August 21st in 1980s Baseball.

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The great Jack Buck was born OTD in 1924.

John Stearns was born OTD in 1951.

He was the Phillies first-round pick and second-overall pick in 1973 behind a high school pitcher named David Clyde. Philadelphia sent him to the Mets in a deal that brought Tug McGraw to the City of Brotherly Love.

John passed away in 2022.

Happy Birthday to Bruce Berenyi, who spent seven years in the big leagues with the Reds and Mets.

Frank Pastore was born in this day in 1957. He was the Reds Opening Day starter in 1980 and went on to win 13 games that season. He passed away in 2012 after a motorcycle accident.

Happy Birthday to John Ellis, who spent 13 years in the bigs with the Rangers, Yankees, and Cleveland. He was the first DH in Cleveland history.

Happy Birthday to John Henry Johnson, who spent eight years in the bigs with four teams and was part of a 7-player deal that sent Vida Blue to the Giants in 1978.

Happy Birthday to Ken Jackson, who appeared in eight games for the 1987 Phillies. He went 2 for 4 in his debut on September 12^th.

Happy Birthday to Shawn Hillegas, who spent seven years in the big leagues with five teams and won 24 games.

8/21/87

The Red Sox trade Glenn Hoffman to the Dodgers for a PTBNL. L.A. sends Billy Bartles to Boston to complete the deal.

8/21/87

The Pirates trade Rick Reuschel to the Giants for Scott Medvin and Jeff Robinson.

8/21/80

The Royals sign Jose Cardenal as a free agent.

8/21/81

Pat Tabler goes 1 for 4 with a single in his big league debut for the Cubs. He’d spend 12 years in the bigs and collect more than 1,100 hits.

8/21/86

Greg Swindell gets rough up a bit by Boston in his big league debut, but bounces back to win five games in August and September and finish the season with a 5-2 record. He’d win 123 games over his 17-year career.

Big Days

8/21/80

Jack Morris allows a 1^st inning single to Rob Wilfong and nothing else as he throws a 1-hitter to beat Minnesota 4-2.

8/21/80

Bake McBride’s 17-inning walkoff triple gives the Phillies a 9-8 win over the Padres. San Diego pitcher Dennis Kinney throws 9 1/3 innings of relief and gets the loss.

8/21/81

Rod Carew goes 5-for-5 to raise his batting average to .328 because he’s Rod Carew

8/21/81

Dodgers farmhand Sid Fernandez strikes out 21 in a Pioneer League game.

8/21/82

Rollie Fingers becomes the first player in history to record 300 saves. He finishes his career with 341.

8/21/83

Minor leaguers Vince Coleman and Donnell Nixon both steal their 131st base of the season to break Rickey Henderson’s professional baseball record. The two of them would combine to swipe 289 bases in 1983.

8/21/84

Boston rookie Roger Clemens strikes out 15 in an 11-1 win over the Royals. He finishes the season with 126 strikeouts in 133 1/3 innings.

8/21/85

Ryne Sandberg goes 4-for-5 with 2 homers and 6 RBI in a 9-5 Cubs win over the Phillies thus earning the title, “Diamond King”

8/21/85

Don Mattingly goes 1-for-2 against the Angels in a 13-10 win to cap a stretch in which he has at least one hit in 30 of 31 games. He hits .386 with 13 homers and 30 RBI during the run. He goes 0 for 5 the following day.

8/21/85

Candy Maldonado and Mike Marshall combine to go 9-for-12 with two homers and 7 RBI in a 15-6 Dodgers win over the Phillies.

8/21/86

In just his 3rd game with the Red Sox after being dealt from the Mariners, Spike Owen goes 4-for-5 with 6 runs scored in a 24-5 Boston win over Cleveland. Boston scores 12 in the 6th inning.

8/21/87

Dale Murphy hits the 300th home run of his career, a solo shot of Pittsburgh’s Brian Fisher. He’d finish with 398.

8/21/87

Gerald Perry steals his 30^th base of the season, making him the first first baseman to top the 30-steal mark since his uncle, Dan Driessen, did it in 1977. Perry would finish the year with 42 SBs.

8/21/89

Cubs rookie OF Jerome Walton goes 0-for-4 and his 30-game hitting streak comes to an end. He still wins Rookie of the Year, though. The Cubs lose to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5, in 10 innings.