Happy Paul O'Neill Day!

November 3, 1992: On the same day that Bill Clinton is elected President of the United States, the Yankees trade center fielder Roberto Kelly and 1st baseman Joe DeBerry to the Cincinnati Reds, in exchange for right fielder Paul O'Neill.

At the time, I thought this was a great trade for both teams. O'Neill was a good hitter and a good fielder, who had done well in Cincinnati, playing for an equally fiery right fielder, his manager, Yankee Legend Lou Piniella. (Sweet Lou doesn't have his Number 14 retired or a Plaque in Monument Park, but he helped the Yankees win 4 Pennants and the YES Network gave him a Yankeeography, so I'm calling him a Yankee Legend -- capital Y, capital L.) Playing in Yankee Stadium, with the short porch in right field, I figured O'Neill would hit more home runs than in the more neutral confines of Riverfront Stadium, and that Yankee Fans would love his intense personality.

I was right on both counts, as Paulie was our right fielder for the next 9 years, effectively taking the spot that many fans thought that Jay Buhner should have still had. In those 9 years, the Yankees made the Playoffs 7 times, winning 5 Pennants and 4 World Series. (He also won the Series with the Reds in 1990.) Although his Number 21 hasn't been officially retired, it's hardly been given out since. This past season, he got his Monument Park Plaque.

Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps has been mocked as a lousy trade. Think of it, instead, as Jay Buhner for Paul O'Neill: 5 Pennants for New York, none for Seattle.

I also figured that Kelly, a native of Panama and an All-Star in 1992, would find the Reds a better fit. He'd been held back by being a righthanded hitter in Yankee Stadium, where left-center and center fields, while not as pronounced as in the pre-renovation era, was known as Death Valley. Riverfront was not only friendlier to righthanders, but had artificial turf, accommodating his speed. I thought the Reds were getting a great player.

As it turned out, I was wrong on this count. Although he made another All-Star Team with the Reds in 1993, injuries plagued him, and while he was on postseason teams with the 1995 Los Angeles Dodgers, the 1997 Seattle Mariners, and the 1998 and 1999 Texas Rangers, he never played on a Pennant winner. In 2000, the Yankees brought him back, but released him in April, and he never played in the majors again.

A sad story? Not so fast. He managed in the minor leagues, and since 2008, he has been the 1st base coach and hitting instructor for the San Francisco Giants. With them, he now has 3 World Series rings, only 2 fewer than O'Neilly. Also on manager Bruce Bochy's staff are forer Yankees Dave Righetti Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens and Joe Lefebvre. How about that?


Not that this gives the Reds any comfort: They still haven't won a Pennant, or even a National League Championship Series game, since 1990. "Curse of Paul O'Neill," Ohio Valley?

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November 3, 1926: Two of the top players of the last decade -- in the case of one, of the last 2 decades -- resign as player-managers. George Sisler, arguably the greatest 1st baseman who ever lived thus far, resigns as manager of the St. Louis Browns, but will remain a player. Dan Howley is named his replacement.

On the same day, Ty Cobb resigns as manager of the Detroit Tigers, and announces his retirement from baseball. Soon after, a 3rd legend retired as player-manager, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians.

Unlike Sisler, for whom everything seems to have been above-board, it soon came out that the Georgia Peach and the Grey Eagle were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by Dutch Leonard, a former pitcher managed by Cobb. Leonard claimed proof existed in letters written to him by Cobb and Smoky Joe Wood, former ace pitcher, who'd been Speaker's teammate on the Boston Red Sox and again with the Indians.

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis held a secret hearing with Cobb, Speaker and Wood. A second secret meeting among the AL directors led to the unpublicized resignations of Cobb and Speaker. Rumors of the scandal led Judge Landis to hold additional hearings, in which Leonard subsequently refused to participate.

Cobb and Wood admitted to writing the letters, but claimed that a horse-racing bet was involved, and that Leonard's accusations were in retaliation for Cobb's having released him from the Tigers, thereby demoting him to the minor leagues. Speaker denied any wrongdoing.

On January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing, because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents, and could sign with any club they wanted.

Speaker signed with the Washington Senators for 1927, and Cobb with the Philadelphia Athletics. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season, the last in the majors for each of them. (Sisler played on until 1930.) Cobb said he had come back only to seek vindication, and to say that he left baseball on his own terms.

Cobb's replacement as Tiger manager was George Moriarty, a former Tiger infielder who is, until now, an American League umpire. He is the only man to hold the positions of player, umpire, scout and manager. He will also become the grandfather of Michael Moriarty, who becomes an actor, best known for playing a baseball player in the film Bang the Drum Slowly. Speaker's successor in Cleveland is Jack McCallister, and having succeeded Speaker is about the only noteworthy thing about him.

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November 3, 1953: Baseball's rules committee restores the 1939 rule‚ which says that a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat.

Also‚ the committee votes for "no gloves on the field rule." Hank Greenberg‚ who proposed the change‚ says "Aside from the possibility of hindering the play‚ gloves on the field look sloppy." It also made it easy for opposing players to sneak creepy-crawly or otherwise disgusting things in the glove of an easily scared player, such as the Yankees' Phil Rizzuot.

The committee also makes a rule that any runner will be called out for deliberately running the bases backwards or even taking a lead off the base in the wrong direction.

A new balk rule is instituted which gives the batter an option. If he gets a hit after a balk is called‚ he has the option of accepting the outcome of the pitch‚ instead of being limited to the advance of the runner(s).

Rule suggestions rejected‚ as noted by Bob Timmerman‚ include the re-legalization of the spitball‚ 2 bases for an intentional walk‚ and the option of declining ball 4.

November 3, 1954, 60 years ago: The Yankees tour Japan, and draw a record crowd of 64‚000 when they play the first game against the All-Japan Stars in Osaka. Andy Carey slugs 13 home runs‚ and catching prospect Elston Howard bats .468 on the 25-game tour. Each has thoroughly impressed the Yankee brass, and both get promoted to the Yankees for 1955 -- in Howard's case, making him the 1st black player for the Yankees in a regular-season game.

November 3, 1964, 50 years ago: Philadelphia voters approve a bond issue raising $25 million to pay for a new stadium that will house both the Phillies and the Eagles.

Due to cost overruns, a 1967 measure will be needed to authorize an additional $13 million bringing the final price tag to approximately $50 million, making Veterans Stadium one of the most expensive ballparks ever built. (To put that in perspective: The inflation-adjusted total cost of $285 million compares with the $24 million, or $191 million in today's money, needed to build Shea Stadium.) Various delays will keep The Vet from opening for 6 1/2 years, before it does so on April 10, 1971.

As bad as The Vet was in its last few years, it served its purpose: It saved the Phillies and Eagles from moving out of Philadelphia. Until then, the Phils were playing at Connie Mack Stadium, formerly named Shibe Park, which seated only 33,608 and was stuck in the North Philadelphia ghetto, which was just struck by a race riot that summer, which certainly didn't help the atmosphere in the stands as the Phils lost 10 straight games to blow what looked like a sure Pennant.

And the Eagles were playing in Franklin Field, a much nicer stadium that seated 67,000 at the time, but was built in 1922 with absolutely straight grandstands, providing bad sightlines if the ball was at the other end of the field; no luxury boxes, and a poor lighting system.

Both teams needed a modern stadium, and, while the "cookie-cutter" trend got old in a hurry, and The Vet did as well, without it, the Phillies might, today, be in Denver or Seattle or Toronto, while the Eagles, instead of almost moving to Phoenix, as they apparently did for the 1985 season, due to owner Leonard Tose's financial woes, might have actually done so.

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