With all the turbulence rattling the nation and rippling through baseball, it's easy to forget in this truncated season that today, August 31, is the MLB trade deadline. We're so used to 130 games being played by now that we just plumb forgot our two local teams have barely played a quarter of that.
This cannot stop us, however, from musing over the better deadline deals made by the Mets and Yankees, who have both bombed and boomed after the annual deadline.
Here are five of the best players that either the Bombers or Amazins.
Donn Clendenon
On June 15, 1969, in the maiden year of divisional play, the Mets were nine games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL East (back when they played in the same division). The Mets sent a few subway tokens to the expansion Montreal Expos for Clendenon, and soon the Amazin' Mets were born, as they leapfrogged the Cubs, won the NL Pennant, and then won their first World Series title.
No doubt Tom Seaver had something to do with that, but the Mets probably don't get there without Clendenon, who blasted 12 home runs in the second half of the season. Oh, and he swatted three more homers against the Orioles in the Fall Classic, while batting .357 and winning World Series MVP. Not bad for a pair of average players and two minor leaguers.
David Justice
Folks forget the 2000 Yankees were hardly a behemoth. Since they followed such terminators like the '98 and '99 Bombers, we just assume they rolled over baseball every year under Joe Torre. Not so fast, my friend (with a nod to Coach Corso). These Yankees were a wholly mediocre 87-74. On July 4 they were a paltry 40-37 after losing to the Orioles, with stalwart starter David Cone plunging to 1-7 with a 6.40 ERA for the season. But on June 28, the Bombers booted Jake Westbrook, Zach Day, and Ricky Ledee to Cleveland for David Justice. And the loquacious outfielder delivered, launching 20 homers and driving in 60 runs in just 78 games. If that weren't enough, "Supreme Court" Justice bagged the 2000 ALCS MVP award before being fitted for a World Series ring at the Mets' expense.
Yoenis Cespedes
Today, the beguiling outfielder has morphed into the emblem or a parable of contemporary complacency and indifference once a big-ticket pro athlete gets his big-time cash. But on July 30, 2015, the Mets were in trouble, just 52-50 after a loss to the San Diego Padres, so they traded Luis Cessa and Michael Fulmer to the Tigers for Cespedes. Two months later, the Mets were 89-69, in first place in the NL East, and nearly 20 games over .500 since Cespedes landed. He's better known for his eclectic, eccentric ways these days, but in 2015 he was a one-man terror, like having a Derecho in your lineup. Cespedes was so good he carried the Mets - along with pitching and Daniel Murphy - all the way to the World Series, where they lost to the Royals despite leading after eight innings in every game. He got his quid, then quit. But to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cespedes was great for a "transitory enchanted moment."
Keith Hernandez
On July 15, 1983, the Mets dealt two average pitchers to the St. Louis Cardinals for maybe the best first baseman in team history. The Mets had already summoned Darryl Strawberry and had Doc Gooden in the pipeline, so this was the beginning of what could’ve been a dynasty. Not only was Hernandez - fondly called "Mex" - a fine fielder, he was an uber-clutch batter who was one of the final touches on a team that romped to 98 wins in 1985 - a team that Keith and Gary Carter often praised as the best of all those '80s squads – and stampeded to the 1986 World Series title. Hernandez brought more than a glove, a bat, and a few Marlboros to the dugout; he was an instant clubhouse leader who often strolled to the mound to assuage an anxious pitcher. His knowledge was priceless then, and those traits have oozed flawlessly into the best TV booth in baseball, next to Gary Cohen and former Mets teammate Ron Darling.
David Cone
In 1995, The Yanks stole…er, picked up Cone from the Blue Jays for a MetroCard and best wishes. Cone would become a pillar of a robust rotation that hurled the Yanks toward five Fall Classics in six seasons, winning four out of five under Joe Torre. Cone not only had the stuff, he brought the tough. He was one of many former Mets to bag much bling while the Wilpons helplessly watched; Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry would pluck some pinstriped fruit and leave the Bronx with more bling, and honestly, you could pen a second list of former Mets who found magic on River Ave. Along the way Cone, pitched a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day in 1999 with (you can't make this up) Don Larsen tossing the first pitch. So we might as well slap Coney atop this glittering list. Aside from having a great last name and goofy following of "Coneheads," the right-handed hurler also slid into the TV booth as smoothly as his slider.