One of the all-time worst trades ever made was the December, 1958 trade between the Phillies and the San Francisco Giants where the Phils parted with pitcher Jack Sanford in exchange for pitcher Ruben Gomez and catcher Valmy Thomas.

Sanford had won National League rookie of the year honors in 1957 posting a 19-8 record with a 3.08 ERA pitching 236 2/3 innings and 15 complete games. In 1958, he slumped a bit to 10-13 with a 4.44 ERA in 186 1/2 innings and 7 complete games.

For some reason, the Phillies felt that they had to move Sanford for a battery.  And so, Sanford went to the Frisco Giants were he went on to have a number of very good years.  In 1962, with a 24-7 mark, he led the Giants to the World Series with the Yankees that the Giants lost 4 games to 3 with Sanford winning 1 and losing 2.  And as with any pitcher of that era who was traded away by the Phils, I seem to remember that Sanford was murder on them.

As for Ruben Gomez and Valmy Thomas; Gomez was a miserable 3-8 with a 6.10 ERA in 72 1/3 innings pitched in 1959 and 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA in 68 innings pitched for the Phils in his 2nd and last year with them.  Gomez turned up a couple of years later with the Cleveland Indians where he bested Early Wynn and the White Sox in a July game boosting Cleveland into first place in the AL.   

Thomas hit a paltry .200 in 1959 before parting with the Phillies. Asta Lavista — bring on Clay Dalrymple who broke into the big leagues with the Phillies and played 7 decent years with them before his average deteriorated for the last 2 years resulting in his being traded to Baltimore.

For the life of me, in retrospect some 46 years later, I still can’t make sense out of the Sanford deal.  Apparently, Phillies Owner Bob Carpenter had regrets and was heard to remark, “it was the worst trade I ever made.”

Finally, while on the topic of odd or awful trades, check out this page; The 10 Worst Deadline Deals in Baseball History.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 9th, 2006 at 2:54 pm and is filed under All Time Baseball Highlights
All Time Pitching Highlights
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