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Happy ’80s Birthday to Ron Hassey, who led all catchers in 1980 with a .318 batting average and also caught two perfect games during his career.
John Wockenfuss was born OTD in 1949. He had a funny stance and a funny name. John turned in a solid year in 1980, batting .274 with 16 homers and 65 RBI for Detroit. It was the only season in which he played more than 100 games. He passed away in 2022.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Greg Cadaret, who spent 10 years in the big leagues and was part of the package sent from Oakland to New York in the Rickey Henderson deal.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Pete Smith, who was a first-round pick of the Phillies in 1984 and was dealt to Atlanta a year later in the Steve Bedrosian deal.
Pete spent 11 years with five teams and pitched in the 1992 World Series.
2/27/84
The Expos trade Al Oliver to the Giants for Fred Breining and Max Venable. San Francisco sent Andy McGaffigan to Montreal Expos to complete the trade. Scoop hits .298 in SF and is dealt to the Phillies later that summer where he hits .312.
“I don’t believe the trade will help the team,” says Expos skipper Bill Virdon.
2/27/85
The Yankees trade Toby Harrah to the Rangers for a PTBNL (Eric Dersin) and Billy Sample. Harrah plays his last two years in Texas and retires. Dude was underrated.
2/27/88
The Orioles trade Ray Knight to the Tigers for Mark Thurmond. Knight hits .217 for Detroit in his final season as a player.
2/27/80
The Royals sign Jim Scranton as an amateur free agent.
He works his way up to the big leagues and plays in 8 games for the Royals in 1984 and ’85.
2/27/82
The Giants sign Reggie Smith as a free agent. Reggie goes .284-18-56 in his final season. He plays two more years in Japan and retires.
The man could hit.
2/27/89
The Giants sign Ernie “Macho” Camacho as a free agent.
He went 3-0 for the Giants in 13 appearances, pitched in 8 games for SF in 1990 before being released, and finished his career with the Cardinals.
He then started the Ernie Camacho Educational Foundation.
Big Days
2/27/85
Major League Baseball nearly folds.
Fortunately, the owners were able to survive.
2/27/86
Padres pitcher LaMarr Hoyt checks into a drug rehab program and misses most of spring training.
He goes 8-11 in 35 games in 1986 and his career is over.
2/27/86
A natural gas explosion rips through the Milwaukee Brewers spring training clubhouse, injuring ten, including coach Tony Muser and a local plumber, who were both seriously burned.
Players and coaches doused people with water to put out flames after what was described as a “bolt of fire” shot down a hallway and into the clubhouse.
2/27/86
Willie Mays returns to Giants camp after being kicked out of baseball for seven years for working with a casino.
Transactions
2/27/81
The Expos release Dan Briggs.
They bring him back a month later and he spends most of the year in Triple-A Denver before being traded to Chicago.
2/27/86
The Expos purchase Randy Hunt from the Cardinals.
He spends nearly 5 months in Triple-A but gets called up in August and hits .208 in limited action. He signs with Kansas City for the 1987 season and retires.
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