Dan Norman: One of The Players the Mets Got In the Tom Seaver Trade (1977-1981)

Daniel Edmund Norman was born on January 11, 1955 in Los Angeles, California. The six foot two switch hitting outfielder was drafted in the 15th round of the 1974 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

He played through the Reds system next to outfielder Steve Henderson s getting promoted together through the minor leagues. 

In 1976 he hit 17 HRs batting .273 at AA Trois-Rivieres getting promoted to AAA Indianapolis the following year.

The Midnight Massacre: On June 15, 1977, he was traded along with his pal, Steve Henderson as well as Doug Flynn & Pat Zachary to the Mets for Tom Seaver in the famous “Midnight Massacre” trade. 

According to former WFAN Radio talk show host, Jody Macdonald; he thought Norman was going to be a star player. He told his dad, Joe MacDonald who was the Mets GM at the time to make sure he got Norman in the trade.

Coming to New York Henderson got promoted right away to the Mets team while Norman was sent down to AAA Tidewater. There he batted .264 with 10 HRs & a .344 on base % in 80 games. 

Norman got a late September call up, debuting in Pittsburgh against the Pirates on September 27th as a pinch hitter. He went 4-16 with four walks on the season.

He was back at AAA Tidewater in 1978 leading the team in HRs (18) RBIs (66) & batting (.281) getting another September cup of coffee. 

In his second game he hit his first MLB HR at Olympic Stadium against the Montreal Expos.

Two days later he had a career day, going 2-4 with a pair of HRs and three RBIs leading the Mets to a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. 

Norman closed out the season driving in runs in his last two games. On the year he hit .266 with 4 HRs one triple 7 runs scored& 10 RBIs.

1979: He returned in '79 with AAA Tidewater getting up to the Mets big league squad in July. He saw action in 44 games batting .245 with 3 HRs 11 RBIs.

1980: Norman was on the club for the entire season, & manager Joe Torre used him mostly as a pinch hitter. This probably wasn't a good idea for a 25-year-old kid, he played in 69 games overall, (19 in the outfield) but his average fell to.185 with just two HRs & 9 RBIs.

In May of 1981 he was playing at Tidewater when he was part of another big Mets trade. This time he was sent to the Montreal Expos along with Jeff Reardon for outfielder Ellis Valentine.

Post Mets Career: He spent 1981 in the minors. In 1982 he played in only 53 games for the Expos batting .212 before his ending his MLB career. 

He would play in the minors through 1986 spending 12 years there playing in 1183 games. 

Career Stats: In five seasons he hit .227 with 79 hits 11 HRs 8 doubles 3 triples 29 runs scored 37 RBIs & a .287 on base %.

Retirement: After his playing days Norman became a coach & manager in the Florida State League (1987) the Arizona League (1995/2000) & the Canadian baseball League (2003).