This is a series of vignettes that will be somewhat inspired by
Dirty Laundry, but it will be somewhat more wide-ranging.
Here is the first entry.
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Excerpt from Call Me Ted, By Ted Turner (2008)
During the 1978 Winter Meetings, I was very desperate to get another star player for the team. Ultimately, I decided to go for Larry Hisle, who had just signed a free-agent deal with the Brewers the previous year.
The Brewers were initially reluctant to make the deal, but I kept pushing. Finally, I offered them a catcher/first baseman named Dale Murphy, relief pitcher Jamie Easterly, a minor-league reliever named Steve Bedrosian, $1.5 million in cash, and agreed to have WTBS broadcast 20 games a year nationally for the next ten years (to fill Braves off days, or for double-header Saturdays). The Brewers later used the cash as part of a trade that sent Sal Bando back to Oakland in exchange for an outfielder named Rickey Henderson.
Bobby Cox was not happy about the move - he kept saying that Murphy would be good, but I wanted Larry Hisle. I finally managed to wear down Brewers General Manager Harry Dalton, and the trade went through on December 23, 1978. It was an early Christmas present for the Atlanta fans, and I touted it as such.
It is the biggest mistake I made in my first three years as an owner. Hisle would suffer a shoulder injury in late April of 1979, and play a grand total of 79 games in a Braves uniform. Meanwhile, Dale Murphy went on to have a superb career in Milwaukee - he was with them until 1997, and is considered to be one of the great sluggers in the 1980s. And that Henderson kid turned out all right, as well - he may have batted ninth in Milwaukee, but he put up numbers that were about as good as Paul Molitor's. Sal Bando? I got him from the A's to fill a hole at first base after Hisle was injured, and he was solid through 1981.
Bobby Cox and Bill Lucas had been right, and I knew I had to listen to my baseball people. I gave him free reign to run the baseball side of things. We managed to turn the franchise around, but it took a lot more work that it would have had Murphy been with us. I bought Larry Hisle high, and sold Dale Murphy low. Bill Lucas died shortly after Hisle got hurt in 1979. While his signature is on the papers outlining the trade, I was the one who pushed to make it happen.
Perhaps it was karma, for how the Braves left Milwaukee after the 1965 season. Bud Selig had fought real hard to keep the Braves in that town. Many one-time Milwaukee Braves fans feel that it was poetic justice for the Murphy trade to happen, and for the Braves to end up helping the Brewers get a national fan base, and to ensure that team's financial footing. The next off-season, the Brewers swapped outfielder Kevin Bass, infielder Lenn Sakata, and pitchers Ricky Keeton and Frank DiPino for infielder Cal Ripken, and they had the last big part for for a dynasty.
The Brewers dominated the AL for the next 15 years, and even now, they are one of the better teams in baseball. How will Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Rickie Weeks measure up to the 1980s greats like Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Dale Murphy, Rickie Henderson, and Cal Ripken? I think it will be interesting to find out. There certainly is that tradition of excellent baseball.