The First Trade in CFCL History

On this date in 1984, the very first trade in CFCL history was consummated. And just in time, too … June 15 was the 1984 trade deadline (coinciding with the major league trade deadline at the time). 

I don’t recall a whole lot of trade talk going on in that first season. I’m not sure what my excuse was - you’d think that between living in the same house with two fellow owners and seeing a third owner at school everyday I would have been able to make some small deal before mid-June. I remember kicking a couple ideas back and forth with Rich, but we never really got close to a trade.

I think we all liked the idea of wheeling and dealing but weren’t quite sure how to go about it. We were still learning the game and the fluid nature of some of the categories, and by the time we got 10 weeks into the season, the trade deadline was upon us. 

Also adding to the difficulty was the fact that delay in waiting for stats to be reported in The Sporting News, then compiling the standings by hand and distributing them meant that when we were talking trade at any given time we were referencing standings reports that were already 10-14 days old.

No one felt quite confident enough to do anything.

Finally, at the trade deadline, the ice was broken with the only trade of the 1984 season. In that first trade, the league-leading ForGoetz Me Nots sent Jesse Orosco, Alan Wiggins, and Dan Driessen to the 5th place Copperfields for Pascual Perez, Bryan Little, and Eddie Milner.

This one turned out to be a big win for the Copperfields. Post-trade stats:

Copperfields get
Orosco – 2.88 ERA – 1.03 RATIO – 6 W – 19 Sv
Wiggins - .260 BA – 2 HR – 21 RBI – 38 SB
Driessen - .265 BA – 13 HR – 42 RBI – 0 SB

ForGoetz Me Nots getPerez – 3.48 ERA – 1.25 RATIO – 8 W – 0 Sv
Little – .177 BA – 0 HR – 3 RBI – 1 SB
Milner - .188 BA – 4 HR – 12 RBI – 4 SB

The Nots had been leading the SB category by 43 and the Saves category by 24, so they could afford to give up Wiggins and Orosco. They sure didn’t get much to help them in return, though. Perez performed well, but both Little and Milner missed large portions of the second half with injuries.

Luckily, the trade didn’t hurt the ForGoetz Me Nots much in the standings. They maintained their lead in the Saves category and lost only a point in Stolen Bases. Overall, they finished in first place, with 71 points – the same total they had at the time of the trade. Even so, the trade almost proved very costly for the ForGoetz Me Nots.

The Copperfields really reaped the benefits of the deal, riding Wiggins to rise three places in SB, passing the ForGoetz Me Nots in the final weeks of the season to top the category. Orosco helped the Copperfields pick up a couple points in Saves. Overall, the Copperfields picked up 14.5 points after the trade, and finished just on point behind the 1984 Champion ForGoetz Me Nots.

Roster Change Report for June 15, 1984