In 1989, the Phillies finished last in the NL East, 28 games under .500 and 26 games behind the division winning Chicago Cubs. As previously covered, Mike Schmidt announced his retirement on May 29th. Major trades were on the way, the first of which was announced 20 years ago today, June 2nd, 1989.My Dad, who still takes great pleasure in announcing Phillies trades, most likely announced on that day with much fanfare: "There has been a deal . . . The Philadelphia Phillies have traded outfielder Chris James to the San Diego Padres for outfielder John Kruk and infielder Randy Ready . . ." He would have then paused for effect as I soaked this news in.
I remember Chris James being incredibly upset about the trade. He was a home grown Phillie, and his good friend (Schmidt) had just retired. Chris would play a total of 10 seasons in the Majors, with the Phillies, Padres, Indians, Giants, Astros, Rangers, Royals and Red Sox.
Aren't we the owner's of a cracked Chris James' bat?
ReplyDeleteThat is correct! In fact, it's a bat from early in his career. How do I know this? On the knob, the number 26 has been crossed out and replaced with the number 18. Chris switched from 26 to 18 prior to the 1987 season. And now you know.
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