Happy ’80s Birthday to Jay Buhner. He had 30 home runs, and over 100 RBIs last year. He’s got a rocket for an arm.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Andre Thornton, who spent 14 years in the bigs with the Cubs, Indians, and Expos and missed all of 1980 with a knee injury. In the three years prior to the injury, his average season was .252/29/89 with almost no protection in the Cleveland lineup.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tom Niedenfuer, who spent 10 years in the bigs and won a ring with the Dodgers in 1981.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mark Lemke, who made his debut in 1988 and hit .417 with three triples in the 1991 World Series.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Fred “Chicken” Stanley, who spent 14 years in the bigs and won two rings with the Yankees.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Odie Davis, who appeared in 17 games for the 1980 Rangers and went 1 for 8 with a pinch-hit single off Mike Caldwell.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Jeff Ballard, who made his debut with the 1987 Orioles and won 45 games over seven seasons for the Orioles and Pirates, including an 18-8 season in 1989.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Dennis Powell, who signed with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent after winning 20-straight games pitching in semi-pro baseball. He made his debut in 1985 and won 11 games over 8 years with L.A., Seattle, and Milwaukee.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Tom Prince, who made his debut with the 1987 Pirates and spent 17 seasons in the bigs before becoming a minor league manager.
8/13/80
The Yankees acquire pitcher Gaylord Perry from the Rangers in exchange for Ken Clay. Perry goes 4-4 with the Yankees in 8 starts and signs with Atlanta as a free agent prior to the 1981 season.
8/13/86
The Cubs trade minor leaguer Julius McDougal, Ray Fontenot, and George Frazier to the Twins for minor leaguer Dewayne Coleman and Ron Davis.
8/13/88
The White Sox trade Dave LaPoint to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Barry Jones, who goes 2-2 with a save down the stretch.
LaPoint goes 4-2 for the Bucs and signs with the Yankees as a free agent prior to 1989.
8/13/87
The Dodgers sign Ron Davis as a free agent. He appears in four game, spends 1988 in San Francisco and he’s done.
8/13/81
Atlee Hammaker throws four scoreless innings in relief against the Orioles in his big league debut. He pitches for 12 years and leads the AL in ERA in 1983.
8/13/83
Jeff Russell throws a CG and beats the Padres 3-1 in his big league debut. He loses 18 games in 1984 and is traded to Texas for Buddy Bell in 1985.
8/13/86
Barry Larkin goes 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut. He was scheduled to start but his flight was delayed and he didn’t get to the ballpark until after 6 pm. He gets his first start, and his first hit, two days later and a Hall of Fame career is underway.
8/13/88
Ramon Martinez allows just one run over 7 2/3 against the Giants in his big league debut but doesn’t factor into the decision. He wins 20 in 1990 and 135 over the course of his career.
8/13/89
Retired since 1980, Pedro Borbon makes an appearance in the Reds clubhouse and offers to remove the hex he put on the team after they traded him in 1979.
“Tell the lady (Marge Schott) it will take big dinero to get it off.”
The final member of the front office that gave Borbon his walking papers left the team in 1990 and the Reds win the World Series.
8/13/80
Alan Bannister is one of six different Cleveland Indians to record at least two hits as the Tribe knocks off the Rangers 14-3 in Cleveland. Bannister goes 4 for 5 in the game.
8/13/82
Pete Vuckovich beats the Blue Jays 3-1 despite allowing 7 hits, walking 8, and having no double plays turned behind him. Crafty.
8/13/82
Steve Sax steals his 41st base of the season to set a Dodgers rookie record. He’d finish the year with 49 and win Rookie of the Year.
8/13/83
Jim Rice homers twice and drives in 5 in a 12-3 Boston win over Kansas City. It’s one of 33 two-homer games for Rice.
8/13/84
Mike Boiddicker fires a one-hitter in a 2-1 win against the Blue Jays. The lone hit comes off the bat of Rance Mullinicks who comes around to score on two groundouts.
8/13/86
Omar Moreno delivers the only five-hit game of his career and the Braves beat the Padres 8-7. Omar goes 5 for 5 with a homer, double, and two RBI.
8/13/86
Candy Maldonado homers twice and drives in five in an 8-6 loss to the Reds.
8/13/87
The Cubs retire Billy Williams’ No. 26
8/13/88
Kelly Paris goes 2 for 4 with two homers and 5 RBI in a 7-4 win over the Mariners. Paris plays 92 games in his career and hits a total of three homers.
8/13/88
Dwight Evans homers twice and drives in 7 as the Red Sox hammer the Tigers 16-4 at Fenway. Dewey finishes the season with 34 bombs and 123 RBI, good for 4th in the AL MVP balloting. It’s Boston’s 24th straight home win.
8/13/88
Barry Bonds homers twice and drives in five in a 10-4 Pirates win over the Phillies.
8/13/80
The Mets release Jose Cardenal. He signs with the Royals and makes it to the World Series. Advantage: Jose.
8/13/81
The Dodgers release Joe Ferguson. He signs with the Angels and plays on the other side of town until 1983.
8/13/82
The Expos release Frank Taveras and his career is over. He spends 11 seasons in the bigs and retires with 1,029 hits.
8/13/83
The Phillies release Ed Farmer. He signs with Oakland and finishes his major league career with the A’s.
8/13/83
The Orioles release Aurelio Rodriguez. He signs with the White Sox, loses to Baltimore in the 1983 ALCS and retires.
We lost Phil Rizzuto OTD in 2007
We lost Johnny Pesky OTD in 2012
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