Cerv was sitting in the Yankee dugout one day in mid-1956 when manager Casey Stengel walked over and told him Enos Slaughter had been acquired from the A’s. Casey said, “Nobody knows this, but one of us has been traded to Kansas City.” Cerv looked around; he was the only player there. He had spent most of his first five years on the Yankee bench but briefly became a star after going to the A’s. In 1958 Cerv blasted 38 homers and was chosen over Ted Williams as the AL All-Star left fielder in the year of the Boston star’s last batting championship. He played a month of that season with his broken jaw wired shut. The Yanks reacquired Cerv in 1960 and, after the Angels claimed him in the expansion draft, traded for him again in 1961.
