The unique NY Mets-Cubs trade that swapped a future champion for a perfect hitter

The 1986 New York Mets didn’t win thanks to savvy trade deadline moves. In this era of Major League Baseball, midseason acquisitions weren’t the driving force towards a championship. This didn’t stop teams from regularly trading players whether in contention or not. On June 30, 1986, a unique trade took place between the Mets and Chicago Cubs.

Ed Lynch, who had been with the Mets since 1980, was swapped for Dave Liddell and Dave Lenderman. The latter Dave never made it to the majors while the former had a unique distinction. So did Lynch in 1986.

There’s something strange about this Mets-Cubs trade

Lynch pitched in 167 games with the Mets. Due to injury, he had only one in the 1986 season. It was good enough to call himself a champion. While a ring isn’t mandatory, the idea that every participant whether they’re there at the time of the win or not gets a ring, makes Lynch a Mets World Series winner.

Present for many lean Mets seasons, we have to hope Lynch was awarded with a ring in the mail after the 1986 World Series.

Lynch’s situation isn’t unique as even George Foster fits this same description except with many more games under his belt for the 1986 squad. Liddell made a stranger mark in Mets history. He made his MLB debut on June 3, 1990 with a pinch hit single. He’d come around to score a run in an 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. It was his one and only MLB game and at-bat.

A perfect 1 for 1 for a can’t be beat 1.000 batting average, Liddell never made it back to the majors. He became a free agent after the season and spent a few more seasons in the minor leagues.

In terms of the Mets all-time hit list, he’ll always be second-to last. Better than Jed Lowrie but behind just about everyone else.

Lynch managed to scrape together 99.2 innings for the 1986 Cubs and would remain with them in 1987. He never had his chance to actually appear in any playoff games with the Mets or anyone else. His one game, a relief appearance on April 12th in the team’s third game of the year, was enough to add his name to the list of guys who played for the beloved 1986 Mets. Taking it full circle, this was also a game lost to the Phillies.

Wanna get real weird? Sid Fernandez was the starter in both Lynch’s one game in 1986 and Liddell’s in 1990. Both times Fernandez failed to get through 5 innings.

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