Boston baseball fans are peculiar, no doubt about it. In 1949 they watched the Braves trade away the heart of a pennant-winner for one ball-player (Sid Gordon) and three stumble-bums. They watched and they cheered.

Now, they've just seen the Red Sox front office pull what may well turn into the steal of the decade. Yet, judging from the reports in the local press, the Big Trade has won Messrs. Cronin and Boudreau nothing but razzberries.

"Those jerks gave away the pennant," was the immediate, well-nigh universal reaction.

Yet it just so happens that the Red Sox did the only thing possible to preserve their already slim pennant chances.

Balance what the Hose relinquished against what they gained. They lost an inconsistently powerful, hopelessly clumsy first baseman, a utility infielder clearly past his peak, an outfielder who failed to stick with two other clubs, a perennially "promising" left-handed pitcher, and a young third baseman with his career still unassured.

Of the lot, only Fred Hatfield--a good fielder and hitter--represents a real loss. But then, you can't get something for nothing. And look at what the Sox got:

George Kell is the best all-around third baseman in the League. He's not hitting well this season but he's never failed to clear .300 in the past few seasons. And he's only 30.

John Lipon and the venerable Dizzy Trout won't mean much in the grand scheme of things, true. But Hoot Evers could bring the pennant to Fenway. He's fast, he's strong, and although he didn't hit a loud foul all last year, he can be a big man at bat. He proved that in 1950.

The non-emotional observer, indeed, is forced to the conclusion that only the abysmal showing the Tigers have made could have persuaded them to consent to the deal. Nothing but a desperate Detroit hope that "new blood"--no matter what type--would lift the Bengals out of the cellar could ever have brought about the deal.

Still, those Boston fans, unable to appreciate their own good fortune, continue to draw Boudreau and Cronin over the coals.

It's likely most of them, too upset by the trade, missed the item that told of Willard Marshall's sale to Cincinnati. Marshall, of course, was one of the features of that loudly-praised 1949 deal with the New York Giants.

Some people just don't know when they're well off.