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Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Jorgensen, who spent 17 years in the bigs with six teams. He’s also the only major league baseball player to be born on the day Babe Ruth died.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Al Holland, AKA Mr. T, who pitched in the big leagues for 10 years and saved 25 games for the 1983 N.L. Champion Phillies
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Jim Maler, who put up monster numbers in the minor leagues but suffered two serious knee injuries and the minor league numbers never translated to the bigs.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Bill Mooneyham, who was drafted four times and won four games for the 1986 A’s.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Greg Jelks, who was undrafted and played in 10 games for the 1987 Phillies. He spent eight years in the minors and also played in Europe and Australia.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Rick Reed, who was drafted in the 26th round and spent 15 years in the bigs with six teams. He was an All-Star in 1998 and 2001.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Xavier Hernandez, who made his debut with Toronto in 1989 and pitched until 1998 before going into coaching.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to former Brewers and Expos manager Buck Rodgers. Buck also spent nine years in the big leagues with the Angels.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Phormer Phillies skipper Nick Leyva, who took over for Lee Elia in 1989 and managed the Phillies until 1991.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to former umpire Rocky Roe, who called games from 1979 through 2001.
8/16/88
The Cardinals trade N.L. E.R.A. leader John Tudor to the Dodgers for Pedro Guerrero. Tudor goes 4-3 with a 2.41 E.R.A. down the stretch for the Dodgers and gets a ring.
8/16/84
The Royals sign Bucky Dent as a free agent. Dent had been released by the Yankees in July. He finishes his career with the Royals after the 1984 season.
8/16/89
L.A. Rams first-round pick Cleveland Gary signs a contract to play for the Miami Miracle in the Florida State League.
Gary was an outstanding baseball player in high school and also played for the Miami Hurricanes. He eventually signs with the Rams.
8/16/89
Larry Walker goes 1 for 1 with three walks in his big-league debut. Over the course of his 17-year career, Walker hits .313 with 383 homers and 230 stolen bases.
Big Days
8/16/80
Bert Blyleven throws a 2-hit shutout and strikes out 12 as the Pirates beat the Expos 5-0. The hook was working that day.
8/16/81
Eddie Murray homers twice and drives in 6 but the Orioles lose to the White Sox because Eddie Murray is just one man and can’t do everything by himself.
8/16/83
John Butcher throws a one-hit shutout to beat the Orioles 2-0. Danny Darwin was scheduled to start the game but was a late scratch so Butcher filled in.
8/16/86
Dale Holman becomes the first professional player ever to play for two teams in one game. Holman was playing for Syracuse Chiefs in June when the game began and was dealt to the Richmond Braves before the game resumed on August 16th.
8/16/87
Tim Raines goes 5 for 5 and hits for the cycle as the Expos beat the Pirates 10 – 7.
8/16/87
Darryl Strawberry goes 4 for 5 with two doubles, a triple, a homer, 5 RBI, and 5 runs scored in a 23-10 Mets win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs starter that day was Greg Maddux and his record fell to 6-11 with an E.R.A. of 5.25.
8/16/88
Willie Fraser allows 5 homers in 6.1 innings and still picks up a W as California knocks off the Yankees 15-6. That’s what we call, “pitching to contact.”
8/16/88
Phil Bradley goes 5 for 5 and drives in two in a 7-5 Phillies loss to the Dodgers.
Transactions
8/16/80
The Giants release Roger Metzger and his career is over. Metzger hit .251 in 1979 but lost four fingers in a chain saw accident in the offseason. He tried to make a comeback but hit .074 in 28 games in 1980.
8/16/82
The Pirates purchase Richie Hebner from the Tigers. He returns to Pittsburgh and stays through 1983 before finishing his career with the Cubs.
8/16/85
The Yankees release Omar Moreno. He signs with the Royals for the stretch-run and hits .243 in 24 games before finishing his career with the Braves in 1986.
Injuries
8/16/86
Davey Johnson puts Gary Carter at first base to save wear and tear on his knees and Carter ends up tearing a ligament in his thumb on a play in the field.
The injury keeps him out of the lineup until September 1st.
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