We’re pleased to announce that Gene Carney, author of Romancing the Horsehide: Baseball Poems on Players and the Game and Burying the Black Sox: How Baseball’s Cover-Up of the 1919 World Series Fix Almost Succeeded, will be submitting essays to Seamheads.com.  Carney writes a weekly column called “Notes From the Shadows of Cooperstown,” most of which is dedicated to his ongoing research of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and his newest book, A Baseball Family Album, is due out this spring from Pocol Press.

After Cincinnati Reds owner Bill DeWitt traded Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles on December 9, 1965 for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson, the Reds won 13 fewer games in 1966 and fell to seventh place after finishing in fourth place in 1965. An eight-game deficit in ‘65 became an 18-game deficit in ‘66 and though the team began winning again in 1967 and jumped back into fourth place, its deficit remained in double figures (14 1/2 games out of first place in 1967 and 14 out in 1968).

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This is the second of a series of articles we’ll be writing about infamous trades of the past in which a superstar player was dealt for multiple players of lesser talent or value.

December 9, 1965: Reds right fielder Frank Robinson to the Orioles for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson.

When Cincinnati Reds owner Bill DeWitt sent star outfielder Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles on December 9, 1965 for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and rookie outfielder Dick Simpson, he referred to the trade as “a million dollar deal.” Robinson, he estimated, was worth $500,000; the three players he received in the deal were worth $500,000. More than 40 years later, it’s clear that DeWitt got 10 cents on the dollar.

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I had the pleasure of speaking to Alex Reimer, the host of mysportsradio.com’s “Without A Curse,” yesterday during an interview in which we discussed my book, Harry Frazee, Ban Johnson and the Feud That Nearly Destroyed the American League. Reimer also talked to Butch Stearns, the head sports anchor at FOX’s Boston affiliate and a regular contributor to WEEI radio in Boston, about Curt Schilling’s shoulder and the possibility of a Coco Crisp trade.

To hear the interview, click HERE.

This is the first of a series of articles we’ll be writing about infamous trades of the past in which a superstar player was dealt for multiple players of lesser talent or value.

June 15, 1977: Mets ace Tom Seaver to the Reds for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman.

In one of the blockbuster trades in baseball history, the New York Mets sent Tom Seaver to the world champion Cincinnati Reds last night for four players of far less magnitude.—Joe Durso, New York Times, June 16, 1977

That was the reality Mets fans woke up to on Thursday morning, June 16, 1977. Their ace pitcher, a hero and icon to many and the face of the Mets franchise, had been unceremoniously dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for four players of “far less magnitude,” a pitcher, a utility infielder, and two minor league outfielders. In addition to Seaver, the Mets sent slugger Dave Kingman to San Diego for Bobby Valentine, another utility infielder, and pitcher Paul Siebert, and dealt utility infielder Mike Phillips to the Cardinals for Joel Youngblood, yet another utility man.

More than 30 years later, Mets fans still refer to that moment as “The Midnight Massacre.”

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I’m happy to announce that I’ll be interviewed by MySportsRadio.com’s Alex Reimer on his baseball podcast, “Without A Curse,” which will be available for download on Monday, February 11. Alex and I will be discussing my book, Harry Frazee, Ban Johnson and the Feud That Nearly Destroyed the American League, as well as Seamheads.com.

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When word leaked out last Tuesday that Twins ace Johan Santana was going to be traded to the Mets for four prospects, the uproar it caused among Twins fans was deafening. Not only were they losing arguably the best pitcher in baseball, but they were getting back in return four virtual no-names — outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra — with a combined 63 games of major league experience. You’d have thought Santana was dealt for a used jock strap, a bag of balls, and an autographed picture of “Marvelous Marv” Throneberry. But he wasn’t; He was traded for four of the Mets’ top 10 prospects, ranked second, third, fourth and seventh, respectively, by Baseball America in early November.

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There is now a special segment of the Veterans Committee that will examine the most deserving of those players who played prior to 1943 but are not in the Hall of Fame. A good question is – how many such players have HOF numbers and have been ignored in the past?

According to the NEWS HOF Gauge (based on win shares), there are ONLY THREE position players from this period who have a NEWS score of 280 or greater (obvious HOF numbers) and are not in the Hall of Fame. Here are the three players and their NEWS score.

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Thanks to our loyal readers, Seamheads.com recorded its 500,000th hit last month!  That’s amazing considering we launched just four months ago.  We’ve been mentioned on numerous blogs and received a nice boost in traffic when Fox Sports columnist Dayn Perry mentioned us in one of his columns.  We’ve also received fantastic support from Baseball Think Factory and The Hardball Times and we’ve forged new relationships with Baseball Digest Daily and Ball Hype that should help the overall success of the site.  In fact after only a day of being tracked by Ball Hype we’ve almost cracked their top 100 baseball web sites list.  We also want to thank those of you who’ve taken the time to compliment our site.  Your emails and comments are very much appreciated.

As you already know we’ve added Dave Rouleau to our staff and we’re excited to have him.  Our Quotes Database now includes 20 players, seven Executives/Managers/Front Office Personnel, one team and one quote about Major League Baseball in general.  That will grow exponentially over the next few weeks.  We’re also extremely close to launching our Ballpark Factors Database which is sure to draw a crowd considering the anticipation it drummed up when I first announced it a while back.

Lastly, my book, Harry Frazee, Ban Johnson and the Feud That Nearly Destroyed the American League, is due out on March 30 and has appeared on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble’s web site.  It can be pre-ordered from either site or you can order it directly from my publisher.

Thanks again for your support and thanks for making us part of your baseball fix!