Toby Harrah for Buddy Bell

The winter meetings after the 1978 season watched two teams trade solid third basemen coming off disappointing seasons.
Both players were popular with their fan base yet few were screaming about the deal from either side.
Neither team improved a ton after the trade,but it was not due to either player,who both made All-Star team in their new cities.
The Toby Harrah for Buddy Bell swap was not one for the ages,but it was one that changed the sports life of one ten year old for good.

I was a Texas Rangers fan mainly because my dad had been a fan of the Washington Senators before they moved to Texas and remained so (he eventually would convert to the Orioles) and Toby Harrah was my favorite player.
Harrah had his worst season of his career in 1978 and had been rumored to be on the trade block after losing playing time under manager Billy Hunter,who was fired before the last game of the season.
My tenth birthday present was a doubleheader (remember those?) visit by the Rangers to Baltimore-actually on my birthday! (Who could have planned that!)
Harrah made one pinch running appearance in the two games,which allowed me to holler loudly once and then Harrah would not play further in order for Kurt Bevacqua (of the bubble gum blowing title and King of the Hill fame) to play both games at third base.
That should have been a red flag on the Hunter-Harrah relationship.
Looking back,one wonders why the need to trade Harrah,if the issues had been related to the fired Hunter,but the Rangers might have thought they needed better glovework and Bell was the better player with the leather of the two.

I had chosen Toby Harrah as my favorite player when I started rooting for the Rangers,so as a ten year old-I was furious!
Nothing against Bell,who I liked,but I was not happy.
During the same winter meetings,the Rangers traded Mike Hargrove to San Diego (Ironically,midway through the 79 season,Hargrove would be reunited with Harrah in Cleveland),so I was especially unhappy.
Two months earlier,Texas had traded another Shawn favorite in Bobby Bonds to you guessed it-the Indians,so considering the two trades,adding to the Ohio personal connection for me and that in a two month span,my three favorite Rangers were no longer so,this ten year old was finished.
The deal was finished,my loyalty was transferred from the Rangers to the Indians.

As soon as this monumental decision was made,I instantly began to bug my dad to take me to massive Cleveland Municipal Stadium on our next trip to Ohio to visit family.
Dad did so taking my grandparents and my favorite aunt and uncle,Becky and Terry for a colossal battle between the Indians and the Kansas City Royals,which amazingly the Indians won in a .500 season that saw them finish in sixth in the powerhouse American League Eastern Division.
Three things that I remember most on that day-A leaping grab by shortstop Tom Veryzer to end the game,Bobby Bonds spoke to me "Hey there,man" and that it seemed like no one was there in the huge stadium (attendance numbers-barely over 9,000 in a 74,000+ stadium for baseball).

I never held the trade against Bell,I actually became a bigger Bell fan,which made me getting to meet Buddy last season in Frederick a big deal to me.
I've never met Toby Harrah,who currently is a roving hitting instructor in the Tigers system.
Of all the players that I have sent cards to in the mail,Toby Harrah is not one of them.
Why? I just never wanted my favorite player of my youth to perhaps not sign them,although Harrah has a good reputation for signing through the mail.

Buddy Bell would spend seven seasons in Texas before finishing his career with the Reds and a brief cameo in Texas with both the Astros and Rangers.
Toby Harrah would spend the next five seasons in Cleveland before being traded to the Yankees,where he spent one season and then finishing his career with the Rangers with a two year return to Texas.
The fifteen year old Shawn was a different person naturally than the ten year old version and the Indians were cemented as my team.
I've written before that I love the Pirates,but the Indians are special to me.
I just prefer National League baseball.

In the end,it was a pretty even trade,each team received back what they gave-a very good third baseman.
Bell was the better average hitter and a little better with the glove.
Harrah hit for more power and was the faster player.
Both players were productive in their new cities,neither team should have been disappointed.
One for one,good player for good player and one fan's rooting future was set forever.....