The Atlanta Braves have a history of making game-changing deals at the mid-season trade deadline. This deal has had the biggest impact by far.
July 19, 1993. The St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Atlanta Braves on this date, 4-0.
This setback aside, the Braves weren’t playing badly, mind you. At 53-41, they were still a well-respected club after two straight appearances in the World Series.
But they were also looking up at the Giants in the NL West standings. In fact, being 9 full games behind, they needed binoculars to see where San Francisco was perched.
Things changed on this day, however. John Schuerholz decided that he couldn’t wait any longer to make a move… and there was a willing team.
The San Diego Padres were conducting a fire sale of sorts. They had already sent Gary Sheffield — and his $3.1 million salary — to the Marlins. In that trade, the Pads at least were able to get back one name of note… Trevor Hoffman.
But they weren’t done selling, either: on July 19, the Braves and Padres agreed to send a $4.3 million contract to Atlanta… that contract belonged to Fred McGriff.
In retrospect, this deal was laughably lopsided: McGriff led the league in homers the previous season. He won the ’92 Silver Slugger. He was 6th in MVP voting.
The three players Atlanta gave San Diego in return played less than 5 major league seasons for the Padres… combined. One of them had a career .231 batting average. Another threw just 35 major league innings. The third never cracked the majors.
But Atlanta caught fire — both literally and figuratively — when McGriff arrived. July 20 was the day that the Fulton County stadium’s press box caught fire.
But once McGriff walked out onto the field as a member of the Braves, a very good team turned into an unstoppable force.
Let’s step through that history.