MSNBC.com has used several criteria to determine the biggest trades in major team sports history. Shock value is one, also known as the “blockbuster” factor. Caliber of players traded is another, the “star power” factor. Aftershock counts, too, the “impact” factor. Here’s our Top 10. We’ve ranked them within each sport, but not overall. Because there were so many worthy candidates, we’ve included an Honorable Mention list as well. ";
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Despite a record-setting season in 1919, in which he hit 29 home runs for the Boston Red Sox, Babe Ruth could not attract more than 417,291 fans to Fenway Park. Sox owner Harry Frazee needed money; Ruth wanted a three-year contract. It wasn’t a perfect marriage. So Frazee, a Broadway theater entrepreneur, sold Ruth to the Yankees for the then-considerable sum of $100,000 in cash, plus a guaranteed $350,000 mortgage on Fenway Park. The shocking deal became known in Boston as “Harry Frazee’s crime.” He used the money to produce some successful plays and did hang onto the Red Sox franchise thanks to the new mortgage. But what came to be known as “The Curse of the Bambino” changed forever the fates of the two teams. Boston began a streak of 15 straight losing seasons, and it wasn’t until 2004 that it won its first World Series since 1918. The Yankees, meanwhile, who had never won a pennant in the first two decades of their existence, flourished after getting Ruth. They began the greatest dynasty in baseball history, winning 26 world championships, and Ruth became the game’s greatest slugger.";
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Robby broke in with the Cincinnati Reds with a bang, tying the National League rookie home run record with 38 in 1956. He was a .300 hitter, a Gold Glove outfielder and a fearless baserunner. He won MVP in 1961, leading the Reds to their first pennant since 1940. But after the 1965 season, Reds general manager Bill DeWitt called Robinson “an old 30” and traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for starting pitcher Milt Pappas., reliever Jack Baldschun and outfielder Joe Simpson. Huge mistake. Pappas, a fine pitcher in Baltimore, had some success in Cincinnati and lasted another decade in the majors. But he was never a star and never won more than 17 games – doing that twice with the Cubs after leaving Cincinnati. Robinson won the Triple Crown and AL MVP in 1966, his first season in Baltimore, and led the Orioles to a World Series sweep of the Dodgers. “Old 30” indeed. He was the driving force behind the Orioles’ winning three straight pennants and another World Series crown in 1970. Robinson ensured himself a Hall of Fame plaque with his success in Baltimore.";
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It became obvious in the winter of 2004 that Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks wanted to deal A-Rod, after signing him to a 10-year, $252 million contract after the 2000 season. But what made this trade a real shocker was that the greatest shortstop in baseball history was dealt to the Yankees, where he agreed to move to third base and play alongside Derek Jeter. All that winter the talk was of A-Rod going to the Red Sox and the two teams thought they had a deal. But the players’ association wouldn’t approve it because of problems with the contract language and during the snag in negotiations, the Yankees swooped in and offered Texas erratic but gifted slugger Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later. The deal was completed, and A-Rod replaced Jeter as Public Enemy No. 1 in Boston. But after the Red Sox won a World Series in 2004 and the Yankees are still without a title since 2000, Rodriguez has become a lightning rod for frustrated Yankees fans, who are not satisfied with the team having won three more divisional titles since A-Rod arrive nor his terrific MVP season of 2005.";
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St. Louis players were not thrilled when Brock arrived in June 1964 from the rival Cubs in exchange for popular pitcher Ernie Broglio, a one-time 20-game winner. “We thought we had given up too much,” first baseman Bill White said at the time. Brock was a free-swinger who struck out too much, had a lifetime average of .260 and was such a shaky outfielder that Chicago fans jeered, “Brock as in Rock.” All that changed when Cardinals manager Johnny Keane urged him to alter his hitting style and emphasized stealing bases. Brock batted .461 down the stretch as the Cards caught the folding Phillies and beat the Yankees in the ’64 Series. Brock broke Maury Wills’ single-season stolen base record and Ty Cobb’s career mark (both since broken by Rickey Henderson) and helped transform the stolen base into an offensive weapon, particularly in the National League. From 1967 through 1974, he led the NL in stolen bases in all but one season and also became a more patient hitter, batting at least .295 in each of those seasons. In 1977, he got his 3,000th hit. Broglio? He won seven games for the Cubs from 1964-66 before retiring.";
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America’s Team had a nightmare season in 1989. The Dallas Cowboys went 1-15 in the first year of the Jerry Jones-Jimmy Johnson marriage that had gotten off to a rocky beginning when Jones, the new owner, mishandled the firing of the legendary Tom Landry and replaced him with former Miami coach Johnson. Many fans and owners enjoyed the new tandem’s discomfort. Enter Minnesota. The Vikings believed they were a top running back away from being a Super Bowl team, and the Cowboys offered to deal Herschel Walker. Vikings GM Mike Lynn was so desperate to get Walker that he stunned the NFL by trading seven draft choices (three in the first round, three in the second, one in the third). “I didn’t sleep at all that night,” Giants GM George Young said. “I knew the Dallas Cowboys weren’t going to be down on the bottom very long.” Among those draft picks were Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Darren Woodson and Kevin Smith. Dallas won three Super Bowl titles in four years during the 1990s, a high price for the league to pay for Lynn’s folly. The Vikings went from 10-6 in ’89 to 6-10 in ’90 and 8-8 in ’91 before Walker regained his 1,000-yard form – after being dealt to the Eagles.";
