Brewers History: Milwaukee trades for two future HOFers in franchise-altering move

Throughout their storied franchise history, the Milwaukee Brewers have been known to pull off some outright trade heists. Over the years, the club basically stole C.C. Sabathia from Cleveland, Christian Yelich from Miami and Josh Hader from Houston, but there's another deal - one that has an anniversary coming up - that stands out above the rest.

On Thursday, Dec. 12, it will have been 44 years since the Crew pulled off one of the greatest one-sided trades in MLB history. This, of course, is the deal that netted them two future Hall of Famers and three eventual additions to the club's Wall of Honor.

Back in 1980, the Brewers swung a trade that sent Sixto Lezcano, Lary Sorensen, Dave LaPoint and David Green to the St. Louis Cardinals - who would eventually become their arch nemesis in the NL Central - in exchange for Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons and Pete Vukovich. No matter which way you slice this one, it was an utter domination by the Brewers.

Brewers history: 44 years since a once-in-a-lifetime trade heist

Over the years, this deal has gone on to be called "The Trade That Made Milwaukee Famous", and it's hard to argue the logic behind that one. It was, and remains to this day, a franchise-altering move of epic proportions.

Fingers, one of the most dominant relief pitchers in MLB history, was a member of the Cardinals organization for just four days before he was shipped to Milwaukee. He wound up spending five years with the Brewers (one lost to injuries), making an All-Star Game in two of them while posting a 1.04 ERA and leading the league in saves in 1981 - a performance that won him both the Cy Young and MVP Award. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1992.

Simmons, who was (finally) elected to the Hall in 2019, is one of the greatest offensive catchers of all-time. He spent 13 years in St. Louis before spending the next five in Milwaukee, where he hit .262 with a .711 OPS and 100 OPS+ across 665 games. He made the 1983 All-Star Game and earned a 19th-place finish in MVP voting that year as well.

Vukovich is not a member of the Hall of Fame, but he's one of the most popular starting pitchers in Brewers history. He was only a part of the club's pitching staff for six years (one lost to injury and his final year consisting of just 32 innings), but he led the league in Win-Loss Percentage two years in a row while taking home the Cy Young Award in 1982, the year the Brewers made their only World Series in franchise history.

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