Babe Herman Trade Altered Baseball History

It was a trade that made front page news back in 1932.

Babe Herman of the Brooklyn Dodgers apparently wasn’t happy.

The star outfielder was holding out during spring training because, according to stories in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle prior to the season, he didn’t like the $15,000 offer from the Dodgers after making $19,000 in 1931.

On March 14, Herman was traded by the Dodgers with Wally Gilbert and Ernie Lombardi to the Cincinnati Reds for Tony Cuccinello, Joe Stripp and Clyde Sukeforth.

In 1931, Herman had what seemed to be an off season with a .313 batting average, 18 homers and 97 RBI. Prior to that season, he posted years of 35 homers, 130 RBI and .393 in 1930 and 21 homers, 113 RBI and .381 in 1929.

Although he led the National League in triples with 19 for the Reds in 1932, that was he only season in Cincinnati. The Reds shipped him to the Chicago Cubs before the next season.

However as with most trades, time has a way of determining if a swap was good or bad. From a historical standpoint, this trade worked out well for both organizations because of the catchers involved.

After the trade, an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle had it as a deal for two starters for one in the case of the Dodgers. Cuccinello would become the team’s second baseman, while Stripp was the starter at third. Sukeforth was the backup catcher.

Perhaps because Cincinnati was in last place in 1931, all three of the players the Reds acquired were used as starters with Herman in right field, Gilbert at third and Lombardi behind the plate.

Herman played 13 seasons in the big leagues with his best years coming in Brooklyn. He part of one of the more infamous moments in baseball history as he was one of three Dodgers to end of on third base during a game in the 1926 season, but that’s a whole other story. Let’s just say he is the only player in big league history to ever double into a double play.

For Gilbert, the 1932 season with the Reds was his last of five years in the majors.

Cuccinello was an all-star for the Dodgers in 1933 and later for the Boston Braves in 1938 during his 15 seasons. A veteran of 11 seasons, Stripp played six years for the Dodgers.

The Throw In Players

At the time, the two catchers in the deal appeared to be guys added to the swap, but both would become prominent figures in the game with their new teams.

Lombardi was the second string backstop for the Dodgers in 1931, while Sukeforth had been with the Reds for six years, but in 1931, he didn’t have a homer and knocked in just 25 runs.

In Cincinnati, Lombardi became the biggest star in the six-player trade. He was an all-star from 1936 to 1940. He won the NL batting title in 1938 with an average of .342, which led his selection as the Most Valuable Player.

The Reds would win the NL pennant in 1939 and 1940 with a World Series title in the second of those two years.

After his time in Cincinnati, Lombardi would finish his 17-year career with an all-star season with the Boston Braves in 1942 before moving on to the New York Giants from 1943 to 1947. He made his seventh and final all-star team in 1943.

Lombardi would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.

Sukeforth played 10 seasons in the big leagues with the Reds from 1926 to 1931 and with the Dodgers from 1932 to 1934. His final season came in 1945 as teams struggled to fill their rosters near the end of World War II.

From 1943 to 1951, Sukeforth was a coach for the Dodgers after serving as a manager in the minors.

However, it was his role as a scout where he helped change the course of baseball history.

Brooklyn president Branch Rickey sent Sukeforth to Chicago to watch Jackie Robinson. Sukeforth convinced Robinson to return to Brooklyn to meet with Rickey. Soon after that meeting, major league baseball would become integrated.