Trade Tracker Thursday: St. Louis Cardinals. Blood, Bibby, Torre, and The Captain.

On the surface, the Mets and Cardinals now share a kind of polite, distant relationship typical of teams playing in different divisions. But scratch the surface of baseball history, and you'll find a fascinating, interconnected web of blockbuster deals, franchise-altering swaps and quiet steals of two teams that were inter-divisional heated rivals throughout the 80's. There have been over two dozen transactions between these two old foes - one that set up the 1986 World Champions.

June 15, 1983. Mets get 1B Keith Hernandez for RHPs Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.

This is the greatest trade in Mets history. There was no more impactful transaction. It moved them from the 1977 Seaver trade fallout of seven years in the basement to consistent winners, playing smart baseball, and being the World Champions. It's still felt today, as we listen to Keith still teaching us and entertaining us as a broadcaster every night! Look up when Keith spoke about the hot dog in Arizona. A young lady eating a hot dog in the stands got Keith's attention. When Gary Cohen was mentioning the large size of the frank, Keith famously said, "I wasn't talking about the hot dog!" When Keith noticed a woman in the Padre dugout, he went on and on about the "girl in the dugout." Yikes, she was an assistant trainer. And of course, just last week, "Chazz Jism!" And they finally admitted that when Keith broke the camera with a marker? Never happened. Wasn't real. But I digress.

I was listening to the radio on June 15, 1983. It was a bad connection, and I thought I heard the Mets got a batting champion and clutch hitter. Did we get Bill Buckner, I thought? (yes, Bill did not win a batting crown). I couldn't believe the Mets just acquired the 1979 co-MVP. OK, to be honest, I thought that the team already had a first baseman, Dave Kingman! Yikes again.

Some Keith tidbits: His father helped him out of a 1985 slump. His dad watched all of his at-bats and observed that when he was hitting well, his father could see the entire "17" on his back. If he could only see "7", it meant Keith was bailing out.

The Jacquelyn Hernandez Adult Day Health Center in Brooklyn, is named for Keith's mother, who died of Alzheimer's in 1989.

He is the only all-time leader of Gold Gloves at his position who is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

His uniform always ends with 7 because he shares his birthday with Mickey Mantle and his father was a Mantle fan.

He is the All-time leader in the short, defunct statistic of Game Winning RBI.

Keith could have been named MVP of both World Series that he played in. He got the key hits in Game 7 in both 1982 as a Card and 1986 as a Met.

Keith was said to have an attitude problem as a youth because he sat out an entire season in high school due to a disagreement with his coach.

"He had so much baseball in him," said Doc Gooden, "And every time you knew exactly how much, he'd make another play and show you there was more."

Neil Allen was the Mets' closer from 1979 - 1982 and saved 69 games. Ownbey was a frisbee champion.

TEACHER SAYS A+++. A franchise changing trade. A World Championship. Member of team Hall of Fame. Number retired. Wouldn't we all have liked to say at one time or another, "I'm Keith Hernandez."

October 13, 1974. Mets get 3B Joe Torre for pitchers Tommy Moore and Ray Sadecki.

The Mets were able to get another former MVP from the Cardinals only because a young Keith Hernandez started to show signs he was the real deal so the Cards got rid of Torre. Torre had been playing first base during 1973 and 1974. Torre, a possible Hall of Fame bat, was only 34 when the Mets got him, but like many others, slowed down the instant he put on the orange and blue.

Check out his 1971 MVP season. 230 hits, 137 RBI, .363 batting crown, .421 OBP. Wow. As a Met, he hit 12 homers with 75 RBI in 254 games. Joe became the player-manager of the team in early 1977 before hanging up the spikes for good. He went on to manage for 29 years and is 5th all-time in manager victories. I think I'm forgetting something....ah, yes...he won 4 World Championships as a manager with another New York team. He finally made the Hall of Fame as a manager.

Sadecki won 135 games, including 20 as a Cardinal in 1964. He was a valuable swingman with the Mets from 1970 to 1974. He made 4 appearances in the 1973 World Series, only giving up one run in 4.2 innings.

TEACHER SAYS C. Torre didn't have much left as a player. He grounded into 4 double plays in one game as a Met, thanks to Felix Millan getting 4 singles.

June 15, 1977. Mets get INF/OF Joel Youngblood for SS Mike Phillips.

Does that date sound familiar? The Midnight Massacre, when the Mets traded Tom Seaver (and Kingman!) and got back little in return. The only good trade they made was getting the solid Youngblood for backup infielder Phillips, who was one of the first Mets to hit for the cycle.

Youngblood, a 1981 Mets All-Star, was a member of the 1976 Big Red Machine. He played 55 games and hit .193 that year. He did not appear in the post season, but played 7 positions, including catcher, in 1976. He played mostly the outfield as a Met, showing off a rocket arm in right.

You might remember the "Dave Parker" game on June 30, 1978. The Mets were trailing 3-2 in the 9th, but RBIs from Youngblood, Steve Henderson, Lenny Randle and Ed Kranepool gave the Mets a 6-3 lead. Dale Murray - Triple Yikes! - came in for the save. Hall of Famer Parker tripled in future Met Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno. Future Mets Championship coach Bill Robinson hit a lazy fly to Youngblood in right. Fire-powered arm Youngblood threw home on a bounce, and the 230-pound Parker tried to score the tying run and absolutely bowled over catcher John Stearns, but Bad Dude Stearns somehow took the blow and held onto the ball. Mets win. Parker walked away with a broken jaw. Stearns, former college football star, was unhurt.

