34 Years Ago Today
On August 27, 1992, the Blue Jays acquired David Cone from the Mets in a trade. This was the first of two times the Jays traded for Cone. In exchange, Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson were sent to New York.
At the time of the trade, the Jays held a 72-55 record, leading the Orioles by two games in the AL East. They finished the season 24-11 after the trade.
Kent played for the Mets until the end of July 1996, after which he was traded to Cleveland. He later joined the Giants, where he blossomed into a star. And recently, he became a Hall of Famer.
He was a solid player for the Mets, hitting .279/.327/.453 with 67 home runs in 498 games—a strong performance for a second baseman.
Thompson played for the Mets through the 1995 season, posting a .239/.300/.417 line with 39 home runs over 283 games.
Cone posted a 4-3 record with a 2.55 ERA in eight games (seven starts) down the stretch for the Jays. He started twice in the ALCS, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA, and made two starts in the World Series, finishing with no decisions and a 3.48 ERA.
Winning the World Series ultimately validated the trade for the Blue Jays. Kent likely wouldn’t have received the playing time in Toronto needed to reach the level he achieved with the Giants.
The Jays acquired Cone again at the start of the 1995 season, but that year did not turn out as successfully.
26 Years Ago Today
Darrin Fletcher belted three solo home runs against the Rangers, propelling the Jays to a 6-4 victory. That season, Fletcher hit 20 home runs in 122 games.
Fletcher was a favorite of mine—a left-handed-hitting catcher with decent power. While he wasn’t known for his defense and his arm was below average, pitchers still seemed to like throwing to him.
The win improved the Jays’ record to 68-62, leaving them third in the AL East and 5.5 games back. Ultimately, they couldn’t close the gap and finished the season 83-79, still in third place.
We had some good players on that team:
||||||||||||||
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS WPA Details
Shannon Stewart LF 4 1 2 2 0 0 .344 .390 .569 .958 0.084 HR,SF,GDP
Alex Gonzalez SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 .266 .319 .422 .741 -0.034 SH,GDP
Dave Martinez RF 5 0 3 0 0 1 .280 .345 .372 .716 -0.017 SB
Carlos Delgado 1B 3 0 0 0 2 0 .362 .483 .716 1.199 -0.025 IW
Brad Fullmer DH 5 0 1 0 0 1 .301 .352 .564 .916 -0.111
Tony Batista 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .284 .326 .560 .886 -0.144
Darrin Fletcher C 4 3 3 3 0 0 .302 .338 .508 .846 0.297 3·HR
José Cruz CF 4 2 2 1 0 1 .245 .330 .476 .806 0.094 HR,2B
Mickey Morandini 2B 3 0 1 0 1 1 .257 .332 .314 .645 0.015
Team Totals 36 6 14 6 3 5 .389 .425 .833 1.258 0.159