Happy ’80s Birthday to Van Snider, a highly touted OF prospect who couldn’t quite make it happen at the big league level. The Reds dealt Jeff Montgomery to the Royals to get him in 1988. When that didn’t work out, they flipped him to the Yankees Tim Leary for Hal Morris.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Bryn Smith, who enjoyed his best season in 1985 when he went 18-5 with a 2.91 ERA for the Expos.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Dennis Lewallyn, who pitched in the big leagues for 8 consecutive seasons, but never appeared in more than 7 games in any of them.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Dorn Taylor, an undrafted free agent who made it to the bigs and pitched in three seasons for the Pirates and Orioles
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Al Pedrique, who spent three years in the big leagues with the Mets, Pirates, and Tigers before managing for 14 seasons in the minors and coaching at the major league level.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Mike Huff, a 16th-round draft pick who spent 7 seasons in the bigs.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Carlos Martinez, who spent 7 years in the big leagues and hit the home run that bounced off Jose Canseco’s head.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to John Mitchell, who made his minor league debut in 1983 and was on a fishing trip in the offseason where his boat sank. He was rescued after floating for more than 20 hours. He made his big league debut in 1986 and pitched in the majors for five years.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to George Canale, who was a big-time power prospect in the minor leagues but couldn’t get it to translate at the major league level. He spent three seasons with the Brewers and also played in Mexico, Asia, and Italy.
The Padres trade John D’Acquisto and cash to the Expos for a PTBNL. Montreal sends Randy Bass to San Diego to complete the trade.
8/11/80
The Royals sign Ken Brett as a free agent. He finishes his career playing with his brother and retires after the 1981 season.
8/11/85
The Twins sign reliever Steve Howe as a free agent. The Dodgers released Howe in July. He returns to the bigs but continues to have drug problems.
8/11/86
Michael Jackson throws a scoreless inning in relief against the Mets in his big league debut.
He pitches in the bigs until 2004 and finishes with 62 wins.
8/11/89
Just 14 months after being selected 1/1 in the 1988 Andy Benes has a rough go in his big league debut, allowing six runs in six innings.
He spends 14 years in the bigs and wins 155 games.
8/11/80
Reggie hits his 400th career homer and then almost gets shot to death. Here’s the story.
8/11/80
The Cardinals score 8 runs in the 1st en route to a 16-0 pasting of the Expos. Dane Iorg and Tony Scott collect four hits each and Ted Simmons drives in three.
8/11/81
Cecil Cooper goes 7 for 9 with 2 homers in a doubleheader sweep of the Indians. In the first five games after the strike, Coops goes 13 for 23 (.565)
8/11/81
Cleveland sends 1980 Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau down to Triple-A and calls up Von Hayes. Super Joe returns to the big leagues at the end of the month but never recaptures the magic of 1980.
8/11/82
Twins pitcher Terry Felton falls to 0-11 on the season and 0-14 for his career.
It’s the worst individual start in major league history. He’ll finish his career with an 0-16 record.
8/11/82
Nolan Ryan throws a one-hitter, which becoming fairly routine at this point.
8/11/82
Jack Morris allows just two runs on three hits over 11 innings and the Tigers beat the Yankees 3-2 in 12 on a Jerry Turner sac fly
8/11/83
Murph homers twice and drives in 5 in a 6-4 win over the Giants. He’d finish the year with 36 dingers, 121 RBI, and his second-straight MVP Award.
8/11/83
Baltimore’s Lenn Sakata singles off Floyd Bannister in the 7th inning to stop an 0 for 66 skid against Chicago over the course of his career. “It takes practice to go 0 for 60,” he says. “At least I got a hit before I retired.”
8/11/84
The Reds retire Johnny Bench’s Number 5 at the magnificent Baseball Cathedral known as Riverfront Stadium.
8/11/84
Lacking Badassery, the Brewers hire Frank Robinson as their hitting coach after he’d been dismissed as Giants manager.
8/11/85
Bill Doran goes 3 for 5 with a dinger in a 7-2 Astros win over the Padres. Doran goes 9 for 18 with two homers in the four-game set against the Padres. He hit 4 homers in 1984.
8/11/86
45-year-old Pete Rose bangs out five hits for the National League-record tenth time in his career. The Reds lose to the Giants‚ 13 – 4.
8/11/87
Tony Gwynn goes 5 for 5 in a 7-6 win over the Braves. It’s his 2nd 5-hit game of the season and he hits .402 in August.
8/11/87
Milt Thompson goes 5 for 7 with 3 RBI in a 9-8 extra-inning Phillies win over the Cubs. The top-4 hitters in the Phillies lineup go 13 for 27
8/11/88
Gary Carter hits the 300th home run of his career, a solo shot off Chicago’s Al Nipper. He’d been stuck on 299 since May 16th.
8/11/88
Rickey goes 3 for 4 with 4 bags in a 6-5 extra-inning loss to the Blue Jays. He goes 3 for 5 the following day and swipes three more bases.
8/11/89
Ryne Sandberg goes 1 for 3 with a dinger in a 9-2 win over the Pirates. It’s the 5th straight game in which Ryno has homered. Over the streak, he hits .500 with 6 homers and 12 RBI.
8/11/82
The Brewers purchase Doc Medich from the Rangers. Medich wins 5 games down the stretch for Milwaukee and retires to pursue a medical career.
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