So I never knew of this story but once I randomly stumbled upon it, I decided to do some more looking into it. In 1962, Cleveland and the Mets struck up a deal that would send the right handed catcher Harry Chiti over to New York.

At the time of the trade, the Mets sent over cash to cover Chiti’s contract. The catcher would appear in 15 games for the Metropolitans and in 41 at-bats, he would own a .195/.233/.220/.452 slash line. He hit just one double with 0 home runs or RBI’s that year, which would also end up being his final year of Baseball.

While I’m not sure if this was literally just a rental for 15 games or the Mets just said “we’re not doing this anymore”, the Mets would end up sending Chiti back to Cleveland however would never make a Major League appearance with the club.

Try to keep in mind that 1962 was the inaugural season for the New York Mets, so I’m sure the team was trying their hand at a ton of players just to keep their head afloat. Of course they lost like a million games, but you know what I mean.

Chiti never had any kind of claim to fame on the diamond but he will forever be known as the first Major League Baseball player to be traded for himself.

Photo: Historic Images Outlet