October 21st

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Bill Russell 1984 Donruss baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Bill Russell, who spent his entire career in Dodgers Blue, retiring as a player in 1986 and later managing the team.

George Bell 1987 baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to George Bell, who was the 1987 AL MVP when he hit .308 with 47 homers and 134 RBI. Good thing the Phillies let him go.

John Goryl 1981 baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to John Goryl, who played for the Twins and took over as skipper in 1980 after Gene Mauch resigned. 

Juan Eichelberger 1984 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Juan Eichelberger, who won 26 games over 7 seasons in the bigs and later played in the Senior League before becoming a pitching coach.

Ron Pruitt 1980 Topps Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Ron Pruitt, who hit .269 over nine seasons in the big leagues and later played in the Senior League.

Keith Drumright 1982 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Keith Drumright, who appeared in 48 games for the Astros and A’s between 1978 and 1981.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jerry Garvin, who spent six years with the Blue Jays, winning 20 games and recording eight saves.

Franklin Stubbs 1985 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Franklin Stubbs, who spent ten years in the bigs with four teams and won a ring with the 1988 Dodgers.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Kevin Batiste, who appeared in six games for the 1989 Blue Jays and then played football for the University of Houston.

10/21/81

The Yankees trade minor league OF Willie McGee to the Cardinals for pitcher Bob Sykes. McGee helps the Cardinals win a World Series the next year while Sykes never pitches in the big leagues again. 

Brett Butler 1983 baseball card

10/21/83

The Braves send Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby to Cleveland to complete an earlier deal that brought Len Barker to Atlanta for the stretch run. 

10/21/83

The Padres sign 17-year-old catcher Sandy Alomar Jr as a free agent. He’d win Rookie of the Year in 1990, but not for the Pads.

BTW: Don’t sleep on the Gators’ unis

10/21/89

The Cincinnati Enquirer runs this cartoon ripping Eric Davis for being fragile. 

A year later he rips his kidney making a catch in the World Series. 

Big Days

10/21/80

Tug McGraw strikes out Willie Wilson and the Phillies Phinally win a World Series title.

10/21/81

Tommy John and Goose Gossage combine to shut out the Dodgers in Game Two of the World Series to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

10/21/82

The Cardinals enjoy their World Series parade.

10/21/82

Despite falling short in the World Series, Milwaukee holds a parade for the Brewers.

10/21/86

Lenny Dykstra’s leadoff homer leads the Mets to a 7-1 win over Boston in Game Three of the World Series. Boston leads the series 2-1.

10/21/87

Tom Lawless, who had a total of 1 homer in his career to this point, goes big fly and unleashes an epic bat flip.

St. Louis wins the game 7-2 to even the series at 2-2.

Transactions

Pete Vuckovich 1982 Police

10/21/86

The Brewers release Pete Vuckovich, ending his career. 

Vuke won the Cy Young Award in 1982 but he also tore his rotator cuff and pitched through it. He won just eight games after that. 

Managerial Changes

Bobby Cox 1985 Toppps Baseball Card

10/21/85

Blue Jays manager Bobby Cox leaves the team to take over as General Manager of the Atlanta Braves. Toronto names Jimy Williams as skipper for 1986.

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