CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — On July 31, 2006, the Phillies — trailing the Mets by 13 1/2 games in the National League East as they began play — traded veteran lefty reliever Rheal Cormier to the contending Reds for Justin Germano, a young right-hander who never pitched a game for Philadelphia.
The trade proved no great shakes for the Reds, either. After tallying a 1.59 ERA in 43 games (34 innings) for the Phils, Cormier posted a 4.50 ERA in 21 games (14 innings) for Cincinnati, which fell short of the playoffs. If that trade and those results occurred nowadays, we’d surely be discussing Cormier’s 4.56 FIP with the ‘06 Phillies.
Maybe the odds just caught up with him (the two clubs’ defenses graded out pretty similarly). He also apparently pitched through some hip and hamstring ailments.
Yet as we see 2021 trade deadline acquisitions like the Yankees’ Joey Gallo and the Mets’ Javier Baez struggle out of the gate, Cormier — who died of pancreatic cancer earlier this year — left behind an important reminder. The human element can’t be discounted when assessing these midseason switches.
Cormier, nicknamed “Frenchy” because he spoke French from growing up in New Brunswick, Canada, spoke to author Tom Jones that year for a book called “Working at the Ballpark” in which Jones interviewed a number of players, staff, umpires, executives, media and stadium employees about their professional lives. Cormier spoke to Jones twice that year — before and after the trade. Here’s what he said after the trade:
“I had to break in brand new shoes. I wear the same shoes all year, and I had to go to a different color. So I had to wear a whole new pair of shoes. Now my big toenail is cracked in half. My nail is falling off. What a disaster.”
“I had never been traded during the season in my whole career,” he continued. “I’ve been traded in the winter where you go to spring training, you get to know the guys, hang out the first six weeks. You work out together. Here, I came into a situation where the team is first place in the wild card. They’re in it, which is great. But at the same time, when you’ve been with a team for five-and-a-half years in Philadelphia, and you get traded to a team and you really don’t know anybody, you’ve got to try to fit in.
“I’ve been here over three weeks now. It’s been tough not having pitched as well as I was pitching in Philadelphia. Maybe it’s because of the transition. I don’t know. I’m really quite laid-back, quiet. I feel like I need to get acquainted better with my new teammates. Most of the guys I know from playing on the other side, but it’s still tough.
“I thought it was easier than it ended up being. I just felt like I was in limbo for like a week. … I was always on teams where we stretched together; we hit together. There’s pitching meetings. Well, I came to a new team where you stretch on your own. There’s no pitching meetings. You can shag, but you don’t have to. It was a big difference. But it’s getting better.”
Remarkably open stuff, and let’s face it: If he had been quoted in real time, these sentiments probably wouldn’t have played well. With the benefit of time, though (the book didn’t hit the public until 2008, by which time Cormier’s major league career had ended, and I just read the book this year), it reflects the real-world challenges of being traded midseason.
After reading these comments, I reached out to Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Cormier’s teammate with the Phillies from 2003 through 2005. The two men remained friendly until Cormier’s passing.
“I never really discussed that with Frenchy,” Thome said, after reading Cormier’s comments. “In baseball, we go through his long journey, and if you could meet guys like him you’d be very lucky. He represented his family and his organization very well. I know he was one of my favorites. Just a wonderful man.”
Nevertheless, Thome, twice traded midseason, could relate to Cormier’s sentiments.
“As baseball players, we’re so about routine,” Thome said. “The baseball itself is similar to a degree. The difference is, now you have to fit into the mold of the team you’re joining.
“The interesting thing, as Frenchy discussed, is now you learn and have to adjust to all these things. You’re not in your regular routine. You were for four months leading up to that.”
Thome added: “As a player, when you go to a team that’s in the pennant race, it’s what you live for.”
We are talking about first-world problems, after all.
But we are talking about human beings, as flawed as the rest of us despite their skills and salaries, some of whom can’t flip the switch as easily as desired. It’s an angle not to be forgotten as the dust settles on these new arrivals around the industry.
— This week’s Pop Quiz question comes from Chris Isidore of Montclair, NJ: Name the three baseball movies to get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
— As the Yankees and Blue Jays battle for playoff position, both teams impressing with their improved play, I’d like to recommend the Toronto Star podcast “Deep Left Field”, hosted by longtime Blue Jays radio voice Mike Wilner, who now writes for The Star. The weekly program features great interviews with baseball people as well as Mike’s thoughts on the team he knows so well.
— Your Pop Quiz answer is “The Pride of the Yankees” (1942), “Field of Dreams” (1989) and “Moneyball” (2011). If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at [email protected].