The New York Times: Norm Siebern, a solid outfielder and first baseman who was an American League All-Star three times and played in three World Series, but who may be best known as part of the trade that brought Roger Maris to the Yankees, died on Friday in Naples, Fla. He was 82. Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
My brother, who was a Yankee fan, thought the Yankees had made a serious mistake in trading Siebern for Maris. At the time of the trade, Norm had a much better batting average than Roger (which is most of what we knew about evaluating hitters then), although Maris had hit significantly more home runs (the next most important thing we knew). And Siebern had just won a Gold Glove for fielding! (Maris won a GG in 1960, apparently for hitting 39 HRs and driving in 112 runs). Siebern's first 3 seasons (1960-62) in KC were excellent, but we all know what Maris did.
Both were finished at the end of the 1968 season.
Maris clearly had, in retrospect, a better career, but that he *would have* a better career was not quite so clear in 1959.
2 comments:
Although he was never in the Mantle-Ford-Berra category, I did root for him as a Yankee until he was traded.
My brother, who was a Yankee fan, thought the Yankees had made a serious mistake in trading Siebern for Maris. At the time of the trade, Norm had a much better batting average than Roger (which is most of what we knew about evaluating hitters then), although Maris had hit significantly more home runs (the next most important thing we knew). And Siebern had just won a Gold Glove for fielding! (Maris won a GG in 1960, apparently for hitting 39 HRs and driving in 112 runs). Siebern's first 3 seasons (1960-62) in KC were excellent, but we all know what Maris did.
Both were finished at the end of the 1968 season.
Maris clearly had, in retrospect, a better career, but that he *would have* a better career was not quite so clear in 1959.
Post a Comment