Traded for 10 bats? Here are some other goofy trades.

Last week we had a thread about a minor league player being traded for 10 bats, but here is something better.

Long time Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell compiled a list of the goofiest trades in baseball history.

I think it is a great read.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/SPORTS02/806020368/1050

"Willis Hudlin made the cleverest trade of all. He retired in 1940 after pitching 15 years in the big leagues -- every season but one with the Cleveland Indians. He then became a pitcher and part-owner of the Little Rock Travelers in the Southern League. In 1944, owner Hudlin traded pitcher Hudlin to the St. Louis Browns. He pitched only two innings for the Browns and had an 0-1 record. But the Browns won the pennant that season, and Hudlin received a World Series share. That winter, owner Hudlin of Little Rock bought back pitcher Hudlin from the Browns and kept the change."

 

I have no reason to doubt this, but I get the feeling that Ernie recited that column from memory. I hope someone checked the facts on it. Still a good read, but it had an oral history feel to it.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chitiha01.shtml

Chiti does not even make the list. Not a slight against the list, but it shows the craziness of the transactions.

On a side note, take a look at who sponsors Chiti's BR page.

 

I love the comment.

 

This line made it worth reading:

 

I think Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown via Jerry West would fall in this category, too.

 

That was a great ending for a guy who isn't best known for his writing abilities.

 

The Greenville (Miss.) Bluesmen of the now-defunct Big South League and later the Texas-Louisiana League used to make some goofy deals.

They traded a mint-condition Muddy Waters blues record to Meridian for first baseman Andre Keene in 1996.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Andre_Keene

Then they traded 10 pounds of smoked Mississippi River catfish (Greenville is famous for the stuff) to a team in California for pitcher Ken Krahenbuhl a few years later. Krahenbuhl pitched a perfect in his first game with Greenville.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/082598/LS1634.shtml

If I recall correctly, the Braves first acquired Kerry Ligtenberg for a bunch of new bats and balls.

Whatever independent league team Ligtenberg was playing for was managed by former Atlanta catcher Greg Olsen. When Schuerholz asked Olsen how much the team needed in exchange for Ligtenberg, Olsen said they what they really needed some new equipment, so that's what they got.