Facts, Trivia, Memories and More about Joel Skinner

Acquired: July 30, 1986- Joel was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Ron Kittle and Wayne Tolleson to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later, Ron Hassey, and Carlos Martinez. The New York Yankees sent Bill Lindsey (December 24, 1986) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade.

I was at a game in 1987 (April 14th to be exact) where the weak hitting Skinner, batting .167 at the time, broke open a 3-3 tie game against the Indians with a two-out Grand Slam to left field in the bottom of the fifth. It was Skinner's first home run of the year, his first four RBIs and he was only hitting .167. It was memorable for me because outside of Wayne Tolleson, he's probably the last guy anyone would expect to go deep on that team. It was probably memorable for Joel because the granny was against none other than future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Yes, it was a very watered down, 42-year old version of Steve Carlton by then, struggling his way through some sub-par seasons, mopping up in different bullpens. But, if I were a Major League ball player, I would certainly take a lot of pleasure going around the rest of my life, telling anyone who would listen about the time I hit a Grand Slam against a Hall of Famer. One more footnote about that game. The starter for Cleveland that day? Another Hall of Famer and former Yankee...Phil Niekro. Also on his way out and pushing 50 years old (48 to be exact.) It didn't occur to me at the time, but I was at a game that featured two future Hall of Fame pitchers. Think about it. It's probably not that common.