Rennie Stennett was born OTD in 1949. He spent 11 seasons in the big leagues and finished up with the Giants in 1981.
He’ll always have September 16th, 1975 when he went 7 for 7 in a 22-0 win over the Cubs. Rennie passed away in 2021.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kim Allen, who had a 35-game hitting streak and stole 85 bases in Triple-A in 1980 before making his big league debut in September. He spent part of 1981 with Seattle and then played in Japan.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Scranton, who played in 8 games for the Royals in 1984 and ’85.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Cris Carpenter, who was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 1987 and threw a shutout in his second career start. He spent 8 years in the bigs with four teams.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Greg Smith, who was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the 1985 draft. He appeared in 27 games over three years for the Cubs and Dodgers and then went into scouting and coaching.
4/5/81
The Pirates trade Dave Dravecky to the Padres for Bobby Mitchell.
Dravecky makes his big league debut the following season and makes the All-Star team in 1983.
4/5/82
The Orioles sign Ross Grimsley as a free agent. He goes 1-2 in his final MLB season.
4/5/88
The Orioles sign Mickey Tettleton as a free agent. He hits 223 homers over the next ten seasons.
4/5/84
Jose Rijo strikes out five in 5.1 IP of relief in his big league debut.
Rijo goes 2-8 in 1984 and is traded to the A’s in a deal involving Rickey Henderson in December.
4/5/83
Tom Seaver makes his triumphant return to Shea Stadium as a member of the Mets Pitching on Opening Day for the 14th time, Seaver combines with Doug Sisk to shut out the Phillies, 2 – 0, on five hits.
4/5/83
Fernando Valenzuela gives up six runs in 2 2/3 innings and the Dodgers still win on Opening Day, thanks in large part to Ken Landreaux, who goes 3 for 5 with 6 RBI. The Dodgers bang out 15 hits and beat Houston 16-7.
4/5/83
Steve Garvey goes 2 for 4 with an RBI in his Padres debut as San Diego beats San Francisco 16-13 on Opening Day. Garry Templeton, Terry Kennedy and San Diego pitcher Tim Lollar combine to drive in 10 of the 16 San Diego runs.
4/5/84
Ryno goes 3 for 5 with a homer and 4 RBI as the Cubs beat the Giants 11-7. Sandberg would hit .314 with 19 homers, 84 RBI and 32 SBs to win the MVP and lead the Cubs to the playoffs for the first time since 1945.
4/5/88
Orel Hershiser throws a 3-hit shutout in his 1988 debut as the Dodgers beat the Giants 5-0. It was one of 8 shutouts Hershiser would throw en route to winning the CY Young award.
4/5/89
Rough day for Andy Hawkins, who gives up 9 earned runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a 12-2 loss to the Twins, good for an ERA of 17.36.
4/5/89
Ken Howell throws five wild pitches in five innings of work and allows four runs yet still gets the win. That’s because the Cubs starter that day gave up 6 runs in 3 /23 innings. His name is Greg Maddux.
4/5/85
The Cubs release Tom Veryzer and his career is over.
He finishes with 687 hits over his 12-year career.
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