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Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Rozema, who threw 218 innings with 16 complete games for the Tigers as a 20-year-old rookie in 1977 and finished 4th in the A.L. Rookie of the Year balloting.
Rick Mahler was born on this day in 1953. Mahler spent 13 years in the big leagues and threw an opening day shutout for the Braves in 1982. He passed away in 2005
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rick Bosetti, who spent seven years in the big leagues and claimed to have urinated in the outfield of every major league ballpark.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Bernie Carbo, who made his debut with the Reds in 1969 and finished up with the Pirates in 1980.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Edler, who spent four years in the bigs with the Mariners and was later elected mayor of Yakima, Washington.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Reid Nichols, who spent eight years in the big leagues with three teams and later served as the farm director for the Brewers and Rangers.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Olerud, who spent 17 years hitting bullets in the big leagues and won a batting title in 1993 when he hit .363 for Toronto.
8/5/80
The Pirates traded Rick Lancellotti and Luis Salazar to the Padres for a PTBNL and Kurt Bevacqua. The Padres sent Mark Lee to Pittsburgh to complete the trade. Bevacqua returns to San Diego in 1982 and makes friends with Tom Lasorda.
8/5/88
The Reds sign Eddie Milner as a free agent.
He hits .176 in 23 games and his career is over.
8/5/80
Jeff Stember goes three innings against the Astros in his big league debut. It turns out to be the only major league appearance he’d make.
8/5/82
Rick Steirer throws two innings of relief against the Twins in his big league debut.
He’d pitch in three seasons for the Angels and win four games.
8/5/86
John Morris goes 0 for 2 with two walks against the Phillies in his big league debut.
He’d collect his first two hits two days later and spend seven years in the majors.
8/5/88
German Gonzalez throws a scoreless inning against the Yankees in his big league debut.
He’d pitch for the Twins in 1988 and ’89 and win three games.
8/5/88
Jeff Brantley throws two scoreless in his big league debut.
He’d pitch for 14 years and rack up 172 career saves.
8/5/83
AL President Lee McPhail suspends Billy Martin for two games after Martin called umpire Dale Ford a liar over a dispute in a Yankees/White Sox game on July 31.
Martin was upset because Ford limited the number of warmup throws allowed to Butch Wynegar, who replaced the ejected Rick Cerone.
8/5/83
A Toronto judge throws out charges against Dave Winfield after his throw accidentally killed a seagull.
8/5/87
Joe Niekro is suspended for 10 days for doctoring the baseball.
On the plus side, he gets to go on Letterman.
Big Days
8/5/80
Doug Flynn goes 3 for 5 with three triples in an 11-5 loss to the Expos.
8/5/80
Dick Williams wins his 1,000th game as a manager. He’d finish his career with 1,571 wins, 4 pennants, and 2 World Series titles.
8/5/85
Darryl Strawberry goes 4 for 4 with three homers and five RBI in a 7-2 win over the Cubs.
8/5/86
Gary Gaetti and Brian Downing each go 4 for 5 as the Angels bang out 18 hits and draw 11 walks in a 13-1 win over the Twins.
It’s not often you leave 17 men on base and win by 12 but the Angels did it on this day.
8/5/86
Steven Norman Carlton becomes just the 2nd pitcher ever to reach 4,000 career strikeouts.
8/5/86
Billy Hatcher’s grand slam highlights a big day for the Astros, who score nine runs in the final two innings to beat the Dodgers 10-2.
8/5/89
Darnell Coles homers twice and drives in six in an 11-5 win over Oakland.
8/5/89
Dave Parker slugs career home run No. 300. He finishes his career with 339.
8/5/2001
Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett are inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with Maz.
Transactions
8/5/83
The Royals release Vida Blue, who began the season with an 0-6 record.
He signs with the Giants the following day and returns to the big leagues in 1985.
8/5/83
The Tigers release Bill Fahey and his career is over. He spends 11 years in the bigs and becomes a minor league manager.
8/5/84
The Pirates release Amos Otis, and the career of a super underrated dude is over. Five-time Al-Star, three Gold Gloves, finished in the Top-10 in MVP voting in four different seasons and hit .295 career in the postseason.
Fights
8/5/86
Damaso Garcia and Cliff Johnson get into a brief scuffle in the batting cage prior to Toronto’s game against Kansas City.
Garcia told Johnson, who was on the DL, that he shouldn’t be taking BP with the regulars. Johnson said if Garcia didn’t want him there he should come and get him.
I feel like getting into a fight with Cliff Johnson is never a good idea.
8/5/87
Alan Wiggins gets into altercations with Jim Dwyer, coach Elrod Hendricks, and Orioles manager Cal Ripken Sr. prior to Baltimore’s game with Milwaukee.
Wiggins is suspended “indefinitely” but returns to the team a few days later.
Injuries
8/5/82
Bob Horner hits a line drive off Fernando Valenzuela’s knee which forces Fernando to leave the game.
Five days later, Fernando throws a CG against the Reds.
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