Joel Youngblood: Late Seventies / Early Eighties Mets All Star (1977-1982)
Joel Randolph Youngblood III was born on August 28, 1951, in Houston, Texas. The versatile six-foot right hand hitting Youngblood, was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds right out of high school, in 1970. Joel spent five years in the Reds minors, not seeing much hope with all the talent on the Big Red Machine, big league club. He would make the Reds team out of Spring Training 1976, in their second straight World Series Championship season. Youngblood only hit .193 in 55 games as a utility man & did not play in the post season. He was soon to be traded twice in 1977, first to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bill Caudill during the spring. In St. Louis he hit only .185 in 25 games and was sent to the New York Mets for short stop Mike Phillips. Mets Career: The trade happened on June 15th, 1977, the same night Tom Seaver was traded away from the Mets, known as "The Midnight Massacre". Also, that night, the Mets traded away slugger Dave ...