In fairness, I probably would have called the greatest Pirates trade in history, in 1959, infamous, but it built a foundation for a World Series victory a year later

... but I was only 12-years-old 

The truth is that trades in any sport can be horrible or wonderful, even if they do not appear to be so on paper. So, in response to my calling the trade of two young Pirates to Tampa Bay last year infamous, I must admit that in 1959, I complained vociferously about a trade the Bucs made.

Of course, I was only 12-years-old, and Twitter and other social media did not exist. Yet, I thought that this trade was horrible, and complained to my father, the apparent expert, about it.

First, the details. The GM for the Bucs at the time was Joe L. Brown. The Pirates traded right-handed pitcher Whammy Douglas, outfielders Jim Pendleton, and John Powers — along with their only home run power hitter, Frank Thomas — to Cincinnati in Jan. 1959 for catcher Smoky Burgess, third baseman Don Hoak, and left-handed pitcher Harvey Haddix.

Frank Thomas was my favorite player, a guy who had just hit 39 home runs and driven in 109 in 1958. He was the best Pirates home run hitter since Ralph Kiner, whom I barely remember since I was so young when he played.

My reaction was why do you trade your best offensive weapon to a team for three lackluster players? Haddis was 33 at the time, and while he had won 20 games in 1953 and 18 in ’54, he had been anything but impressive in his past few years. Burgess was a tubby backup catcher who seemed to add nothing, and Hoak was a fair third baseman.

What I never envisioned, what many Pirates fans never envisioned, was that those three players would be very instrumental in winning the first National League pennant for the Pirates in 23 years in 1960, one that would lead to a fabulous World Series victory over the New York Yankees.

None of the three would register fabulous stats in 1960, but they were solid, and often, clutch. Here is what one analyst said about the trade, which he ranked as the second best in history,

The 1960 title

This trade played a huge role in the Pirates’ 1960 championship. Douglas never played in the majors again, and Pendleton and Powers did little. Thomas was the Pirates’ big slugger of the post-Kiner era. He struggled for two years after the trade, but later had several pretty good years. Burgess had a 116 OPS+ in six seasons as a catcher with the Pirates. He was also probably better defensively than is sometimes remembered; some fans probably think of the guy who finished his career with four years primarily as a pinch hitter. Haddix went 45-38 in five years with the Bucs and had a famous start against Milwaukee. Hoak had three good seasons with them, putting up 5.4 bWAR, second on the team to Dick Groat, in 1960.

In the 1960 series, Burgess compiled a .333 batting average over the Yanks, a .400 on-base percentage, having six hits in 18 at-bats while splitting time catching with Hal Smith. Burgess, 32 at the time of the trade, finished the year splitting time with Smith and compiling 7 home runs and 39 RBIs.

Hoak had a very solid year at the plate in 1960, hitting .282 with 16 home runs and 109 RBIs. He was also a leader on the team and a very good third baseman.

Haddix was just 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA that year, but most important, the Bucs needed a solid left-handed pitcher, and he filled the bill. Most important in 1960, he won two of the four games in the series and compiled an ERA of 2.45.

In addition, Haddix became part of MLB history in 1959, according to History.com,

On this day in 1959 [Aug. 21], Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves, only to lose the game on a two-run double by Braves’ first baseman Joe Adcock in the 13th inning. It was the first time a pitcher threw more than nine perfect innings in major league history.

A perfect game for 12 innings? He retired 36 hitters in a row, which is unbelievable.

Conclusion

In short, GM Joe L. Brown pulled off a great trade in 1959 that led to the Pirates first World Series victory in more than three decades. But, at the time, I, and many fans, would have called it an “infamous” trade.




We were definitely wrong … and may be with the Chris Archer/Austin Meadows/Tyler Glasnow trade.




Only time will tell what history will recall.