Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, the consipirators have been discussing what the worst trade ever was in baseball history.
David Post says, without question, it was Pete Harnisch, Curt Schilling, and Steve Finley for Glenn Davis. Jacob Levy reminds us of Babe Ruth for money, and Philippe de Croy brings up (not a trade, exactly, but a person) Calvin Schiraldi and the supposedly cursed Red Sox.
The answer to the question: what was the worst trade in baseball history? It wasn't Harnisch/ Shilling/Finley for Davis. Nor was it Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas. Or Ruth for money. Or Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa for Ivan DeJesus.
It was Amos Rusie for Christie Mathewson.
After the trade, Mathewson won 372 games for his new team (winning over 20 games 11 different seasons), the New York Giants, and was one of the greatest pitchers ever.
After the same trade, Rusie pitched in three games, winning none and losing one, for his new team, the Cincinnati Reds -- the team that traded Mathewson. And then Rusie's career was over.