Happy ’80s Birthday to Doug DeCinces, who had the unenviable task of taking over third base after Brooks Robinson’s retirement.
He spent 15 years in the big leagues, was an All-Star, won a Silver Slugger, and finished 3rd in the A.L. MVP balloting in 1982 with the Angels.
Happy Birthday to Marv Foley, who grounded out to end Mike Witt’s perfect game in his first career AB and spent parts of five seasons in the bigs with the White Sox and Rangers.
Happy Birthday to Bill Latham, who appeared in 14 games for the Mets and Twins in 1985 and ’86.
Happy Birthday to Reggie Williams, who played in exactly 200 games for the Dodgers and Indians from 1985 through 1988. He played in a career-high 128 games in 1986 for the Dodgers.
Happy Birthday to Rusty Tillman, who spent parts of three seasons in the bigs with the Mets, A’s, and Giants and hit one of his two career homers off of Steve Carlton.
8/29/84
The Mariners trade Pat Putnam to the Twins for a PTBNL. Minnesota sends Carson Carroll to Seattle to complete the deal.
8/29/85
The Reds trade Cesar Cedeno to the Cardinals in exchange for Mark Jackson. All Cedeno does is hit .434 down the stretch for St. Louis.
8/29/87
The Angels trade a PTBNL and Bill Merrifield to the Pirates in exchange for Johnny Ray. The Angels sent Miguel Garcia to Pittsburgh to complete the deal.
8/29/87
The Dodgers trade Rick Honeycutt to the A’s for a PTBNL. Oakland sends Tim Belcher to the Dodgers to complete the deal.
8/29/89
The Expos trade Mike Blowers to the Yankees in exchange for John Candelaria.
8/29/80
The Dodgers sign Manny Mota as a free agent. Mota had been serving as the first base coach. He goes 3-for-7 as a pinch-hitter despite not seeing big league pitching for nearly a year.
8/29/85
The Cubs sign their 24th-round draft pick. He hits .338 over the next two seasons in the minors, makes the jump from Double-A to the bigs, and nearly wins the Rookie of the Year Award. Not bad for a 24th-round pick.
8/29/86
The Expos game against the Padres is postponed when a fire causes two oxygen tanks to explode.
8/29/80
George Foster drives in 6 as the Reds beat the Pirates 8-7. Foster’s sideburns drive in 3 of the 6 runs.
8/29/81
Phillies Pharmhand Jeff Stone sets a professional baseball record by stealing his 121st base of the season for the Spartanburg Phillies. He finishes the year with 123.
8/29/81
Tim Raines sets the modern rookie stolen base record when he swipes two bags against the Braves to run his season total to 58. The record stands until 1984 when Juan Samuel breaks it and Vince Coleman tops Samuel a year later.
8/29/83
Jim Rice homers thrice and drives in six in an 8-7 win over Toronto.
8/29/84
Mark Langston throws a two-hitter and strikes out 12 in a 5-1 win over Detroit.
He finishes his rookie season with a league-leading 204 strikeouts.
8/29/84
Ron Darling strikes out 12 over seven innings in a 3-2 Mets win over the Dodgers.
8/29/85
Don Baylor sets the A.L. record for being hit by pitches when he is plunked for the 190th time in his career.
8/29/85
Tony Armas goes 3-for-4 with 5 RBI as the Red Sox hammer the Indians 17-2. Cleveland relief pitcher Rich Thompson takes one for the team, allowing 11 earned runs on 10 hits in 3.1 innings.
8/29/85
Leon Durham homers twice and drives in five but the Cubs still fall to the Braves 9-6.
8/29/86
Joe Carter goes 5-for-5 and homers thrice and drives in six in a 7-3 Cleveland win over Boston.
8/29/87
Nolan Ryan passes the 200-strikeout mark for the 11th time in his career. He does it four more times before he retires.
8/29/88
David Cone throws a one-hitter in a 6-0 shutout of the Padres. It takes him just 113 pitches.
8/29/89
Carney Lansford and Jose Canseco combine to go 7-for-11 with 8 RBI in a 19-5 A’s win over the Yankees.
8/29/89
Rafael Ramirez goes 3-for-5 and drives in 7 but the Astros still lose 10-9 to the Cubs. What does Raffy have to do to get some freaking help?
8/29/89
Von Hayes homers thrice and drives in six in a 6-1 Phillies win over the Giants.
8/29/80
The Royals release Steve Busby and his career is over. He was one of the better pitchers in the American League from 1973 through 1975, compiling a 56-41 record with two no-hitters but then he blew out his shoulder.
8/29/87
The White Sox release Neil Allen. He signs with the Yankees the following week and pitches until 1990.
8/29/80
The Cardinals promote manager Whitey Herzog to General Manager, filling the void left by the dismissal of John Claiborne earlier in the month. Herzog would return to the dugout as manager in 1981 while retaining his GM duties. Red Schoendienst is named manager for the remainder of the season.
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