The Worst Trade in Baseball HIstory: Brock for Broglio
“The sentiment in St. Louis on June 15, 1964 was, ‘Why in hell didn’t the Cardinals get more for Ernie Broglio than an underperforming, defensively-challenged outfielder?’“ – Rob Neyer, in his “Big Book of Baseball Lineups.”
As a Cub fan old enough to remember that day, it still hurts…
Maybe I’m a “glutton for punishment” – or perhaps, a sadist? – but honesty compels me to write about one of the worst trades in the history of major league baseball: Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio.
Ernie Broglio was one of the National League’s top pitchers with a league-leading 21 wins for the Cards in 1960, and 18 wins in 1963. Getting him for Brock, who was hitting .251 as of June 15, 1964, seemed like a steal….or so Cub General Manager John Holland thought.
At the time of the trade, the Cubs were 27-27, languishing in sixth place in the 10-team National League.They were looking for a boost for their starting pitching and Ernie Broglio seemed like a good choice. The Cardinals were actually worse than the Cubs: three games under .500 and in eighth place. When the trade was made, part of a six-player swap, many considered it a steal–for the Cubs!
Brock blossomed upon arrival in St. Louis, hitting .348 the rest of the way with 33 stolen bases, sparking the surprising Cards to the National League pennant and victory in the World Series. As we all know, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career. Broglio, on the other hand, came with a sore arm and won a grand total of seven games for the Cubs. He finished his career with a record of 77-74 and was out of baseball within two years. He once said of the trade: “The Cardinals got a heckuva ballplayer. They gave up damaged goods. I think that they knew I had a bad arm.”
Thanks to one of our readers, Adam Hill, for reminding me of this painful episode in Cub history. Adam had an interesting connection to Ernie Broglio, as he was Adam’s pitching coach for one year at Valley Christian School in San Jose, California in 2007. Adam recalls Broglio as a good pitching coach who helped many of the team’s pitchers achieve their full potential. But even though he was a former major leaguer, he never wanted to talk about his career. Adam also described him as sort of a “hot head” who would, as Adam recalls, “get all fired up when a pitcher didn’t hit his spots or attack a hitter correctly. He would pace back and forth in the dugout and yell.” That attitude didn’t sit well with the team’s head coach and Broglio was out after only one year.
Adam heard rumors that Broglio had actually burned up all his equipment and uniforms at Wrigley Field out of anger. He once asked his pitching coach about the story and Ernie just shrugged his shoulders and didn’t want to talk about it, although he did admit later that the rumors were true. Maybe being the “goat” in the most lopsided trade in baseball history had more of a lasting effect on Ernie Broglio than people realize.
Of course Lou Brock’s 19-year Hall-of-Fame career is full of highlights. He hit .297 with 3023 hits, 438 doubles,149 home runs, 900 RBIs, and 938 stolen bases. He’s best remembered for breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time major league stolen base record in 1977. Brock was an eight-time stolen base leader, six-time All-Star, and two-time World Series Champion. He was a recipient of The Babe Ruth Award and The Roberto Clemente Award. His number 20 was retired by the Cards, and in 1985 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In a bit of baseball irony, Cardinals’ General Manager Bing Devine, who engineered the deal, was fired that August, before the team surged to the top of the standings. John Holland, on the other hand, hung on as Cubs’ GM until 1975, never producing a winner.
One good result: Lou Brock and Ernie Broglio became friends, much like Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson, and remain on good terms to his day. Both are dealing with significant health issues.
-GL
Information: Excerpts edited from the Lou Brock and Ernie Broglio Wikipedia pages.
Photo Credits: All from public domain. Statistics from Baseball-Reference
