Baltimore Orioles: Five Best Trades Of All Time
By Ben Palmer
5. Baltimore Orioles Acquire Scott McGregor, Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, and Rudy May from New York Yankees for Doyle Alexander, Elrod Hendricks, Grant Jackson, Jimmy Freeman, and Ken Holtzman
In 1976, the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees decided that their record-breaking 17-player trade in 1954 was so much fun that they’d do another. Not really, but a 10-player trade between two teams doesn’t come around often, and the fact that three of the players in this trade ended up being major contributors to the Orioles is even better.
Scott McGregor went to an All-Star game in 1981, won 20 games for the Orioles in 1980, and had a fantastic couple of postseasons, especially in the Orioles World Series year of 1983. McGregor only allowed two runs in the ALCS and World Series openers that year, and pitched a complete game shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 5 of the World Series.
Every Orioles fan knows Rick Dempsey well, the guy has been heavily involved with the organization forever, and fans see him on TV before and after virtually every Orioles game. While Dempsey was never much of a hitter (he had a career batting average of .233), he was phenomenal defensively and never got hurt.
Where Dempsey most contributed to the team was in the 1983 World Series, where he batted .385 with a .923 slugging percentage and won the World Series MVP award, one of only six catchers to ever win the award.
While Tippy Martinez might be best known for picking off three players in one inning, he played for the Orioles for ten years and had a nice career as a reliever. He, along with Dempsey and McGregor, was another leader on the ’83 World Series team.