# Baseball Player Is Traded ... for Bats **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 27, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739 "2008-05-27T09:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/1 "2008-05-27T09:25:13Z")
Is [this](http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/features/19227699.html) worse than being the player to be named later? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/2 "2008-05-27T13:03:04Z")
Yes. That’s definitely worse, but it sounds like he has a decent sense of humor about it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/3 "2008-05-27T13:04:18Z")
I like John Odom’s attitude: > [@](#): > > “I don’t really care,” he said Friday. “It’ll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues.” I heard about this over the weekend. It was an interesting story. Jim ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/4 "2008-05-28T15:51:45Z")
Is it worse to be traded for baseball bats, or a (live) turkey? Or some oysters? Or, in a time-delayed swap for a PTBNL, yourself? In baseball’s long history, there have been many odd trades. [This site](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/271626_s2dbarter25.html) lists some of the most famous ones, including: [ul][li]The guy who was traded for an outfield fence[/li][li]The guy who was traded as part of a stadium rent agreement[/li][li]The guy who was traded for oysters (and henceforth dubbed “Oyster Joe”)[/li][li]Two guys traded for each other between games of a double header… to the other team. Both players played in both games, first for one team and then the other.[/li][li]The guy traded for 33 lbs. of unspecified “meat” (“What am I, chopped liver?”)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/5 "2008-05-28T15:56:00Z")
Never forget that someone was traded for Ernie Harwell. Of course this was a good trade as Ernie went on to be in the Hall of Fame (as a broadcaster of course.) > [@](#): > > In 1948, Harwell became the only announcer in baseball history to be traded for a player when the Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager, Branch Rickey, traded catcher Cliff Dapper to the Crackers in exchange for breaking Harwell’s broadcasting contract. (Harwell was brought to Brooklyn to substitute for regular Dodger announcer Red Barber, who was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/6 "2008-05-28T19:06:20Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] Is it worse to be traded for baseball bats, or a (live) turkey? Or some oysters? Or, in a time-delayed swap for a PTBNL, yourself? In baseball’s long history, there have been many odd trades. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget Joel Youngblood, who was traded from the Mets to the Expos on August 4, 1982. That afternoon, he played for the Mets and got a hit off Ferguson Jenkins, who’s in the Hall of Fame. He was traded right after the game and flew to Philadelphia to join the Expos, got into that night’s game, and hit a single off Steve Carlton, who’s also in the Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/7 "2008-05-28T19:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] Is it worse to be traded for baseball bats, or a (live) turkey? Or some oysters? Or, in a time-delayed swap for a PTBNL, yourself? In baseball’s long history, there have been many odd trades. [This site](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/271626_s2dbarter25.html) lists some of the most famous ones, including: [ul][li]The guy who was traded for an outfield fence[/li][li]The guy who was traded as part of a stadium rent agreement[/li][li]The guy who was traded for oysters (and henceforth dubbed “Oyster Joe”)[/li][li]Two guys traded for each other between games of a double header… to the other team. Both players played in both games, first for one team and then the other.[/li][li]The guy traded for 33 lbs. of unspecified “meat” (“What am I, chopped liver?”)[/li][/ul] [/QUOTE] Those were hilarious. The player traded for himself was my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-player-is-traded-for-bats/450739/8 "2008-05-29T01:39:44Z")
It’s not baseball, but in the vein of odd trades [Kris Draper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Draper) was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for a dollar. Not sure if it was canadien or american currency