January 8th in 1980s Baseball

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The Bearded Wonder, Bruce Sutter, was born OTD in 1953 Bruce was a 21st-round draft pick who won a Cy Young Award and made it to the Hall of Fame. Not too shabby. He passed away in 2022.

Happy ’80s Birthday to the versatile Randy Ready, who spent 13 years in the big leagues and played pretty much everywhere on the diamond.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Craig Gerber, who played 65 games for the 1985 Angels, batting .265 and primarily playing SS.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Julio Solano, who made his debut with the Astros in 1983 and pitched until 1989, winning six games and saving 8.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Shane Turner, who made his debut with the 1988 Phillies and also saw time with the Orioles and Mariners in the 1990s. He later went into coaching.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Randy Nosek, who went 1-3 for the Tigers in 1989 and 1990.

Ramon Romero was born OTD in 1959. He made his debut with Cleveland in September of 1984 and went 2-3 out of their bullpen in 1985 before pitching in Mexico. He passed away in 1988.

1/8/82

The Indians trade Tom Veryzer to the Mets for Ray Searage.

Veryser is hitting .375 on June 1st when he breaks his leg in a collision at second base and misses three months.

1/8/87

The Reds trade Eddie Milner to the Giants for Timber Mead, Mike Villa, and Frank Williams.

1/8/85

The Brewers sign Jim Kern as a free agent. He spends most of the year in Triple-A, plays with Cleveland in 1986, and his career is over.

1/8/85

The Padres sign Tim Stoddard as a free agent to a three-year, $1.5 million contract. He spends a year and a half in San Diego before being flipped to the Yankees for Ed Whitson.

1/8/88

Faced with a midnight deadline to re-sign with the Yankees thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, Bill Gullickson agrees to a two-year, $3.3 million contract with the Yomiuri Giants.

1/8/88

The Astros sign free agent pitcher Joaquin Andujar. He goes 2-5 in 23 games ad his career is over.

Big Days

1/8/86

Willie McCovey is elected to the Hall of Fame. Stretch won the Rookie of the Year in 1959 despite not being called up until the end of July. He went 4-4 off Robin Roberts in his first game and finished his career with 521 homers and fantastic sideburns.

1/8/87

Because they were all terrible players and no one wanted them on their teams, ten free agents (Doyle Alexander, Bob Boone, Andre Dawson, Rich Gedman, Ron Guidry, Toby Harrah, Bob Horner, Lance Parrish, Tim Raines, and Gary Roenicke) miss a midnight deadline and are not allowed to re-sign with their former clubs until May 1st if they are not offered contracts by new teams. This had nothing to do with the owners being assholes. It was all about the lack of talent in this group, which happens to include two future Hall of Famers.