December 12 – Five Cool Things and Willie Mays makes the Catch

December 12, 1941 – Future Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan is traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Bucs receive four players in return, catcher “Hot Potato” Hamlin, Pete Coscarart, Babe Phelps and Jimmy Wasdell.

Shifted to third base by the Dodgers, Vaughan had an off year in 1942, batting just .277, to finish under .300 for the first time in his career.  However, he rebounded in 1943, batting .305 and leading the National League with 112 runs scored and a career-high 20 stolen bases.

December 12, 1954 – Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente lead the North to victory in the Puerto Rican Winter League’s annual All-Star fundraiser. The Sporting News correspondent, Pita Alvarez De La Vega, gives the exuberant young duo’s exploits some national exposure: “The league took a break from its pennant battle to stage the annual ‘Three Kings’ all-star game at Mayaguez. All proceeds went into a YMCA fund to buy gifts for the island’s poor children in keeping with the old Latin tradition of the Three Kings bringing gifts on January 6… The All-Star North team, made up of players from the Santurce and Mayaguez clubs, won the game, 7 to 5. Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente hit home runs for the winners.”

December 12, 1969 — Cleveland trades pitchers Luis Tiant and Stan Williams to the Twins for 3B Graig Nettles, OF Ted Uhlaender, and pitchers Dean Chance and Bob Miller.

Tiant posted a 9-20 record with a 3.71 ERA in 1969. However, his strikeout-to-walk ratio completely tanked, leading to suspicions that he was pitching hurt. He pitched very well at the start of the 1970 season. Tiant was 6-0 with a 3.12 ERA by the end of May, which was followed by him going on the disabled list with arm troubles. He came back in early August, but only won one more game the rest of the way, and then gave up a run in two-thirds of an inning in a relief appearance when Minnesota was swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1970 ALCS.

Born on December 12, 1950 in Charleston, SC. Gorman Thomas

A big, lumberjack-like slugger, Thomas was a premier outfielder until undergoing rotator-cuff surgery in 1984. He was the first player ever picked by the Seattle Pilots in the June 1969 draft. A two-time minor league home run champion, Thomas’ frequent strikeouts and low batting average kept him from a steady major league job until 1978. The strikeouts continued (478 from 1978 to 1980), but his homers increased. Thomas led the league in home runs with 45 in 1979 and 39 in 1982. He also drove in 100 runs three times and finished in top 10 for MVP voting twice in four years.

Defensively, Thomas had fine range and never feared the fences. A controversial trade, disastrous for Milwaukee, sent Thomas to Cleveland in 1983 that marked the end of the Brewers as a dominant power in the AL East, Thomas was traded to the Cleveland Indians on June 5, 1983, with pitchers Ernie Camacho and Jamie Easterly, in return for OF Rick Manning and pitcher Rick Waits.

Manning was everything Thomas wasn’t: a slick defensive center fielder with superficially impressive batting averages but no power. Thomas was all about massive power, low batting averages, and only passable defense, which was in steep decline as he was aging. Thomas had a rough start to his season, and was hitting below .200 with only five homers; he had played poorly in the 1982 Postseason as well, going a combined 4 for 41 with one long ball as the Brewers came within one game of being World Champions. So there was concern that Thomas was done as a player. He turned things around somewhat with the Indians, connecting for 17 homers with a .221 average in 106 games the rest of the way, while Manning and Waits brought little to the table for the Brewers.

At Seattle, Thomas made a brilliant comeback in 1985 but became relegated to DH and first base duty and he will retire in 1986, with 268 career home runs.

December 12, 1980 – The St. Louis Cardinals send pitchers Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich, as well as catcher Ted Simmons to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Sixto Lezcano, pitcher Lary Sorensen, and two minor leaguers. The trade will benefit the Brewers; Fingers will win the Cy Young award and MVP award in 1981 and Vuckovich will garner the same honor in 1982.

A year later on December 10, 1981, Sixto Lezcano and Garry Templeton were traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the San Diego Padres for Steve Mura and Ozzie Smith.

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