I see how this was something that Seaver believes helped his career but as a Met fan following the death of Hodges this event will always be etched in my mind along with the many bad moments in Mets history, maybe the biggest one.

Yes cause Reyes is on par with Seaver right. pfft..

I’m pretty sure the overwhelming concensus around here and the majority of Mets fandom is for a Jealthy and Jappy Jose in a Mets uniform for a very long time.

I didn’t understand the business side and had only a vague notion of who M. Donald Grant was. General manager? Who’s that? But Seaver was OURS, not an ex-Cardinal or Expo, or ex-Dodger or Brave. He was ours. Ours. Mine. He was the Mets. We had Seaver, the greatest pitcher of his era. Sure, we had Koosman, Matlack and Kranepool, fine. But tearing my heart out to get Doug Flynn and Pat Zachry? Steve Henderson?

Then Sports Illustrated arrived, with its “Look who’s in Cincy?” cover. More tears.

My memory is consistent with the post above, by Mike D, that Seaver demanded a trade after Young’s column was published on the morning of June 15, 1977, stating that Nancy Seaver was jealous of the Ryans. It was reported that Seaver was incensed that his wife was dragged into the argument and from his perception there was no distinction between being attacked by M. Donald Grant or Dick Young, both represented Met management. This was the context of Seaver’s demand for a trade and contrary to Mike D’s point of view (understandable due to his relation but not necessarily the most credible) it was the actions of Grant and Young that drove a reluctant Seaver out of town. I never liked Dick Young before that day and despised him thereafter. My lasting sense of Mr. Grant is having a ballpark banner confiscated that stated “Welcome to Grant’s Tomb”. The fallout from the trade was significant. At Shea, Met fans cheered Seaver’s return at the expense of poor Jerry Koosman, who started against Seaver that day. The best the Met’s management could come up with in the Summer of 77 was an ad campaign that said “Bring Your Kids to see Our Kids”. It took several years for the Mets fortunes to recover.

“Nolan Ryan is getting more now than Seaver, and that galls Tom because Nancy Seaver and Ruth Ryan are very friendly and Tom Seaver long has treated Nolan Ryan like a little brother.”

I understand its easy to blame management. M. Donald Grant did what he thought was best for the team. He wanted Seaver to stay, but he also didn’t want to bankrupt the club. Maybe he could have done something to make Seaver stay, but frankly Seaver was being unreasonable. Sure, it didn’t work out for the Mets (what does), but there is no need to disparage M. Donald Grant. He loved the Mets. They were his life and it hurt him deeply when the fans turned on him. He truly believed that he was doing the only thing he could. It’s very easy to sit back and play 40 year later quarterback, but this wasn’t all his fault and whoever says it was is willfully ignoring the facts.

History has a funny way of being written. One side of the story gains traction and suddenly everyone believes it. Management doesn’t have any cheerleaders, and they will always lose in these battles. Say what you want about M. Donald Grant, but Seaver wasn’t the nice man in the world either. But he could pitch, so he’s blameless.

Without M. Donald Grant, and a variety of other incredibly dedicated people, there would probably be no New York Mets. Sure, I’m sure a lot of angry commentators will say that he had nothing to do with their founding (just wrong, trust me), or that he was a cheep bastard, or that he was a classist/racist (insert expletive). Say what you want, you are wrong. You didn’t know the man. I did. He was my grandfather.

And you’ve got that right. I still remember reading the ‘rumors’ leading up to this and still remember reading the story in the Star Ledger. My first thought was: ‘I can’t believe those rumors were true’. My second thought was: ‘We got back WHO? in return?’.

Ugh…dark day indeed.

Another idea might be for Tom Seaver to fund a course at the Wharton School of Business to examine what not to do when you are the Chairman of the Board using a generous sample of Grant’s folly’s as examples.

Perhaps Jerry Sienfeld could even write a screen play featuring some of Grant’s biggest hits to play on Broadway.

