Quote:
Originally Posted by RedsBaron
The Reds traded Ross Grimsley to the Orioles after 1973 for Merv Rettenmund. In 1974 Grimsley won 18 games for the O's while Rettenmund was terrible. Put Grimsley on the '74 Reds and perhaps they catch LA in the NL West.
In June of 1977 the Reds traded Mike Caldwell for nothing much. In 1978 Caldwell won 22 games for the Brewers while Grimsley won 20 for the Expos, and both pitchers had good ERAs. The Reds got nothing from either trade. If both Grimsley and Caldwell had been on the 1978 staff the Reds would have returned to the World Series that year, Sparky would not have been fired, there would have been world peace, etc.
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Both learned the spitter from George Bamberger however, that's what extended their careers. Grimsley forced the hand of the Reds when he and Sparky butted heads, he was definitely "new school" and a junkballer in a fastball league. Apparently once while getting bombed in Baltimore Bamberger came to the mound and asked him if he had ever thought of cheating to get the pitch in, Grimsley apparently said no, and Bamberger replied, maybe you should.
When Caldwell was a Brewer he was crediting his new found 'sinker' as his success that year, one of the other team managers replied, "So that's what they're calling it now."
Maybe the Reds need Bamberger more than Grimsley and Caldwell.