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Hitting guru extraordinaire Charley Lau was born on this day in 1933.
Lau was a major factor in George Brett becoming the hitter he did for the Royals. That’s not a bad legacy.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Macfarlane, who made his debut in 1987 and, in 1988, became the first rookie to start at catcher for the Royals on Opening Day since Ellie Rodriguez in 1969.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jose Alvarez, who spent four years in the bigs with the Braves from 1981 through 1989.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Bill Lindsey, who played in nine games for the 1987 White Sox and caught a Jim DeShaies no-hitter in the minor leagues.
4/12/88
The Orioles sign Tito Landrum as a free agent. He hits .125 in 13 games in his final major league season. He spends 1989 in Triple-A with the Reds and his career is over.
4/12/80
Bruce Hurst makes his big league debut and it doesn’t go well. He surrenders five runs in one inning to the Brewers.
But he pitched in the World Series and is the all-time winningest pitcher in major league history among Utah natives. So he’s got that going for him.
4/12/80
With labor unrest on the horizon, fans at Riverfront Stadium throw coins to some Braves players running in the outfield for their “strike fund.”
Al Hrabosky and Gene Garber collect nearly $5.00 in donations.
4/12/80
A day after making three errors in one inning, Giants 3B Darrell Evans makes two more errors in a 4-2 loss to the Padres.
Through the first three games of the season, Evans has committed 5 errors in 13 chances.
4/12/86
The Phillies beat the Mets 9-8 in 14 innings on a Steve Jeltz single.
The two teams combine for 21 walks and 39 runners left on base while using 40 players.
Big Days
4/12/80
Nolan Ryan makes his Astros debut. He doesn’t get the win, but he does hit a 3-run homer. The Dodgers win 6-5 in 17 innings.
4/12/80
Cecil Cooper and Don Money each hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning and the Brewers hammer the Red Sox 18-1.
4/12/80
Mickey Hatcher’s 17th inning single off Dave Smith scores Dusty Baker and gives the Dodgers a 6-5 win over the Astros
4/12/86
Making his first start since suffering a devastating knee injury in 1983, Dennis Leonard throws a three-hit shutout against the Blue Jays. Leonard tore his patella tendon while delivering a pitch and missed all of 1984 and most of 1985.
4/12/87
Murph goes 3 for 5 with two bombs and drives in 5 as the Braves beat the Mets 12-7.
In a related story, Murph is awesome.
4/12/87
Billy Hatcher has two hits and drives in the winning run in a 1-0 Houston win over Montreal to run the Astros record to 6-0, the best start in franchise history. They finish the year 76-86.
4/12/89
Tom Glavine throws the first complete game shutout of his career, a 5-0 win over the Padres
He’d throw 55 more complete games and 24 more shutouts and earn a spot in Cooperstown.
4/12/89
Nolan Ryan throws eight shutout innings and strikes out 15 Brewers in an 8-1 Rangers win.
In his age-42 season, Ryan throws 239.1 innings and strikes out 301.
Injuries
4/12/87
A Hall of Fame career is nearly derailed before it begins when Barry Larkin suffers a knee injury on a play at 2nd base against the Padres.
Larkin misses 25 games and hits just .244 in 1987 but his career takes off in 1988.
Managerial Changes
4/12/88
The Orioles fire Cal Ripken Sr. and replace him with Frank Robinson.
Baltimore would begin the season with an 0-21 record.
Deaths
We lost former Royals and Cubs skipper Jim Frey OTD in 2020.
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