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Of course, the Big Dipper was such a Big Shot he was involved in two blockbuster trades during an eventful and occasionally unfulfilling career. On Jan. 15, 1965, the San Francisco Warriors dealt Chamberlain, who had won the scoring title in each of his first five seasons, to his hometown Philadelphia 76ers for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer and, naturally, cash. The deal paid off for the 76ers, as they finally dethroned the mighty Celtics in the 1966-67 season, the first in which Wilt did not average more than 30 points a game. Then July 9, 1968, with finances again a factor, the 76ers sent Chamberlain to the Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff. In Los Angeles, he joined a team that already had superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. Expectations were so high that Wilt endured a lot of grief when the Lakers lost in the NBA Finals to the dreaded Celtics in 1969 and the Knicks in 1970, and to the Bucks in the 1971 Western Conference finals. But Chamberlain finally earned his second ring in 1972 after the Lakers set a league record with a 33-game winning streak and breezed past the Knicks in five games for the NBA title.";
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The first season after the NBA-ABA merger was full of promise for the vagabond New York Nets of Long Island. But no sooner had the clever advertising slogan – “Tiny A and Dr. J in the NBA” – been unveiled then it became obsolete. The Doctor, Julius Erving, would not be operating with exciting point guard Nate Archibald because Nets owner Roy Boe couldn’t pay the bills. So he sent Erving, a Long Island native, for much-needed cash. That move doomed the franchise on Long Island as poor attendance led to the shift to New Jersey (where the attendance problem remains!). But Erving still had plenty of aerial moves to show off to a new audience. His banged-up knees and a more physical style of play in the older league wouldn’t allow Erving to dunk as often as he did in his ABA heyday, but he was still the greatest show above the earth until Michael Jordan came along. Dr. J played 11 seasons in Philly, averaging more than 20 points a game in the first nine of them and won an MVP Award in 1981. But it took six years and the acquisition of Moses Malone for the Doctor to bring a title to Philadelphia in 1982-83.";
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Oh those clever Celtics and that devious front-office mastermind Red Auerbach. He engineered a draft-day trade to get Bill Russell from St. Louis in 1956 and drafted Larry Bird as a junior (when that was allowed) in 1978. In 1980, he fleeced the Golden State Warriors, trading two first-round picks for center Robert Parish and a first-round pick. The Warriors were happy with Joe Barry Carroll. The Celtics were thrilled with the durable, skilled Parish, who played in Boston for 14 years and helped them win three titles in the 1980s. But there’s more! The Celtics used the first-round pick obtained from Golden State in the Parish deal to nab power forward Kevin McHale. Those two joined the wondrous Larry Bird to form the greatest frontcourt in NBA history, a lethal combination of players who could pass, shoot, rebound, defend, and of course, in that grand Celtics tradition, win. Parish, nicknamed “The Chief,” retired with the all-time career records in seasons, games and defensive rebounds. Carroll did have a nice career after being made the top draft pick in 1980, averaging about 19 points and nine rebounds in an eight-year career that did not feature a single NBA title and only a handful of playoff appearances.";
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Despite enormous success (four Stanley Cups in five years), the small-market Edmonton Oilers couldn’t pay Wayne Gretzky what he was really worth. So despite the fact that the nation of Canada considered him a natural resource, the face of hockey changed forever on Aug. 9, 1988, when The Great One was dealt, along with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, to the Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million in cash (perhaps the most important element) and three future first-round picks. “99 Tears” screamed the headline in the Edmonton Sun the next day, but Sports Illustrated countered in its next issue with “Great Move, Gretzky.” It turned out to be just that for the Kings as a franchise and the NHL as a league. Gretzky turned a moribund hockey market into a hot-ticket item, proving a game played on ice could flourish in Sun Belt markets coast to coast. “If we hadn’t made the deal,” Kings owner Bruce McNall said, “would there have been expansion into Anaheim and San Jose and Florida? I don’t think so.” Gretzky, who continued to win scoring titles in Los Angeles, lifted the Kings into the Stanley Cup finals in 1993, where they lost in five games to the Canadiens. ";
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The trade that brought Mark Messier to New York on Oct. 4, 1991 (for Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice and Louie DeBursk) didn’t help attendance at Madison Square Garden. The place is always packed with loyal Rangers fans, but many of them were fatalistic about their chances of ending a Stanley Cup drought that dated back to 1940. But “Mess” cleaned up a brutal history for one of the league’s Original Six franchises when he delivered the Stanley Cup in 1994, prompting one of those Rangers’ loyalists to hoist a sign that read, “Now I Can Die in Peace.” Messier wasn’t just an inspirational leader. He was a true force on the ice, publicly guaranteeing a victory before Game 6 of the conference finals against the Devils, then going out and producing a natural hat trick. He also scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Cup finals against Vancouver. His dynamic leadership – often compared to that of iconic New York heroes Willis Reed and Joe Namath – earned him revered status in the Big Apple, where he played for six seasons in his first go-round then enjoyed the experience so much he played the final three years of his career there as well.";
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Tom Seaver: “The Franchise” was sent from the Mets to the Reds for four players in 1976. Pitched a no-hitter and won No. 300 in another uniform, to chagrin of many fans.
Steve Carlton: The Phillies get the slider specialist from the Cardinals for Rick Wise in 1972 and “Lefty” wins Cy Young Award for last-place team that first year.
Ozzie Smith: Cards get Smith, who batted .222, from Padres for the switch-hitting Garry Templeton in 1982. Who knew “The Wizard” would learn to hit, too?
Ollie Matson: Rams give the Cardinals eight players plus a draft pick in 1958 for a Hall of Fame running back who never brought a title to LA.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Lakers get the former Lew Alcindor for four players in 1975 and he winds up winning five titles in LA and becomes NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
Earl Monroe: Joined Knicks in 1971, after getting traded by Baltimore. Who said they’d need two basketballs? He and Walt Frazier shared ball and an NBA title in 1973.
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// END editorial data