Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Eisenreich, who battled Tourette syndrome and the taunts of opposing fans to spend 15 seasons with the Twins, Royals, Phillies, Marlins, and Dodgers and rack up more than 1,100 hits.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Doug Flynn, who signed at a tryout camp in 1971 and had two World Series rings just five years later.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dennis Rasmussen, who played baseball and basketball at Creighton and won 18 games for the Yankees in 1986.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Pete Stanicek, who spent two seasons in the bigs with the Orioles and also had a brother, Steve, who pitched for the Phillies and Twins.
Bobby Castillo was born OTD in 1955 and spent nine years in the big leagues, winning a ring in 1981.
He’s widely credited with teaching a young Dodger lefty named Frenando how to throw a screwball.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rich Bordi who was a 3rd round draft pick in 1980 and made his big league debut the month later.
He got to the big for good in 1984 and retired after the 1989 season
Happy ’80s Birthday to Alex Madrid, who was drafted four times and appeared in 14 games for the Brewers and Phillies, picking up two wins.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Brian Dubois, who was a 4th-round pick of the Tigers in 1985 and won three games between 1989 and 1990.
4/18/85
Vince Coleman goes 1 for 3 with two stolen bases in his big league debut.
He finishes the year with 110 stolen bases and wins the Rookie of the Year Award.
4/18/81
The longest game in professional baseball history begins.
The Rochester Red Wings take on the Pawtucket Red Sox in a game that would eventually stretch to 33 innings. Future big leaguers involved include Wade Boggs, who went 4-12 and Cal Ripken, who went 2-13.
The game was suspended after 32 innings and finished in June when Pawtucket scored in the bottom of the 33rd to win it.
4/18/87
Number 500 for Michael Jack Schmidt
4/18/81
Tom Seaver joins the 3000 strikeout club when he gets Keith Hernandez of the Cardinals.
He finishes his career with 3,640
4/18/82
The Braves beat the Astros 6-5 and set a National League record by beginning the season 11-0 . They’d eventually run the streak to 13-0 before losing to the Reds on April 22nd.
4/18/87
Tommy Herr goes 3 for 3 with 6 RBI and a walkoff slam as St. Louis beats the Mets 12-8.
4/18/88
Pinch-hitter Roberto Kelly is the only Yankees player to not record a hit as New York hammers the Twins 18-5. The Yankees scored in each of the first six innings, including a 9-run 5th. Dave Winfield drove in four.
4/18/88
The Reds go 7 for 7 in stolen base attempts against the Giants at the Baseball Cathedral that was Riverfront Stadium. E.D. swipes 3, Kal Daniels gets 2 and Jeff Treadway and Tracy Jones each add one. It wasn’t enough though as the Giants won the game 6-3.
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