OTD 1977: Minutes after the
#Reds beat the Phillies on a Pete Rose 10th inning single at Riverfront, the team rocked baseball by trading for Mets ace Tom Seaver.
The blockbuster sent Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman to the Mets.
I was at the game with my dad. We were on the walkway from Riverfront Stadium to Riverfront Coliseum, and listening to the postgame on my transistor radio, when Marty announced the trade.
I blurted it out and fans started going crazy, gathering to hear what Marty was saying.
The two-time defending World Champion Reds were just 32-27 at the time of the trade, 7 games back of the Dodgers.
Seaver would go 14-3 2.34 in 20 starts the rest of the way. But the Reds would finish the season 10 games back of Los Angeles with an overall record of 88-74.
Lost in the that night..........the Reds made four other trades that same night. They traded Gary Nolan, that night’s starter, to the Angels. Rawly Eastwick was deal to the Cardinals for Doug Capilla. Mike Caldwell was swapped to the Brewers. And the Reds purchased Rick Auerbach from the Rangers.
Seaver would go 75-46 with a 3.18 ERA for the Reds from 1977-1982.