SAN FRANICSCO–It didn’t take long for the Giants to realize they had badly swung and missed on the power hitting left fielder that rarely swung and missed sending rockets over the outfield fences.

In one of the worst trades in Giants history, San Francisco cavalierly swapped the young hitter with a world of home run potential to the Cincinnati Reds for a return package that flopped worse than Shamu the Killer Whale.

George Foster, right? Well, yes, we are talking about the trade of the future All-Star to the Queen City in 1971, but we are also outlining the Giants more recent swapping of 2016 All-Star Adam Duvall to Cincinnati.

Duvall hammered home that point tonight at AT&T Park hammering a pair home runs. The second blast was a tape measure shot traveling some 447 feet landing far up the left field bleachers.

While the trades of Foster and Ducal took place some 44 years apart, the results are eerily similar for Giants fans.

Like Foster before him, Duvall, who played parts of two seasons in the majors with San Francisco, has blossomed as a potential home run champ with the Reds clubbing 25 home run so far in 2016.

He played in the All-Star Game this season and was a finalist in the Home Run Contest.

While it’s almost certain Duvall would not have the same home run numbers if he had remained with San Francisco – for starters the Reds home park is a band box launching pad and AT&T Park’s outfield barriers often seem as far away as Treasure Island.

But on the other hand the Reds have shown patience with Duvall – not giving up on him after he struggled when he first came to the club last season.

The Giants track record with young talent indicates they would have moved on to a proven commodity after Duvall hit a slump similar to the one he lol had with Cincinnati last season.

While it’s tough to argue with the Giants formula for success over the past decade, compared especially to the middling, woebegone Reds, it is intriguing that the Duvall story is a repeat of the Foster fable.

In 1971 the Giants were contending for a NL West title – they would win it – when they swapped the then 23-year-old Foster to the Reds for backup infielder Frank Duffy and pitcher Vern Geishert.

Duffy, a Stanford product, would bat a weak .179 in in 21 games for the Giants. The following off-season he was flipped to Cleveland along with future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry in another awful deal that returned the alcoholic hurler Sam McDowell. Geishert never appeared in a big league game for the Giants.

Foster who had smacked four long balls over parts of three seasons with the Orange & Black played in 54 games over three seasons with SF. Once comfortable in Cincinnati, Foster became a super star, playing in three World Series, winning All Star Game MVP honors in 1976, capturing back to back home run titles in 1977-78 and walking away with NL MVP honors in 1977.

Like Foster, Duvall came up through the Giants farm system, debuting at the big league level in mid 2014. However in 28 games, Duvall could only muster a .198 average in 21 games.

Then in mid- 2015 Duvall was sent to the Reds in a deal for Mike Leake. While Leake was often injured with SF, Duvall was nothing special with the Reds hitting under .200, but their patience was rewarded in 2016.

The Giants meanwhile are still patiently searching the atmosphere for the pair of home runs Duvall crushed Tuesday night.

Tony the Tiger Hayes is a talk show host on http://www.sportsradioservice.com