J. Daniel
January 4th
Happy Birthday to Daryl Boston and Wade Boggs & Ryne Sandberg get the Hall Call on January 4th in 1980s…
January 3rd
Happy Birthday to Gary Lavelle and the Mets bring back a familiar face on January 3rd in 1980s Baseball
January 2nd
Happy Birthday to Edgar Martinez and Willie Stargell takes home some hardware on January 2nd in 1980s Baseball
That Time I Met Dan Gladden
Note: This is a guest post from Dan Leritz I grew up in Northern Minnesota in a small mining town…
The Incredible Journey of Kirby Puckett
If you weren’t paying attention it would have been pretty easy to miss a key moment in the Minnesota Twins…
6 Amazing Wade Boggs facts
Wade Boggs was one of the most dominant hitters in baseball during the decade of the 1980s. Here are six…
16 Ridiculous Nolan Ryan Statistics
How can a man who struck out nearly 900 more batters than anyone else in the history of the game…
The Kid from Left Field
Note: Former Padres employee Andy Strasberg posted this story in a Facebook group I'm in. I reached out to him…
Catch 365
Ethan Bryan plays catch. Every day. He’s played catch in the rain and the snow. He’s played catch on 90-degree…
Missed it By That Much – The Danny Goodwin Story
There were three future Hall-of-Famers picked in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft. Danny Goodwin was selected ahead of all…
A conversation with Maz Adams
Maz Adams has been drawing for as long as he can remember. His artistic progression has taken him from drawing…
When Reggie Flirted with Ted Turner
"Reggie Jackson is the ''straw that stirs the drink'' on the Yankees now. Unless a serious problem develops in the…
Bruno’s Shoebox
Conrad Brunner spent 40 years writing about athletes. Now he sells them. One card at a time. Brunner runs a…
Why June 8th, 1980 was the most important day of the 1982 World Series
Nearly every World Series has a turning point; a moment that shifts the balance in favor of one team or…
Chris Browne: A Baseball Life
George Bell made history in 1988 and Chris Browne was there. He had one of the best seats in the…
Ballpark Ghosts: Riverfront Stadium
"It's Here! It's Real! It's Grand! -Cincinnati Enquirer, 7/1/70 on the opening of Riverfront Stadium Thirty-two years later, Riverfront Stadium…
A Conversation with the man behind Gummy Arts
Baseball Twitter is better because Mike Noren is part of it. Noren is the brains, and the pencils, behind Gummy…
The decade begins
The first Opening Day of the new decade brought baseball fans a brand new statistic and the season highlight in…
My Kids Are Retired
Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the 1980s. It's also sappy as hell. I sucked as a baseball…
7 Amazing Rickey Henderson Stolen Base Facts
Rickey Henderson was the best leadoff hitter in the history of the game and also one of the most exciting.…
The Trade
Ryne Sandberg was expendable in January of 1982. With the benefit of hindsight, the Phillies trade of Sandberg and Larry…
Ballpark Ghosts: Tiger Stadium
Bob Busser shot his first ballpark photographs in 1967 with a brownie camera. Since then he’s been to nearly 800…
The Best of 2017 on ’80s Baseball
I started this blog at the beginning of 2016 as a companion to a book I was writing. I'm happy…
Dream Season: Rickey Henderson
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I'm going to crunch…
The Quest for Razor Shines
Note: This is a guest post from Nate Dunlevy My best friend and I just spent dozens of hours and…
A Conversation with John Giancaspro
It started with Ivan DeJesus. John Giancaspro opened a pack of 1982 Donruss baseball cards, pulled an Ivan DeJesus Diamond King…
Dodgers Astros Showdown
“For you guys who don’t think we can win four in a row, do us a favor. Don’t get dressed.”…
Larry Bowa: Pride of Philadelphia and Sacramento
NOTE: This is a guest post from Marshall Garvey It’s become something of a cliche to praise a modern player…
A Discussion with Sean Kane
Your average fan uses a baseball glove to, you know, catch baseballs. Sean Kane uses them to create amazing pieces of…
A Discussion with Tim Carroll
Growing up, we learned to take care of our baseball cards because they would be valuable some day. We may…
Dream Season: Wade Boggs
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I'm going to crunch…
Mark Fidrych Roundtable Discussion Part II
Note: This is the second part of a virtual "roundtable discussion" with baseball authors, and Mark Fidrych specialists, Dan Epstein and…
Mark Fidrych Roundtable Discussion Part I
Mark Fidrych walked off the mound at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto on October 1st, 1980 after throwing five innings against…
(Mark) Clear as Mud
Not many guys can go from getting seriously knocked around in the Appy League to becoming a Major League All-Star…
Cecil Cooper and the Forgotten Summer of 1980
Like the character in the movie Airplane!, who picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman…
Wild One at the Vet
Sometimes mistakes can work in your favor. That was certainly the case for Tommy Lasorda and the L.A. Dodgers when they…
Barry Foote Day at Wrigley Field
Weird things happen at Wrigley Field. It's baseball's version of a box of chocolate; you never know what you'll find.…
Brewer Bombers
It took the Milwaukee Brewers all of 11 innings to assert themselves as one of the top offensive teams of…
