Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as George Steinbrenner loved firing people.

Let's dive in.

Today's story is about one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history.

Back in 1920, there was a young pitcher named Lefty Grove playing for the Martinsburg Mountaineers in the Blue Ridge League.

Of course, this was long before Grove punched his ticket to Cooperstown; he didn't even start playing organized baseball until he was 19.

As soon as he joined the Mountaineers, his impact was felt.

In a nutshell, Grove was ballin' outta control.

He threw 59 innings over the course of six games and posted a 1.68 ERA.

Despite his success, the Mountaineers traded him away to the Baltimore Orioles, who were still a minor league team at the time.

And in return…they got a fence.

That's right, Martinsburg needed a fence, and they didn't have the cash to pay for it, so they traded a future Hall of Famer to get one.

The Orioles ended up getting a 28x return on their investment when they sold Lefty to Connie Mack and the Philadelphia A's for $100,600 in 1925.

At the time, it was the highest amount ever paid for a player; Babe Ruth had been acquired by the Yankees in 1919 for $100K.

That's a whole different story for another day.

Grove went on to have an extraordinary career, getting 300 W’s, racking up 2,940 k’s, and winning the ERA title nine different times.

This trade is still considered one of the worst trades in baseball history, and it's a reminder of how much the game has changed.

No word on the status of the fence, but Lefty Grove's legacy will forever live on as one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

SWEET SIGNATURES

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got at least a few pieces of memorabilia in your house.

And the collection is always growing.

Our friends at Steiner Sports have signed merchandise from pretty much every player you can think of.

From Ken Griffey Jr to Shohei Ohtani.

They even have a ball signed by by The Sultan of Swat and The Iron Horse if you have an extra $89,000 laying around.

Here’s a few I’m eyeballing that are a little more in my price range:

• Mariano Rivera ‘98 World Series Ball ($75 off)

• Greg Maddux “18x Gold Glove” Inscription Ball ($100 off)

• Albert Pujols “700 Home Runs” Inscription Ball ($250 off)

• Nolan Ryan “7 No-Hitters” Inscription Ball ($70 off)

• Chipper Jones Ball ($45 off)

• Johnny Bench “76 WS MVP” Inscription Ball ($57 off)

These deals end soon, but autographs are forever.

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Charles Vance aka “Dazzy” was one of the elite pitchers of the 1920s, and he’s definitely one of the top 100 best pitchers of all time.

Most baseball fans have never heard of him, but Vance was a straight up baller.

He made his big-league debut in 1915 at the age of 24, but it wasn’t until seven years later that he became a force with the Brooklyn Robins.

Matter of fact, he didn’t even win a game until 1922, and he collected all 197 of his career wins after his 30th birthday.

Dazzy led the MLB in strikeouts five different times during the 1920s, and he even took home the MVP award in 1924.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Call: One play changed Don Denkinger's Life

• The Unbeatable Little Leaguers: How one little league program outscored their opponents 661 - 82

• The Fellon: MLB’s all-time leader in arrests