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Happy ’80s Birthday to former Giants and Cubs infielder Joe Strain.
Strain hit exactly .250 in three seasons playing for some bad teams, but he managed to hit a robust .538 in his career against Steve Carlton.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Scrap Iron!
Three-time All Star, World Series champion and a Hall of Fame mustache.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Barlow, who may be the last player to come out of Syracuse to reach the big leagues. The Orange discontinued their baseball program in 1972.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tony Mack, who pitched in one game for the California Angels in 1985.
He also won Gold with Team USA in the 1981 World Games.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ray Miller, who served as the Orioles pitching coach from 1978 -1984 before managing the Twins. He returned to coaching after his stint in Minnesota.
4/30/89
The Blue Jays deal Jesse Barfield to the Yankees for pitcher Al Leiter.
The deal looks like a disaster for Toronto as Leiter pitches a total of 15.2 innings over the next four seasons, but once healthy, he becomes a key part of the Jays staff.
4/30/87
Ellis Burks goes 0 for 3 in his big league debut, but follows that up with a 3 for 3 game the next day. He’d spend 18 years in the big leagues, make three All-Star teams, and win a gold glove.
Big Days
4/30/80
Houston’s J.R. Richard squares off against Tom Seaver at Riverfront Stadium. Richard goes 7 and a third, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 8 to run his record to 4-0 in April with a 1.67 ERA.
He also homers off Seaver for good measure.
4/30/80
Larry Gura throws a one-hit shutout against the Blue Jays and a newspaper uses a photo of George Brett under the headline.
Poor Larry.
4/30/85
Dale Murphy’s 7th inning double off Carl Willis drives in Rafael Ramirez and Brad Komminsk and gives Murph 29 RBI for April, which sets a new major league record.
He’d finish the season with 111 RBI, the 4th straight season he’d drive in 100+ runs.
4/30/86
Bruce Hurst, Sammy Stewart, and Bob Stanley combine to strike out 16 Mariners in a 9-4 win.
Coming off Roger Clemens’ performance the day before, Boston pitchers now have 36 strikeouts in two games against Seattle.
4/30/88
Dave Winfield’s 5th inning single off Bobby Witt drives in Don Mattingly and Jack Clark and gives Winny 29 RBI for April, which ties the major league record set by Dale Murphy three years earlier.
He’d finish the season with 107 RBI
4/30/88
Pete Rose and Dave Pallone exchange pleasantries at Riverfront Stadium.
This didn’t end well for anyone.
4/30/89
Mike Pagliarulo hits two homers and drives in 7 in a 15-3 win over the Rangers.
4/30/81
Knowing they’ll need someone to throw a no-hitter in September of 1983, the Oakland Athletics signed Mike Warren as a free agent.
Transactions
4/30/80
The Cardinals purchase Jim Kaat from the Yankees.
Kitty wins 8 games, including 6 CGs, in his age-41 season and gets a ring two years later.
4/30/82
The Astros release the enigmatic Mike Ivie. He signs with the Tigers a week later and hits .232 in 80 games.
He plays twelve games in 1983, gets released and his career is over.
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