Happy ’80s Birthday to the great Peter Gammons!
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kirk McCaskill, who won 106 games for the Angels and White Sox after choosing baseball over hockey.
McKaskill was the Winnipeg Jets first-round draft pick in 1981.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jose Guzman, who made his debut with the Rangers in 1985 and came within one out of a no-hitter in April of 1993 with the Cubs before Otis Nixon broke it up.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Hal Morris, who made his debut with the Yankees in 1988 and comprised 3/4 of the Reds 1990 University of Michigan infield, joining Chris Sabo and Barry Larkin.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Brian Dorsett, who spent parts of eight seasons in the major leagues and now runs the family car business in his native Terre Haute, IN
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Brumley whose father played for the Senators in the 1960s.
Mike spent eight years in the big leagues with six teams.
4/9/81
Blue Jays Rule 5 draftee (Phillies) George Bell makes his big league debut as a defensive replacement. He struggles in his first season, hitting just .233, but wins an MVP six years later.
4/9/81
Dave Henderson goes 0 for 4 against the Angels in his big league debut. He finishes 1981 with a batting average of just .167, but has a solid career, including a big home run in 1986.
4/9/81
Tom Brunansky goes 1 for 4 with a single in his big league debut for the Angels.
Bruno spends most of the season in Triple-A and is dealt to Minnesota the following year.
4/9/85
Ozzie Guillen goes 1 for 5 in his big league debut for the White Sox.
He’d hit .273 for the season and win Rookie of the Year.
4/9/85
Mariano Duncan goes 0 for 4 in his big league debut, but collects four hits in his next ten at bats.
He’d play 142 games as a rookie and finish 3rd in the Rookie of the Year balloting.
4/9/85
Shawon Dunston, the overall #1 pick of the 1982 draft, makes his big league debut for the Cubs.
Dunston spends 18 years in the big leagues and he had a rocket for an arm.
4/9/86
Bobby Bonilla makes his big league debut as a defensive replacement for the White Sox.
Bonilla plays 75 games for the White Sox before being traded to Pittsburgh in July.
4/9/87
The Mason-Dixon Battle:
Baltimore beats Texas 8-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Ken Dixon gets the win and Mike Mason gets the loss.
The fact that the game takes place 122 years to the day of the signing at Appamattox only addds to the intrigue.
Big Days
4/9/80
George Foster records the first Game Winning RBI in baseball history and immediately exposes the new stat as flawed.
4/9/81
The Dodgers start a rookie on Opening Day in place of an injured Jerry Reuss.
It’s his first career start and he gives up just two runs in his first seven starts. The youngster ends up having a decent season.
4/9/85
Gary Carter makes his Big Apple debut and hits a walk-off homer off Neil Allen to give the Mets a 6-5 win in 10 innings.
4/9/85
Tom Seaver sets a record by making his 15th opening day start and gets the win as the White Sox beat the Brewers, 4 – 2.
4/9/87
Vince Coleman steals four bags on his own and the Cardinals steal six total in a 4-2 win over the Cubs.
St. Louis would steal an MLB-high 248 bags on the season.
4/9/87
Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton combine to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3.
It’s the first time in history that two 300 game winners pitch for the same team in the same game.
4/9/87
Gary Carter’s eighth inning single drives in Lenny Dykstra and gives Carter 1,000 career RBI.
He finishes his career with 1,225.
4/9/88
Lance Parrish goes 3 for 3 with a dinger and 5 RBI. It’s the beginning of a fantastic season for him.
I’m pretty sure that’s what happened, right?
4/9/88
The Twins get their rings. Ron Gant was unavailable for comment.
4/9/89
The Cardinals hit 7 doubles as part of a 15-hit attack and hammer the Phillies 15-3. Tony Pena doubles twice and Pedro Guerrero doubles and homers to pace St. Louis.
4/9/89
Rickey swipes his 800th base. He finishes with 1,406.
Deaths
We lost Pops OTD in 2001
4/9/82
Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Francisco Barrios dies of heart attack in his native Mexico. He was just 28 years old.
