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Happy ‘80s Birthday to my wife! She’s the best teammate I’ve ever had.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Graig Nettles. Don’t hit the ball anywhere near him. he catches EVERYTHING.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tom Brunansky, who became a regular in 1982 and averaged 26 homers and 79 RBI for the rest of the decade.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mark Langston, who struck out 977 guys between 1986 and 1989.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Andy Benes. Andy was the overall #1 pick of the 1988 draft and made his debut a little more than a year later with the Padres, finishing 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting despite only pitching in the big leagues for two months.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kal Daniels, who hit .334 with 26 homers in 1987 before knee problems cut his career short
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Jose Cecena, who appeared in 22 games for the 1988 Texas Rangers.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Israel Sanchez, a Cuban native who appeared in 30 games for the Royals in 1988 and 1990.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Brad Arnsberg, who was drafted five times and pitched in six seasons in the big leagues with the Yankees, Rangers, and Cleveland.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Ed Wojna, who won four games over four seasons for San Diego and Cleveland.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to DeWayne Buice who won nine games over three seasons with the Angels and Blue Jays and was one of the founders of a sports card company called Upper Deck.
Happy ‘80s Birthday to Fred Norman, the diminutive lefty who won 104 games and two rings over 16 seasons in the bigs.
8/20/81
The Expos trade Willie Montanez to the Pirates in exchange for John Milner.
8/20/84
The Phillies trade Kelly Downs and George Riley to the Giants for a PTBNL and Al Oliver. Scoop hits .312 in 28 games down the stretch.
8/20/84
The Angels sign Bryan Harvey as an amateur free agent. He made his big league debut three years later and led the American League in saves in 1991. That’s what we call scouting.
8/20/85
The Mets sign Larry Bowa as a free agent. He plays in 14 games down the stretch and retires.
8/20/81
Brett Butler goes 1 for 4 with a double off Dan Boitano in his big league debut. He becomes a regular in 1983 and plays until 1997.
Big Days
8/20/80
George Brett goes 3 for 3. He’s now batting .406 for the season and .461 in August.
8/20/80
Omar Moreno steals his 70th base, making him the first 20th century player with three consecutive 70-steal seasons.
8/20/80
Dan Spillner, who entered the game with an E.R.A. of 5.45 takes a no-hitter into the 9th inning before it’s broken up by White Sox rookie Leo Sutherland.
8/20/80
Tom Brookens goes 5 for 5 and starts a triple play in an 8-6 win over Milwaukee.
8/20/82
Padres OF Alan Wiggins is suspended for one month after being arrested for cocaine possession a month earlier.
8/20/83
Pirates rookie Jose DeLeon throws a 2-hit shutout against the Reds and strikes out 13. He goes 7-3 in his first season despite not making his debut until July 23rd.
8/20/85
Dwight Gooden strikes out 16 in a 3-0 win over the Giants and becomes the first NL pitcher to record 200 or more strikeouts in each of his first two seasons.
8/20/86
Dave Winfield hits his 300th homer, a two-run shot off Seattle Mike Moore. A petulant George Steinbrenner ignores the accomplishment.
8/20/86
Walt Terrell is one out away from a no-hitter when it’s broken up by a Wally Joyner double. He finishes with a one-hit 3-0 win. It’s the second time in 1986 that Joyner breaks up a no-no with two outs in the 9th inning.
8/20/86
Don Carman takes a perfect game into the 9th inning but a Bob Brenly single breaks it up. Carmen gets neither a no-no nor a win as the game goes 10 and the Phillies win 1-0 on a Juan Samuel homer.
8/20/87
Gary Roenicke homers twice and drives in 5 in a 13-4 Braves win over the Cubs.
8/20/88
Darnell Coles goes 0 for 4 against the Yankees by grounding into three double plays and striking out. That’s a rough day.
8/20/88
Gibby Scores from 2nd on a wild pitch because Gibby.
8/20/89
Howard Johnson hits his 30th homer of the season and becomes just the third player ever to have two or more 30/30 seasons.
Bobby Bonds did it five times and Willie Mays did it twice.
8/20/89
Three weeks after trading him to Texas, the White Sox announce they are retiring Harold Baines’ #3. The ceremony is held before the Sox/Rangers game.
8/20/89
A Cleveland newspaper poll reveals that of the nearly 4,500 people surveyed, just 664 support a $30 per year tax increase to help finance a new stadium for the Indians.
“If the Jacobes want it so bad, let them pay for it,” says one respondent. The following year, voters approve a “sin tax” and Jacobs Field opens in 1994.
Transactions
6/21/86
The Oakland A’s place Tony Phillips on the disabled list and replace him on the roster with a third baseman named Mark McGwire. He makes his big league debut two days later and wins Rookie of the Year the following season.
Injuries
8/20/80
Jack Clark breaks his wrist when he’s hit by a Mark Bomback pitch. He returns a month later but doesn’t hit another home run.
Deaths
We lost Orioles superfan Wild Bill Hagy OTD in 2006
We lost former Cleveland manager Doc Edwards OTD in 2018.
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