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The Kid was born on this day in 1954 and we still miss him.
Dude was just fun to watch.
Happy ’80s Birthday to a cup of coffee guy, Roger Holt.
Roger played in the final two games of the 1980 season and delivered an RBI single off Aurelio Lopez for his lone big league hit.
Happy ’80s Birthday to umpire Randy Marsh, who made his big league debut in 1981 and called games for 29 years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Hiller, who made his debut in 1965, had a heart attack at age 28, then came back and won 64 games while saving another 112 over the next nine years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Alex Sanchez, who held the strikeout record at ULCA for more than 20 years and appeared in four games for the 1989 Blue Jays.
4/8/81
The Red Sox trade Dick Drago to Seattle for Manny Sarmiento. Drago goes 4-6 for the M’s in his final big league season.
4/8/83
The White Sox sign Al Hrabosky as a free agent. He throws 118 innings in Triple-A and his career is over.
4/8/86
Will Clark homers on the 2nd pitch he sees in the big leagues. It also happens to come off of Nolan Ryan.
He finishes 5th in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.
4/8/86
Robby Thompson goes 1 for 3 in his big league debut, including a 5th inning double off Nolan Ryan.
He finishes the season in 2nd place in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.
4/8/86
Wally Joyner goes 1 for 5 in his big league debut with a 7th-inning double off Seattle’s Mike Moore.
He hits .290 with 22 homers and finishes 2nd in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting.
4/8/86
Pete Incaviglia goes 1 for 4 with a 5th-inning double off Toronto’s Dave Stieb in his big league debut. He finishes the season batting .250 with 30 bombs.
4/8/87
B.J. Surhoff, the top pick of the 1985 draft, goes 1 for 4 in his big league debut with a 2nd-inning single off Boston’s Al Nipper.
He finishes the season with a .299 batting average.
4/8/89
Jim Abbott makes his big league debut for the Angels.
It doesn’t go well but his career does. He pitches for ten years and throws a no-hitter for the Yankees
Big Days
4/8/83
Hawk goes 5 for 5 with a double, triple, and 2 RBI in an 8-3 win over the Dodgers
4/8/84
Lonnie and Ozzie Smith each reach base 5 times and the Cardinals bang out 15 hits and draw 11 walks in a 9-3 win over the Giants. It’s not often that you leave 15 men on base and still win by 6.
4/8/85
At age 46, Phil Niekro becomes the 2nd oldest player to ever draw an Opening Day start (Jack Quinn, 47) but it doesn’t go well.
Niekro allows five runs in five innings at Fenway Park and the Red Sox beat the Yankees 9-2.
4/8/86
Jim Presley goes 3 for 4 with two dingers and 6 RBI in an 8-4 win over the Angels. Attaboy, Hound Dog!
4/8/89
Jamie Moyer strikes out 13 in a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays. It only takes him 126 pitches.
Unfortunately for Jamie, he’d only pitch for another 20 seasons.
Injuries
4/8/84
Dickie Thon is hit in the face by a Mike Torrez pitch.
Thon was coming off a 1983 campaign in which he hit .286 with 20 homers and 34 stolen bases. He would miss the remainder of the 1984 season and, unfortunately, never again produce at the same level.
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