It was on this date in 1989 that
the Toronto Blue Jays traded popular All-Star right-fielder Jesse Barfield to
the New York Yankees for pitcher Al Leiter. Barfield, at 29 years of age,
appeared to be on the downside of his career as he had only batted .244 in 1988
and was struggling at .200 a month into the 1989 season. His numbers continued
to diminish and he was out of baseball by the end of 1992.
As a 13-year old Blue Jays’
superfan, I was shocked to learn of the departure of one/third of the “best
outfield in baseball.” But for my younger brother, it was an even bigger
disappointment as less than two weeks earlier (on April 17th) he had
received a baseball glove for his tenth birthday with a stamped “Jesse
Barfield” signature in the palm of the mitt.
As for the Leiter, the Jays
received an oft-injured pitching prospect. After joining Toronto, he had
shoulder surgery, then a pinched nerve, then tendinitis, then blister problems.
From 1989 to 1992, he only pitched 15 2/3 innings for the club. But the Jays
stuck with him and he finally produced a decent season in 1995 (9-6 win/loss,
4.33 ERA.) He thanked Toronto for not giving up on him by signing with the
Florida Marlins as a free agent, a rather bush-league, ungrateful move
considering the Jays could have given up on him years earlier, but didn’t.
Follow us on Twitter at @topofthethird
No comments:
Post a Comment