA Eastern League title in their return to professional baseball, slick-fielding shortstop Felix Fermin is traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates 35 years ago today to the Cleveland Indians for shortstop Jay Bell.

Turns out Fermin soon becomes baseball’s gift that keeps on giving as Bell becomes an All-Star and Gold Glove winner with the Pirates.

Fermin spends five workmanlike, if not spectacular, seasons in Cleveland before the Indians repackage him to Seattle for another shortstop, Omar Vizquel.

Fermin plays three more years in the majors before retiring after the 1996 season – seven years before Bell plays his last game and 16 years before Vizquel finishes his remarkable, Hall of Fame-caliber career.