Wackiest MLB trade stories in league history: 16. Dinner time
Johnny Jones wasn’t quite good enough to play in the major leagues. While he was a solid player overall, he never made the leap. Still, his trade story is about as weird as it gets.
In any league, trades typically take place between two organizations looking to get equal value for what they’re giving up. Normally, that means players that have some sort of value to said franchise. In this instance, none of that mattered.
In 1930, Jones was having his normal, yet underwhelming year for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Seemingly had enough of Jones and his subpar play, Joe Engel, head man of baseball operations for the Lookout, traded the up and down player to the Charlotte Hornets for a 25-pound turkey. Not only did Engel give up the shortstop for a live bird but in addition to that, he had it immediately fried and fed it to guests who attended the Southern Baseball Writers’ Association Dinner.
Jones continued his mediocre play in his new destination. As for the dinner, we’ve heard that several members went back for seconds.