The first time the Phillies signed Manny Trillo, as an amateur free agent on January 26th, 1968, the organization pursued him as a catcher. By the time he actually finally made his pro debut for the Phillies--over an entire decade later--it was as a second baseman, the position for which Trillo would make four all-star teams, win three Gold Gloves, and be a key part of the Phillies' first-ever World Series team in 1980.
After going unprotected by the Phillies in the 1969 Rule 5 draft, Trillo was plucked by the Oakland Athletics, where he was converted to play the keystone. He saw very sparse duty as a backup in his half-decade in Oakland, before being part of a blockbuster deal to the Cubs in exchange for their fading slugger Billy Williams. Trillo became the regular two-bagger in Chi-town, and before the 1979 season, the Phillies traded for him in part of an eight-player deal to make him the final piece in their excellent infield, to go with all-stars Pete Rose, Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt.
Trillo stayed in Philadelphia for four seasons, during which time he made three All-Star teams, set the record for consecutive chances at second base without an error (479), and hit .381 with four RBIs in the 1980 NLCS, for which he was awarded the series MVP award. He would be traded after the 1982 season in the infamous "Five for One" deal for Von Hayes, and spent the rest of his days as something of a journeyman, enjoying stops in Cleveland, Montreal, Chicago and San Fransisco before ending his career with 17 games in Cincinnati in 1989.
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