This would ensure that Grant’s legacy would remain alive for others to see for years to come.

M.DONALD GRANT WAS NOTABLE AS NYM,PRES.& CHAIRMAN OF FAKHNSTOCK & CO., RENOWNED ON WALLSTRREET AS THE “TRAINING SCHOOL” FOR TRADERS SINCE THEY WOULD HIRE SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST GRADUATES & TRAIN THEM AS TRADERS, ONLY TO LOSE THEM ONCE THEIR TRAINING WAS COMPLETE AS FAHNSTOCK WAS RENOWNED FOR THEIR LOW SALARIES & FOR NOT REINVESTING IN THE COMPANY. IN THE SIXTIES IBM REVOLUTIONIZED “GLASSHOUSE CENTRALIZED” DATA PROCESSING BY INTODUCING THE 360 FAMILY OF MAINFRAMES TO REPLACE THEIR STALWART 1400 SERIES THAT WAS RELATIVELY THE STANDARD FOR ANY BROKERAGE HOUSE ON TYHE STREET. IMMEDIATELY MERRILL LYNCH, PAINE WEBBER & THE OTHER BIG HOUSES CONVERTED THEIR SYSTEMS REPLACING THEIR OLD MORE MECHANICAL, SLOWER MAINFRAMES. FAHNSTOCK MADE THE CONVERSION FROM 1400 TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY 90s A FULL 30 YEARS AFTER THEIR COMPETITORS.

THE FUNNIEST THING FROM THAT TRANSACTION WAS IT OCCURRED CLOSELY AFTER IBM & IT’S CUSTOMERS CONVERTED FROM LEASE/RENT FINANCIAL ACQUISITIONING OF DP HEAVY EQUIPMENT TO STRAIGHT OUT PURCHASES. IT WASN’T UNTIL THE LATE 80s THAT FAHMSTOCK DEEMED TO CONVERT THEIR LEASED 1400s TO PURCHASE MAKING THE 1990-1992 QUESTION AS TO THE TRADEIN VALUE(t/i VALUE WAS ZERO TO WHICH I SUGGESTED GRANT USE THEM AS BALLAST IN HIS SAILBOAT) THEY HAD TOWARDS THEIR NEWEST ACQUISITIONS, IBM’S MIDSIZED 4300 SERIES(FAHNSTOCK DIDN’T HAVE EITHER THE CUSTOMER BASE OR THE TRANSACTION VOLUME TO SUPPORT A LARGER SYSTEM 390 AS THEIR ONCE PEERS WERE PURCHASING. THEREFORE M. DONALD GRANT SHOULD BE IMMORTALIZED FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY DEVALUING TWO SEPARATE BUSINESS ENTITIES THE NYM & FAHNSTOCK. TODAY, HE’D HAVE A VIABLE, VALUABLE CHAIR ALONGSIDE IMMELT ON THE PRESIDENT’S BUISINESS COMMITTEE

The story gets a little trickier when it turns out that a relative of Young’s was hired by the Mets during this time period.

I remember meeting Dick Young when he appeared on a radio show I was producing back in the 80′s. I was prepared to dislike him. Problem was, he was incredibly charming in person. He asked how my dad was (he was a relatively well known reporter) and unfortunately won me over.

He was a lightening rod in the newspaper sports business and was missed (but still hated) when he passed away.

New York Journal American
New York Daily Mirror
New York Herald Tribune
New York World Telegram
Long Island Press
Long Island Star Journal

I’m sure there were many newspapers in New Jersey, Westchester, and Connecticut too. By the time of the infamous day, most were gone.

By the way, I remember that Dick Young was often in conflict with Jackie Robinson. I remember one spring when Jackie went to the Dodger’s camp in Vero Beach overweight. He then suffered some nagging injuries. Young tied Robinson’s age and injuries together and implied that Jackie was past his prime. Robinson’s competitive instincts took over and he was furious with Young. They squabbled a lot from then on.