Categories: August

August 4th

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Dallas Green was born OTD in 1934. He passed away in 2017.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Roger Clemens, who won 354 games and seven Cy Young Awards. 

Happy ’80s Birthday to BJ Surhoff, drafted 1/1 out of North Carolina by the Brewers

Happy ’80s Birthday to Ben Hayes, who pitched for the Reds during their early ’80s glory years.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Johnny Grubb, who spent 16 seasons in the big leagues with four teams and also spent time as the hitting coach for the Colorado Silver Bullets, a women’s professional team in the mid-1990s.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Steve Davis, who appeared in 25 games for the Blue Jays and Indians over three seasons.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mark Wasinger, who spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Padres and Giants and later became a scout where he signed Jake Peavy, among others. 

Happy ’80s Birthday to John Farrell, who pitched in the big leagues for eight years and managed for seven. 

Happy ’80s Birthday to Ruben Rodriguez, who appeared in five games for the Pirates in 1986 and ’88. 

Happy ’80s Birthday to Matt Merullo, who made his debut in 1989 and played in six big league seasons. His grandfather, Lennie, played for the Cubs in the 1940s. 

8/4/82

The Mets trade Joel Youngblood to the Expos for a player to be named later (Tom Gorman).

Before being dealt, Youngblood gets a hit for the Mets and then goes to Philadelphia where he gets another with the Expos in the same day. 

8/4/89

The Angels trade minor leaguers Mark Doran and Roberto Hernandez to the White Sox for Mark Davis. 

Hernandez notches 161 saves for the Sox over the next seven years. 

8/4/86

The Astros sign Dale Berra as a free agent. He spends the rest of the year in Triple-A and returns to the bigs in 1987. 

8/4/89

The Giants sign Bob Knepper as a free agent. He finishes his career with two more years in San Francisco and retires after 1990. 

8/4/80

Rafael Ramierz makes his big league debut as a defensive repacement. He remains a staple of TBS programming until being dealt to Houston in 1988.

8/4/83

Dave Winfield has a run-in with a seagull. It ends poorly for the seagull.

Big Days

8/4/80

Rollie Fingers enters in the 7th inning against the Cincinnati Reds with two on and one out. It doesn’t go well. The next seven Reds hitters reach base as Cincinnati drops an 8 spot on the Padres. Fingers is charged with 5 earned runs in 0 innings. But he still had the coolest mustache in the big leagues.

8/4/82

The Mets steal six bases in six attempts against the Cubs. Hubie Brooks leads with two.

8/4/85

Tom Seaver records his 300th career win. He finishes with 311.

8/4/85

Rodney Cline Carew collects his 3000th hit. He finishes his career with 3,053. 

8/4/86

Vince Coleman goes 3 for 4 with 4 stolen bases in a 3-2 win over the Phillies. The four bags give Coleman 75 on the year. He’d finish the season, his 2nd in the big leagues, with a league-leading 107. 

8/4/87

John Kruk goes 3 for 5 with 7 RBI but the Padres lose 12-7 because John Kruk is just one man and can’t do everything by himself.

8/4/88

Dave Stewart throws a one-hit shutout against the Mariners. Stew throws just 107 pitches, strikes out seven, and walks one. The lone hit came off the bat of Jay Buhner in the 3rd inning. 

8/4/88

Sid Fernandez strikes out 11 in 6 1/3 innings and the Mets and Cubs combine for 27 punchouts in a 4-3 Chicago win. 

8/4/89

Dave Stieb is one strike away from a perfect game when it’s broken up by Roberto Kelly. 

It’s the third time in his career he’s lost a no-hitter in the 9th inning. 

Transactions

8/4/80

The Yankees purchase Aurelio Rodriguez from the Padres to fill in for Graig Nettles, who is out with infectious hepatitis.

8/4/81

The Giants release pitcher Randy Moffitt. He signs with the Astros in 1982 and finishes his career with Toronto in 1983. 

8/4/81

The Giants release Bill North and his career is over. He finishes with 1,016 career hits and two rings. 

8/4/87

The Cubs release Ron Davis. He signs with the Dodgers and finishes his big league career with the Giants in 1988. 

Injuries

8/4/84

The Braves place Len Barker on the DL with an elbow problem and his season is over. He throws just 117 1/3 innings over the next three seasons and his career is over.

Managerial Changes

8/4/80

Maury Wills takes over as Mariners manager and it doesn’t go well. Under Wills, the M’s go 26-56 in 1980 and 1981, and his tenure is marked by embarrassing missteps and a suspension.

8/4/84

The Giants fire Frank Robinson and replace him with Danny Ozark.

In four seasons in San Francisco, Robinson goes 264-277. He returns to the bench in 1988 with the Orioles. 

Deaths

We lost J.R. Richard OTD in 2021. 

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J. Daniel

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