Rubino: Four most notorious trades in Giants history

On the Willie Mays statue in front of the main entrance to AT&T Park, there is no inscription noting that the Giants traded the greatest of all Giants for Charlie Williams.

On the Willie McCovey statue on the shore of the cove that bears his name, there is no inscription noting that the Giants traded the most popular of all Giants for Mike Caldwell.

On the Orlando Cepeda statue in front of the bleachers entrance to AT&T Park, there is no inscription noting that the Giants traded the first San Francisco NL Rookie of the Year and subsequent six-time All-Star for Ray Sadecki.

And if their were a statue of Gaylord Perry (it can’t be easy to depict spit in bronze), it’s unlikely there would be an inscription noting that the Giants traded their most celebrated pre-steroid-era cheater for Sam McDowell.

This year’s baseball trading deadline is fast approaching, and for Giants fans of a certain age, and for younger fans with a grasp of team history, those trades of future Hall of Famers still induce queasiness and regret.

Sure, the Giants have made many shrewd and sensational trades over the years, including:

Tommy Joseph, Seth Rosin and Nate Schierholtz for Hunter Pence;

Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong for Jason Schmidt (and John Vander Wal);

Charlie Culberson for Marco Scutaro;

Tim Alderson for Freddy Sanchez;

Ramon Ramirez and Andres Torres for Angel Pagan;

Scott Medvin and Jeff Robinson for Rick Rueschel.

Those trades supplied the Giants with players who were instrumental in helping the team reach the postseason. And in the case of Vogelsong, of course, it eventually became a matter of reacquiring a traded-away player who then helped the team win two World Series.

Still, though, it’s the trades of Mays, McCovey, Cepeda and Perry that haunt fans with long memories, fans with a predilection for the melancholy.

At 41 in 1972, the Say Hey Kid wasn’t a kid anymore when the Giants traded him to the Mets. But it’s impossible to imagine a similar scenario today, trading away a player of such iconic stature for a thoroughly mediocre pitcher. To put it bluntly, it was shameful. It was as if the Colonists, after defeating the British in 1783, had traded George Washington to Canada for a case of maple syrup.

When discussing the trading away of Cepeda to St. Louis in 1966, it’s often pointed out by defenders of the transaction that the Giants could no longer abide having two All-Star-caliber first basemen (McCovey being the other; both having tried playing the outfield), and the one with the weaker knees and stronger clubhouse opinions had to go. But the Giants in return merely got a journeyman pitcher while Cepeda went on to win an MVP and help lead the Cardinals to two World Series. Not quite shameful, but it was among the less-astute trades in team history.

In many ways, the trading of McCovey to San Diego after the 1973 season symbolized both the cold-heartedness and cluelessness prevalent in the final years of the Horace Stoneham ownership. At 35, the much-beloved McCovey had just completed a season in which he hit 29 homers and had a .420 on-base percentage and could still play an elegant first base. Again, all they got in return was a journeyman pitcher. Under the new ownership of Bob Lurie, McCovey, at 39, was reacquired in 1977, to the joy of Giants fans who nevertheless had been deprived of Willie Mac for three years.

After the 1971 season, the Giants figured Perry was about done. After all, he was 33 and had pitched at least 280 innings five years in a row, including two seasons of at least 325 innings. But Perry had shown no signs of slowing down, and went on to pitch 14 more seasons, win 215 more games and earn two Cy Young Awards, one in each league. In return, the Giants got Sam McDowell, a once-bright but intemperate star who began to flame out upon his arrival in San Francisco and would be out of baseball at 32.

But to dwell on these monumentally horrible trades turns out not to be exclusively an exercise in melancholy. The arc of the baseball lives of Mays, McCovey, Cepeda and Perry and their connection to the Giants have a decidedly happy ending. All four are much honored, much revered by the Giants organization, fans and current players. Their names and retired numbers are prominently displayed. Mays, McCovey and Cepeda remain personally involved with the team. And they have those statues. It’s all good.

Let’s just hope the team’s future doesn’t ever include such poor and devastating deals.

Robert Rubino can be reached at RobertoRubino@comcast.net.