Getting traded is part of the life of a professional athlete.
Being a fan, it can be frustrating to have one of your favorite players shipped to another team.
Over the years, the Cincinnati Reds have really just made one move that hurt me the most.
After the 1976 season, the Reds sent Tony Perez to the Montreal Expos along with Will McEnaney for Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray. I was too young to remember the Frank Robinson–Milt Pappas trade, but ugh … it made me understand what the fans may have felt like back in 1966 as they watched the “too old” Robinson win the American League Most Valuable Player Award and lead the Baltimore Orioles to a World Series victory.
Giving credit where credit is due, in 1971 the Reds changed everything for fans with a pair of deals.
During the season, Cincinnati picked up George Foster from the San Francisco Giants for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert.
However, the trade with the Houston Astros had the most impact for the Reds with the acquisition of Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, Ed Armbrister and Denis Menke. While I hated to see Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart leave the Reds, I wasn’t devastated as with Perez.
One thing that all of these trades have in common is that they were big news and covered in the papers, however, there are also minor league players who get swapped every year and no one seems to notice, care or remember.
Such was the case of Mike Cuellar. I remember Cuellar as a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1970s. I do recall his 1974 season when he was 22-10 because that when I got my first baseball card of him. It was surprising to me at the age of 11 that he actually played for the Reds in 1959. It was also frustrating because I was aware of his win over the Reds in the 1970 World Series and that he won the AL Cy Young Award a year earlier.
How did this happen? Who did the Reds get in the move? No answers.
Even the awesome baseball reference website doesn’t have information. If you click on Cuellar’s name in this story you will be sent to his page on the site. In the interest of saving time, here is the list of Cuellar’s career transactions.
Transactions
Before 1957 Season: Signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs as an amateur free agent.
Before 1963 Season: Sent from the Cincinnati Reds to the Cleveland Indians in an unknown transaction.
Before 1964 Season: Obtained by Jacksonville (International) from the Cleveland Indians as part of a minor league working agreement.
Before 1964 Season: Returned to the St. Louis Cardinals by Jacksonville (International) after expiration of minor league working agreement.
June 15, 1965: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Ron Taylor to the Houston Astros for Chuck Taylor and Hal Woodeshick.
December 4, 1968: Traded by the Houston Astros with Tom Johnson (minors) and Enzo Hernandez to the Baltimore Orioles for John Mason (minors) and Curt Blefary.
December 21, 1976: Released by the Baltimore Orioles.
January 25, 1977: Signed as a Free Agent with the California Angels.
May 16, 1977: Released by the California Angels.
What is Missing?
By 1961, Cuellar was still in the Reds organization in the minors. He started the season with Jersey City in the International League. During the season, he went to Indianapolis. All of that is documented in his career stats.
The native of Cuba finished the year with the top farm club of the Minnesota Twins in Syracuse.
Thanks to the Newspapers.com site, this information about an obscure trade was available from the Minneapolis Star on July 7, 1961. While all of these guys played some in the majors, not recognizing any of the names other than Cuellar, I had to look for their career stats.
Successful Career
In 15 seasons in the majors, Cuellar was 185-130 with 36 shutouts as he played for five teams. After appearing in two games with an ERA of 15.75 for the Reds in 1959, he made it back to the big leagues in 1964 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cuellar was an all-star with the Astros in 1967 as he played in Houston from 1965-1968. With the Orioles from 1969-1976, he won over 20-games four times to total 143 victories along with posting 30 of his shutouts. The lefty was 23-11 in his Cy Young season, while leading the AL in wins the following year with a 24-8 mark. In 1971, he was 20-9 as the Orioles won their third straight AL pennant.
In addition to being an all-star section in Houston, he also made the squad representing the Orioles in 1970, 1971 and 1974. At the age of 40, he ended his career early in 1977 with the California Angels.