In November of 1969, the Cubs made a trade that they hoped would put them over the top. They traded pitcher Dick Selma and a young prospect, to the Phillies for former all-star outfielder Johnny Callison. Unfortunately for the Cubs, that young prospect turned out to be Oscar Gamble. Gamble was only 19 years old at the time, but he had already gotten a taste of the majors with the Cubs. How did that trade turn out? Gamble played in the majors until 1985, and hit 200 home runs. Of those 200 home runs, only one of them came for the Cubs. He went on to play in the World Series for the Yankees, and hit .358 for them in 1979. Most horribly, his best season was with the Southside Hitmen 1977 Chicago White Sox. Callison had one semi-decent year, then was done. Needless to say, he wasn’t the final piece to take them over the top. The biggest tragedy, however, was what could have been on the north side if they had never traded Gamble. After Jose Cardenal joined the Cubs in the early 70s, the Cubs could have had the greatest “fro” outfield of all-time.
