JUPITER, Fla. — Twenty-three years ago next week, team morale at Cardinals spring training took a hit when clubhouse and fan favorite super sub Joe McEwing was traded to the Mets for reliever Jesse Orosco.
The move filled a baseball need for an embattled bullpen. But the cost was a painful bruise. The Cardinals started missing McEwing before he could start his trip to Mets camp in Port St. Lucie, and the feeling was mutual.
“I told Joe one of the toughest parts of this job was to tell a player he’s been traded, especially someone who is so well-liked and has been a Cardinal his whole career,” then general manager Walt Jocketty told the Post-Dispatch back then.