Happy ’80s Birthday to Ted Sizemore, who won Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers in 1969 and wrapped up his career with the Red Sox in 1980. In between, he collected 1,311 hits.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Diaz, a 30th-round draft pick who spent four years in the bigs and hit 16 homers as a semi-regular with the Pirates in 1987.
4/15/88
The Red Sox sign Rick Cerone as a free agent. He spends two years in Boston before returning to the Yankees in 1990.
4/15/82
Glenn Wilson goes 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut.
He collects his first hit the following day and finishes his rookie season with a .292 batting average.
4/15/85
Steve Lyons makes his big league debut as a pinch-runner for Rich Gedman.
He doesn’t make his first start until June, but goes 2 for 4 and finishes his rookie season with a .264 batting average.
4/15/80
The Padres steal six bases in six attempts off of Dodgers catcher Joe Ferguson and pitchers Charlie Hough and Rick Sutcliffe.
4/15/83
Milt Wilcox is one out away from a perfect game when pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston breaks it up with a single.
Wilcox settles for a 6 – 0 one-hit win over the White Sox
4/15/83
John Elway tours Yankee Stadium for the first time. He hit .318 in 42 games for the Yankees rookie-ball team in Oneonta, NY the previous summer.
Elway’s agent, Marvin Demoff, reportedly sent telegrams to all NFL teams saying his client would focus on baseball if the Colts selected him with the first pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
Demoff denied sending the telegrams but said Elway was not interested in playing for the Colts or the Oilers. He is eventually drafted by the Colts and traded to the Broncos.
4/15/85
Carmelo Martinez goes 3 for 3 with 2 homers and 5 RBI in an 8-3 win over the Giants.
4/15/85
Geoff Zahn throws a 6-hit shutout to beat the Twins and lower his E.R.A. to 0.59. He leaves his start eleven days later with shoulder issues and misses the next three months. He appears in three more games and his career is over.
4/15/87
Mike Scott throws a one-hit shutout and strikes out 10 in a 4-0 win over the Dodgers. The 1986 Cy Young Award winner finished the season with 16 wins.
4/15/87
Juan Nieves throws the first no-hitter in Milwaukee Brewers history, a 7-0 win over the Orioles
4/15/85
The Cardinals announce they have signed Ozzie Smith to a contract extension that runs through 1989 and, according to his agent, will make him baseball’s highest-paid player. The deal also includes the ability for Ozzie to buy a Budweiser distributorship.
We lost Damaso Garcia OTD in 2020
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