In one of the blockbuster trades of early 1990s, Roberto Alomar was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays on this day, December 5, 32 years ago. The San Diego Padres received Fred McGriff in exchange for Alomar.
The deal included a total of four eventual baseball Hall of Famers. Alomar and McGriff (most recently) are National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. Meanwhile, Joe Carter, who went with Alomar, and the late Tony Fernandez, who went with McGriff on the package deals, are a part of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
During that time, the trade seemed even. However, unbeknownst to the masses was that Roberto Alomar would emerge as one of the vital pieces of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series title winning teams.
Alongside him, Joe Carter helped the squad clinch the 1993 World Series with a walk-off home run that sealed the crown.
Alomar spent five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, each as an All-Star and as a Golden Glover. He batted .326 in their title-winning 1993 season, which was good for being third-best in the American League.
In 1995, he broke the American League record for most consecutive games without committing an error as a second baseman with 104.
Roberto Alomar's career
The son of MLB All-Star Sandy Alomar Sr. and the brother of Sandy Alomar Jr., Roberto Alomar's MLB career spanned 17 seasons with seven different teams. He made his debut with the San Diego Padres and retired with the Chicago White Sox in 2004.
Alomar ended his illustrious career with a .300 batting average, 2,724 base hits, and 474 stolen bases. In his 17 years in the league, he was selected to 12 All-Star teams and won two World Series titles as well as the 1992 ALCS MVP award.
He was also a 10-time Gold Glover, a four-time Silver Slugger and had his number 12 retired by the Toronto Blue Jays. Alomar was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles' Hall of Fame in 2013, two years after he made it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.