3 ways David Green impacted the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals

1. The Mega Trade

David Green was an amateur free agent from Nicaragua when he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978. In December 1980, he was part of the mega trade which was part of the plan to re-engineer the Cardinals by Herzog.  The trade sent future Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons, along with future Cy Young Award winner Pete Vuckovich, to Milwaukee for Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Lezcano and Lary Sorensen.

With the earlier trade for Bruce Sutter, and the signing of catcher Darrell Porter, Fingers and Simmons became expendable, at least in Herzog’s eyes. For the Cardinals, Green was the lynch pin for them to make the trade. Herzog said at the time the time, ” we think so much of Green that we would not have made the deal if he had not been in it.”

David Green, in the view of the Cardinals, would be their future center fielder and an impact player for the franchise for years to come. Many scouts and executives in the industry at the time considered Green a five-tool player.

However, as baseball history has shown us, this didn’t turn out to be the case. In other words, the trade didn’t work out as Whitey Herzog and the Cardinals had hoped.

2. The Injury

David Green career with the Cardinals started well in 1981 with Triple-A Louisville. There, in 106 games, he hit a slash line of .270/.309/.414 with 10 HR and 67 RBI.

In 1982, the 21-year-old earned the starting center fielder spot coming out of spring training. Green, got off to a sizzling start during the month of April when he hit a slash line of .381/.381/.476 with 9 RBIs.

But in early May the injury occurred which changed Cardinal history. During a game on May 7, Green pulled his hamstring and was placed on the DL. To replace Green on the roster, the Cardinals called up from AAA a little know minor leaguer named Willie McGee.

By the time Green returned on May 24, McGee had taken over center field. For the rest of the season, Green would be a utility outfielder filling in for McGee, Lonnie Smith and George Hendrix when needed. Green would finish the year with a respectable .283 BA and contribute off the bench in the NLCS and the World Series.

Meanwhile, Willie McGee would finish the year with .296 BA in 1982, He would eventually become the 1985  NL MVP,  make four All Star appearances, win three Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger Award, and become a beloved Cardinal legend.

3. The Jack Clark Trade

The third and final way David Green impacted the 1980s Cardinals was being part of the Jack Clark trade in 1985. The Clark trade help set the table for the 1985 run to the World Series.

After the 1984 season, with the departure of George Hendrix, the Cardinals were in need of a middle of the order bat. Jack Clark was unhappy in San Francisco. and David Green was still in his prime.

In 1983, Green had his best year with the Cardinals, hitting a slash line of .284/.325/.442 with 8 home runs, 69 RBI, 34 stolen bases and a 105 OPS+ 146 games. He was still relatively productive in 1984 hitting a slash line of .268/.297/.416 with 15 HR and 65 RBI in just 126 games.

However, Green’s injuries and some off-the-field issues had led the Cardinals to decide it was time to move on. On February 1st, the Cardinals traded Green, Dave LaPoint, Gary Rajsich, and Jose Uribe to the Giants for Clark.

Jack Clark’s right-handed bat would help lead the Cardinals to the 1985 and 1987 World Series.

Final Thoughts on David Green

I saw David Green play in Busch Stadium early in the 1982 season when he was still starting in center field. I must say, he looked like an professional athlete.  At that time he looked like a can’t miss player and I could see why Herzog and the Cardinals wanted him included in the Simmons trade.

I can also see why the Giants were willing to give up 30-year-old unhappy Jack Clark for a 25-year-old five-tool David Green, who was still in his prime. Perhaps they thought that they could get more out of him than the Cardinals did.  It was an understandable conclusion.

The irony of the David Green story with the Cardinals is their center fielder of the 80s did not come from the blockbuster trade of Dec. 1980. No, it came from an almost unheard of trade on Oct. 21, 1981, when the Cardinals dealt left-handed pitcher Bob Sykes to the New York Yankees for Wille McGee.

This trade was done as an afterthought for both teams. The Yankees had no place for McGee in their organization, and the Cardinals made trade just for organizational depth in the outfield.

In the end, David Green was not the most memorable member of the 1980s Cardinals. Nevertheless, he was part of trade which sent a Cardinal legend to another franchise, an injury which opened the door for another Cardinal legend, and a trade which helped propel the Cardinals to two NL Pennants.

His impact was significant.

God speed, David Green.