I was a Ted Lilly fan back when the left-hander was a young Yankee trying to become part of the New York’s starting rotation in 2001 and the beginning of  ’02. Then, right around the 2002 All Star break, the Yankees made a complicated and confusing three team trade involving the Oakland A’s and Detroit Tigers. When it was over, Lilly was no longer a Yankee and the flaky Jeff “Dream” Weaver was. All of baseball loved Weaver’s stuff during his three-plus year stay in Motown, but he pitched poorly as a starter in Pinstripes, forcing Joe Torre to use him in the bullpen. After posting a 7-9 record and a 5.99 ERA in 2003, the Yankees sent Weaver to the Dodgers for the infamous Kevin Brown. He won 25 games for LA in 2004 and ’05 and then joined Angels as a free agent in 2006. The Angels than traded Weaver to the Cardinals just before the 2006 All Star break to make room on their roster for Jeff’s younger brother Jered. The deal worked out OK for both siblings because Jeff went onto help the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series and Jered has become the ace of the Angels staff.

In ’07, Jeff signed with Seattle but pitched poorly that year and ended up back in the minors in 2008. Weaver, who was born on August 22, 1976 in Northridge CA, then rejoined the Dodgers and Joe Torre in Los Angeles the following season. He has not pitched in the big leagues since 2010. Ted Lilly, who now also pitches for the Dodgers, went on to achieve double-digit victory totals for nine straight seasons after being dealt by New York.

Weaver shares his birthday with the starting catcher on the Yankees’ very first World Championship team.