Youngblood was a bright spot from 1977 to 1982. He had highs of 162 hits, 16 homers, and 69 RBI, many coming out of the leadoff spot. Can't write about Joel without mentioning August 4, 1982. In a day game at Wrigley Field, he got a single off Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins. Joel was pulled in the third inning because he was traded to Montreal. The Expos were short players for their game in Philadelphia and asked for Youngblood to get right on a plane. He arrived during the 7th inning. He was asked to pinch hit and singled off Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Two teams. Two cities. Two hits. Two Hall of Famers.

TEACHER SAYS A. Solid player. Exciting player on those losing teams.

December 10, 1979. Mets get LHP Ray Searage for C Jody Davis.

You didn't know Davis was drafted by the Mets? Davis became a solid All Star catcher with the Cubs and received MVP votes in two years. He caught at least 142 games four years in a row, including over 150 games in 1983 and 1984. Seems the Cubs have a history of blowing out their players in the then-only-day-games of Wrigley Field. Davis was especially tough in 1984, driving in 94 and helping to keep the Mets at bay in their quest to win the division. The Cubs won it by 6.5 games.

Searage, in his only Mets year in 1981, does have a historical footnote. He had a 1.000 winning percentage as a pitcher (1-0) and a 1.000 batting average (1-1).

TEACHER SAYS F. Davis catching on the Mets instead of the Cubs might have flipped the NL East standings.

October 18, 1971. Mets get 1B Jim Beauchamp, INF Chip Coulter, and pitchers Harry Parker and Chuck Taylor (not the sneaker guy) for OF Art Shamsky, and pitchers, Jim Bibby, Rich Folkers, and Charlie Hudson.

Journeyman Beauchamp, the last 24 before Mays returned, was a solid pinch-hitter for the 1973 NL Champions, but went 0-4 in the World Series. Parker was a swingman in 1973 and 1974 and ate up innings in the bullpen. He only gave one earned run in 4.1 innings in the 73 post-season, but managed to lose two games in 4 appearances.

Shamsky was a 1969 Mets stalwart who had little left due to injuries. Folkers pitched well in the bullpen for the Cards, throwing 82 and 90 innings in two years. But Bibby was the big loss. In his 12 year career, the 6-5 righthander won 111 games, including two 19 win seasons. Interesting: He went 19-19 in 1974 with Texas. He started 41 games, throwing 264 innings. He only struck out 149. Baseball truly has changed how they look at starting pitchers. Since they get hurt at a higher rate throwing 180 innings at most, why not go back to the old days? Bibby went 12-4 with a 2,81 ERA for the 1979 World Champion Prates Fam-a-lee. A decent hitter, he hit 5 homers in his career. Bibby also threw a no-hitter in 1973 and pitched a near perfect game in 1981. After a lead off hit, he retired the next 27 in a row. Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog said of Bibby when his Rangers manager at the time , "Bibby throws harder than anybody in the league except Nolan Ryan." Herzog should know, he was the Mets Farm Director in the late 60's.

We thank Bibby for his service, as he was an Army truck driver in Vietnam in the late 1960's.

TEACHER SAYS D. Every team could use a workhorse starting pitcher. The only reason this was a passing grade was Parker and Beauchamp helped win a division in 1973.

January 22, 1996. Mets get OF Bernard Gilkey for pitchers Erik Hiljus and Eric Ludwick.

I like to point out how the Mets acquire stars who forget how to play (Right, Bo?). Here is an example of a good outfielder who turned in a Hall of Fame season as a Met.

Gilkey played 6 seasons in St. Louis, highlighted by 1993, when he hit .305 with 16 homers and 70 RBI; and 1995 when he hit .298 with 17 homers and 69 RBI. Nearing his free agency, he was traded to the Mets.

He started hot and never stopped. 181 hits, 108 runs, 30 homers, 117 RBI, .317 average. His bWAR of 8.1 was third best in Mets history behing David Wright (2007) and Carlos Beltran (2006). His slugging percentage of .562 was 8th best. SURPRISE: Highest Mets slugging in one season belongs to Dominic Smith in the shortened 2020.

Gilkey's OPS was 9th best, behind names like Piazza, Olerud, Wright, and Beltran. Gilkey still holds the Mets record for doubles in a season (44).

Check out his cameo in "Men in Black".

TEACHER SAYS A. Gilkey couldn't continue that pace. But what a year it was. You could argue that the three greatest offensive performances in Mets history was in 1996, with Gilkey, Lance Johnson (227 hits, .333, 117 runs, 21 triples) and Todd Hundley (41 HR, 112 RBI).

So many names in Mets - Cardinals trades! It would have been easy to write another Trade Tracker on more of these trades! Roger Craig, Johnny Lewis, Elio Chacon, Tracy Stallard, Danny Napoleon, Jerry Buchek, Al Jackson, Teddy Martinez, Mike Vail, Leon Brown, Brock Pemberton, Benny Ayala, Tom Grieve, Pete Falcone, Jose Oquendo, Chuck Carr, Shawon Dunston, Joe McEwing, Roger Cedeno, Ryan Helsley, and for you Beavis and Butthead fans, Kim Seaman.