Gaffe or a Gaff?

On Jan. 3, 1920, the worst trade in the history of baseball was consummated. The Boston Red Sox turned over the contract of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a paltry $125,000 because the Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, wanted to back a Broadway show, “No, No, Nanette.”

It should have been “No, No, Frazee.” The Red Sox never recovered, jinxed to this day by Frazee’s gaffe. The Yankees went on a glory road unmatched by any franchise in any sport.

There have been other catastrophic swaps--Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, Mark McGwire for What’s-Their-Names?--but we may have just witnessed a trade that could be the No. 2 Oops! of all time.

Mike Piazza is 29 years old. He has hit 177 home runs to date. He has been a big leaguer for a little more than five years. Ruth didn’t hit his 177th until his ninth season in the big leagues.

They didn’t trade a player, they traded a franchise.

So, what are we to make of his trade to Miami?

Well, in the first place, the Dodgers got half a team in return. Two of them--Bobby Bonilla and Gary Sheffield--have more home runs than Piazza, but it took much longer for them to do it. One of tradees is 10 years older than Piazza, the other six years older.

It’s a question of image. Hollywood could tell them. Why cast unknowns when you can get DiCaprio? Why trade a franchise for a bench?

The Fox network owners aren’t selling out to put on a Broadway show. They presumably are looking to get viewers for their new-look Dodgers. But, let me ask you: Who’s going to win your TV ratings--Mike Piazza or Jim Eisenreich? Do you go out to get a hot dog when Mike Piazza is coming up? Or when Charles Johnson is?

If you accept the premise New Dodger owner Rupert Murdoch wants to defeat his arch-enemy, Braves’ owner Ted Turner, on the baseball field as well as everywhere else, you still wonder if this Aussie understands the way to do it.

You have to understand we live in a celebrity world. And baseball is the ultimate soloist game, not a team sport. You don’t need a team, you need a hero. People didn’t go to Yankee Stadium to see the right fielder make marvelous catches, they went to see Ruth hit home runs.

More people show up early in St. Louis to watch McGwire take batting practice than show up on time in Oakland to see his former team play the game. You think anybody goes to the Chicago Bull games to see Luc Longley set a pick? Like to see Michael Jordan traded for a bunch of point guards?

Mike Piazza sold tickets. Does Gary Sheffield? Charles Johnson?

Of course, Piazza was demanding a $100-million contract, the largest in baseball history. If the team didn’t pay it, he became a free agent at year’s end and the Dodgers would get nothing in return. Ironically, it was Ruth’s demanding more money in 1919 that led to his sale. The Babe wanted--are you ready?--$20,000 for 1920, a $10,000 raise.

But there was more at issue in the Piazza matter. Mike was family. Or so we had been led to believe. Tom Lasorda’s god-son and all that.

His unloading was the work of the new interests but it was in a Dodger tradition. The Dodgers always have adhered to the Branch Rickey theory of roster cutting that it’s better to deal a player a year early than a year late. But in Piazza’s case, 10 years early?

The Dodgers even cut Jackie Robinson adrift in his twilight, sold him to the Giants (he didn’t report) and they, so to speak, played hardball with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax when those star pitchers held out in tandem for a little more than $100,000 apiece. So, the precedent is there. History tells us lingering bitterness played a part in Koufax’s decision to retire that winter (after a 27-9, 1.73 ERA season, no one could believe him when he said it was because his arm hurt).

So, the Dodgers have ended the Piazza era. Cut loose a Star, a fan favorite who hit 40 homers and batted .362 and drove in 124 runs, signed autographs, kept in shape, was a spokesman for his sport.

You wondered what more they’d want.

Catchers don’t usually put up those kinds of numbers. His lifetime average, .334, is 14 points higher than the highest ever recorded by a catcher (Mickey Cochrane, .320) and his home runs are on a pace to catch Carlton Fisk’s all-time mark for a catcher (351).

The Dodgers traded away more than a part of their team, they traded away part of their soul. If there’s a classic Dodger type, he was it. Almost a logo.

It’s hard to see what they’re saving. Sheffield comes with a $61-million contract running through 2003. And he wants more. Bonilla has a $17.7-million pact through 2000. Johnson gets $3.3 million and Eisenreich $1.6 million.

The point is, as Harry Frazee could have told them, you don’t trade away icons with their best years ahead of them for anything--certainly not chorus-line players.

Florida is busy trashing its franchise and downgrading--and demeaning--all baseball in the process. The Marlins would never get away with it if we had a commissioner, but they apparently took the Dodgers in, pointed to the locker room and said, “Take your pick!”

They won’t keep Piazza either. They’ll likely just fill their roster with temp employees so they can cut down on the benefits, and Piazza, as did Ruth, will move on to Yankee Stadium and light up the game.

But that’s all right, we’ll have a guy named Johnson wearing the catcher’s mask. Johnson?! What’s the matter? Couldn’t they find one named Smith?