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Happy ’80s Birthday to Denny Walling, who spent 18 years in the bigs, mostly coming off the bench in the 7th or 8th inning and delivering pinch-hits for the Astros, Cardinals, Rangers, and A’s
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tom Runnells, who played arts of two season with the Reds and later managed the Expos.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Marquis Grissom, who made his debut with the Expos in 1989 and spent 17 years in the big leagues, collecting more than 2,200 hits. Solid career.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Huppert, who played in 17 games at the major league level and managed in the minor leagues for nearly 30 years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Craig Worthington, who spent seven years in the big leagues and was the starting 3B for the Orioles in 1989 and 1990.
4/17/80
Sugar Bear goes hitless in his big league debut for the Orioles. He spends seven years in the big leagues and is a fan favorite in Baltimore.
4/17/80
Rod Scurry allowed one run in two innings against St. Louis in his big league debut.
He spends eight years in the bigs and wins 19 games out of the pen for multiple teams. Unfortunately, his career, and his life, was derailed by drug problems.
4/17/80
Phil Niekro makes his 3rd start against the Reds in eight days and earns his 3rd loss against the Reds in eight days.
He finishes the season 0-5 with a 6.67 ERA against Cincinnati. Ouch.
4/17/80
Steve Yeager is out with an infection, Joe Ferguson is on the DL with a bad back and AAA catcher Mike Scioscia has a broken finger so Tommy Lasorda turns to Derrel Thomas to catch for the Dodgers.
The 150 pound Thomas has caught a grand total three innings IN HIS LIFE to this point and the Astros steal 7 bases on him but he does hose Enos Cabell trying to steal 2nd in the 6th inning.
Despite allowing 7 bags, Thomas and the Dodgers beat Houston 6-4.
4/17/86
Rangers rookie Bobby Witt gets pulled while throwing a no-hitter against the Brewers.
The problem?
The game was tied 2-2 and Witt had already thrown 108 pitches. In five innings, he strikes out ten, walks eight, and throws four wild pitches. Texas wins the game 7-5.
4/17/87
The Brewers win twice in one game.
They knock off the Rangers 10-2 to run their record to 10-0, but more importantly, the win means the team no longer has to wear ties on charter flights.
Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn told the team the ties would be optional if they went 10-0 to begin the season and the Brew Crew began the year 13-0.
Big Days
4/17/81
Tony Armas goes 3 for 5 with two dingers and 6 RBI in a 16-1 Oakland win over Seattle.
The A’s were up 10-1 after 4 and then scored 6 more in the 7th just to rub it in.
4/17/82
Eddie Murray goes 6 for 9 in a doubleheader against the White Sox, putting his batting average at a robust .559 to begin the season.
4/17/83
Nolan Ryan strikes out seven Expos batters to become just the 2nd player to reach the 3,500 strikeout mark.
4/17/83
Rick Sweet hoses Oakland on 5 of 6 stolen base attempts but the A’s still win 7-4 because there’s only so much Rick and his mustache can do. Rickey was the only one who got him.
4/17/88
Bo
Injuries
4/17/82
Rick Burleson injures his shoulder in a 6-2 win over the Twins.
The injury is initially described as a strain, but proves to be a torn rotator cuff, limiting him to just 40 games over the next three seasons.
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