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Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

batmagadanleadoff Feb 08 2015 11:03 PM

Careful mentioning Allen around St. Louis fans [fimg=273]http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/420*589/ows_142335379897036.jpg[/fimg] FORT MYERS, FLA. – Neil Allen had a decent run as the New York Mets closer from 1980 through 1982, saving 59 games. He was having a terrible season in 1983, with a record of 2-7 and a 4.50 ERA, when the announcement came an hour before the June 15 trading deadline: Allen and fellow pitcher Rick Ownbey had been sent to St. Louis for first baseman Keith Hernandez. In 1979, Hernandez had been the National League’s co-MVP with Willie Stargell. In 1982, he had been a heroic figure in the Cardinals’ World Series championship. Joe McDonald, the Cardinals general manager, offered this odd justification for the trade: “If Allen was not having a bad year, there’s no way we could have gotten him.’’ The baseball world was shocked and St. Louis fans were outraged by the Cardinals’ modest return for Hernandez. “I walked into the dugout around 7 p.m. right before the Cardinals’ next game and went over to shake hands with [manager] Whitey Herzog,’’ said Allen, the new Twins pitching coach. “He said, ‘I’ve been wanting to get you for a long time, kid.’ “And then I looked out in the stands, all those people wearing red, and there are signs everywhere: ‘We love 17,’ Hernandez’s number, and ‘Allen must go’ and nastier stuff than that. “I said, ‘I don’t think the fans agree, Whitey,’ and he said, ‘Ah, don’t worry about it, kid. By the way, we’re putting you in the rotation, and your first start is next week against the Mets in Shea Stadium. Might as well jump right into it.’?” The Cardinals wanted Allen to throw a bullpen session that night to start stretching out for the start. Knowing the potential for boos, the Cardinals waited until the game was over and the fans were gone. How did that start turn out? “Beat ’em,’’ Allen said. Sure did. June 21, 1983: Cardinals 6, Mets 0, eight scoreless innings for Allen, 0-for-4 for Hernandez. http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/291166451.html

Benjamin Grimm Feb 09 2015 04:47 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Joe McDonald, the Cardinals general manager, offered this odd justification for the trade: “If Allen was not having a bad year, there’s no way we could have gotten him.’’ That's a real "WTF" if I've ever heard one.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 09 2015 05:12 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Keith was 37 with the Cards, of course

Edgy MD Feb 09 2015 06:12 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Am I misremembering, or was Whitey Herzog the de facto GM, and McDonald just his hatchet guy?

Frayed Knot Feb 09 2015 07:25 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Joe McDonald, the Cardinals general manager, offered this odd justification for the trade: “If Allen was not having a bad year, there’s no way we could have gotten him.’’ That's a real "WTF" if I've ever heard one. Between that statement and the one from Whitey about "wanting to get you for a long time", it's obvious that the Cards valued Allen a lot more than the Mets did, so perhaps they really thought that a 30 y/o Keith wasn't enough to land Allen if healthy and on the top of his game. Needless to say, I never saw Allen in anywhere near that light and I suspect most NYM fans were the same (and wouldn't admit it now if they weren't). I even remember having discussions with Mets fans two years prior to that trade that they had kept the wrong reliever when they dealt Jeff Reardon away in the Ellis Valentine trade.

Frayed Knot Feb 09 2015 07:30 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Edgy MD wrote: Am I misremembering, or was Whitey Herzog the de facto GM, and McDonald just his hatchet guy? To some extent anyway. Whitey certainly had a lot of unofficial power (with the front office and with the press in that town) to the point where if he was intent on getting rid of someone it would set things in motion even if he wasn't the one officially pulling the trigger in the end. Frank Cashen used to cite this trade as a way to tell the story about how it was best to let the other team be the first to mention the name of the guy you really wanted. I can't remember now if he specified who on StL he was on the phone with when Keith's name first came up. Getting the 17/37 thing wrong is a pretty sloppy mistake.

Edgy MD Feb 09 2015 08:04 AM Re: Midwest newspaper revisits the Allen trade

Well, in fairness, that' Neil Allen's mistake, not the writer's, but the writer should've put a parenthetical. Whitey was up to his neck in building his running attack. And his position was that Neil Allen and John Stearns was the hardest battery at the time to run on. Allen had a tight little motion out of the stretch, and his curve came in hard and tightly wrapped, easier for Stearns to handle than the better to hit. His frustration with beating them confounded him and probably caused him to see them both in an outsized light. I also wonder if Whitey liked him because he was a schoolboy star in the Kansas City area when White was managing the Royals. Allen was a good pitcher. He was effective as a starter and he was effective as a reliever. In any role. Once with the Yankees, he entered the game when a starter was injured before a single out was recorded. The Yankees pen had otherwise been gassed going into the game, and Allen pitched the remaining nine innings, getting credited with the win and — amazingly — the complete game. The rules at the time allowed a reliever to earn a CG in just such a circumstance. They don't anymore, and — I don't know — maybe Allen is the last guy to ever earn one is such a manner. Anyhow, he was a good pitcher, but he never made an All Star team. Maybe with a break or two, or a single adjustment, he might've become the pitcher Whitey hoped he was getting. How ironic that, in the trade that ran Keith Hernandez out of town, Whitey ended up getting a guy with a growing addiction problem.