In 1988, the Twins were the defending World Series Champions. Despite only winning 85 games in the regular season (the second lowest win total of any World Series Champion), the Twins were able to upset the mighty Detroit Tigers in the ALCS, then beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games in the World Series.
While some fans only know the big names from that '87 squad like Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven or all-time great Twins like Kent Hrbek, Danny Gladden and Frank Viola, there is one name that doesn't usually garner a lot of attention.
Tom Brunansky.
Tom Brunansky: Destroyer of Worlds and
holder of babies
And in 1988, they traded him to St. Louis for what they thought would be a rock in the middle infield: Tom Herr.
The Twins traded for Bruno one month into the 1982 season in exchange for All-Star pitcher (because somebody had to represent the Twins in 1981...) Doug Corbett and second baseman Rob Wilfong, who led the American League in Sacrifice Hits in 1979.
Rob Wilfong: Sac hit extraordinaire.
The Twins, coming off a 41-68 record during the strike-shortened 1981 season, were looking still looking for new face-of-the-franchise. The glory days of Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva smacking the ball around the Met were long over. The Twins opened the state-of-the-art Metrodome in 1982. In fact, since winning the AL West Pennant in 1971, the Twins hadn't finished higher than third in the division. A new era of Twins baseball had begun.
In 1982, Brunansky joined a core of Twins players including Kent Hrbek, Tim Laundner, Gary Gaetti, and Frank Viola among others. As a team, the Twins lost a then franchise-record 102 games, but Brunansky was a bright spot. As a rookie, he hit .272 with 20 home runs and drove in 46 runs. In fact, Bruno would hit 20+ home runs every year for the next nine seasons.
The ol' Metrodome. Because who doesn't
want to watch baseball inside of a garbage
bag?
He was an All-Star in 1985 and had solidified himself as the everyday right fielder, while seeing some occasional playing time in left (by 1985, center field was being held down by a pudgy, under-sized player named Kirby Puckett). In 1987, the Twins made the playoffs for the first time in 16 years despite only winning 85 games.
The Twins were huge underdogs in the 1987 ALCS, facing a 98-win Detroit Tigers team. Brunansky would hit .412 with nine RBI as the Twins won the series in five games.
The face you make when an 85 win team knocks you out of the playoffs...
Similar story line in the World Series. The Twins were matched up against a 95-win Cardinals team making their third World Series appearance in six years. Although it wasn't Bruno that killed the Cards, individually (he was 5-for-25 with 2 RBI), the Twins wouldn't have been in position to win the World Series without him on the roster.
In 1988, the Twins brought back the entire starting roster, with the exception of DH Don Baylor. But the Twins felt there was one position they could upgrade if the opportunity presented itself: second base.
Steve Lombardozzi was a ninth-round pick by the Twins in 1981 and had been part of the revolving door at second base for the Twins since Rod Carew moved to first base. Ironically enough, the St. Louis Cardinals got off to a slow start in the 1988 campaign. With a 4-11 record, GM Del Maxvill was desperate for a power hitter after All-Star right fielder Jack Clark (who finished third in the NL MVP voting in 1987) left the Cardinals for the New York Yankees in free agency. He put Tom Herr, a vital piece of the three NL Pennant teams, on the trade block.
Steve Lombardozzi once held the record
for the longest last name to hit a postseason
home run until Doug Mientkiewicz in 2002.
Twins GM Andy McPhail thought the opportunity was too good to pass up. He traded Brunansky to St. Louis on April 22nd for Tom Herr, straight up.
At the time, the deal made sense for both teams. The Twins had a lot of outfield depth. Along with starters Dan Gladden and Kirby Puckett, the Twins felt like players like Randy Bush and/or Mark Davidson were ready to be the every day right fielder, they were looking for a left-handed batter for the top of the lineup (Herr is a switch hitter) and McPhail said that he thought 'Tom Herr was one of the four or five best second baseman playing today".
The Cardinals,on the other side, thought they had Herr's replacement in Luis Alicia (they were wrong) and they thought Herr, who was in the final year of his contract, would leave via free agency (he had stated that he wouldn't have).
Herr spent one season in Minnesota, hitting a respectable .263, but only knocked in 21 runs in 80 games...waaaaaay off his 83 RBI the previous season. At the end of the 1988 season, he became a free agent and signed with Philadelphia.
Basically what shows up when you do
an image search for 'Tom Herr on the Twins'
Tom Brunansky, on the other hand, had some success in St. Louis he hit 42 home runs in two seasons for the Cardinals and led the team in home runs both seasons, but the end of the 1980s Cardinals dynasty was nigh, and the team wouldn't make the playoffs again until 1996. Bruno then floated around the league, playing for Milwaukee and Boston (twice) before retiring in 1995.
The Twins were able to rebuild from the bad trade, however, signing RF Shane Mack in 1990 and having second baseman Chuck Knoblauch (the 1991 Rookie of the Year) waiting in the wings.
So while this isn't the WORST trade in Twins history, it certainly sucks to have missed out of a few more prime Bruno years for 80 games of Tom Herr.