The Ultimate Tim Wallach Collector
Tim Wallach had 8,099 career at-bats. Corey Stackhouse has 19,000 Tim Wallach baseball cards and he’s probably headed to the…
On Dallas Green
"Dallas Green... was tall, blunt, and had a voice like a foghorn." -Bill Giles Midway through the 1979 season, it…
Ellis Valentine: Humanitarian
Fans of ‘80s baseball remember Ellis Valentine. He had an absolute cannon in right field for the Expos and was…
All-’80s Baseball Hoops Team
It’s NCAA Basketball tournament time and that can mean only one thing: Baseball! Not only were the ‘80s a great…
Dream Season: George Brett
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I'm going to crunch…
Dream Season: Mike Schmidt
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I'm going to crunch…
Gorman Texas Ranger
"They know when to cheer and they know when to boo. And then know when to drink beer. They do…
Best Baseball Weekend EVER
It was January of 1995 and Mike Schmidt had just been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I distinctly…
The Best of 2016 on ’80s Baseball
I started this blog 364 days ago. Since then, I've published 64 posts, including guest posts, for which I'm very…
The Day I Worked for My Favorite Baseball Team (Oh, and I Was 13-Years-Old)
Note: The following is a guest post from Matt Sammon. I had always liked sports as a kid, although I…
That Time I Wrote George Bamberger
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I grew up in Wisconsin as a Milwaukee Brewers fan, but…
Baseball Nivrana
I've been a collector for my entire life. You never know when you may need a 37-year-old pocket schedule and…
Joe Morgan’s Mysterious Dodgers Connection
Joe Morgan made a career out of beating the Los Angeles Dodgers. The damage varied from beating L.A. in the regular…
The Remarkable Rookie Year of Mitchell Page
The Pirates bus sat waiting for a trip to Lakeland when someone told Mitchell Page to report to the team office. "I…
Game Six
You never forget your first time. For me it was October 21st, 1980; the night I had my first championship…
That Time I Met Sixto Lezcano
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I grew up watching Sixto Lezcano patrol the outfield for the…
7 Reasons The 1980 Pennant Race Was Fantastic
Four teams, two spots, one weekend. That's what the 1980 pennant race came down to in the National League. The…
Missed it By That Much – The Mike Parrott story
Every baseball player has bad years. Both Cy Young and Walter Johnson posted 20-loss seasons. Mike Schmidt hit .196 in…
Rick Langford: Iron Man
Billy Martin strode to the mound at Arlington Stadium to talk to his starter, Rick Langford. "I think it's time…
Missed It By That Much – The Drungo Hazewood Story
The runners were tense at the starting line. The 1960 Summer Olympics were about a year away, but there…
George Brett and the Amazing Summer of 1980
If you're going to hit .400, or even have a shot, it helps to put together a summer like…
Baseball Returns to Buffalo with Real Power
Note: This is a guest post from Greg Lucas After nearly an eight year hiatus, professional baseball returned to Buffalo…
George Brett: The Pine Tar Game
Note: This is a guest post from Rocco ConstantinoJuly 24, 1983The old baseball cliché is that you see something new…
Reflections on Riverfront Stadium
I didn't grow up going to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. I cut my teeth as a baseball fan at…
Reggie Jackson Cheated Death in 1980… Twice
Reggie Jackson had a pretty good year in 1980. He hit .300 for the only time in his career, led…
That Time I Met Robin Yount
Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow I feel fortunate to have grown up in what many consider…
Doug Ault’s Cleveland Laser Show
Early August in a nearly empty stadium with two bad teams going head-to-head isn't exactly the setting you'd expect for…
The 1980s were a Rough Decade for the Yankees
Note: This is a guest post from Eric Kabakoff I first started following baseball in 1985, shortly after that year’s…
Missed it by that Much – The Britt Burns story
"If that kid's not Rookie of the Year, there's no such thing," said White Sox skipper Tony La Russa after…
That Time I Met Johnny Bench (Twice)
If you were a kid in southwestern Ohio in the 1970s and you could eat anywhere you wanted, the answer…
Missed it by that Much: The Dan Graham Story
If you happened to read the transactions section on December 8th, 1979 you probably would have missed it. The previous…
That Time I Met The Orioles
It’s tough to be the new kid. Having someone introduce you helps. Having someone introduce you to about half the…
Missed it by that much: The Karl Pagel story
If there was a Futures Game in 1980 he would have been a headliner. Karl Pagel was a can't miss…
That Time I Met Nolan Ryan
Note: This is a guest post from Scott Ottenweller In the late ’70s my family moved from New York to…
And Barfield in Right
NOTE: This is a guest post from Andrew Forbes I recently attended a game with another writer whose task, appointed…
The 1980 All-Star Game
There have been 87 All-Star games in major league history. Exactly one of them took place at Dodger Stadium. Watching…
That Time I Met Eric Davis
Note: This is a guest post from Nate Dunlevy My love affair with baseball began with the same cliches that…
Jimmy Piersall Loses It… Again
The summer of 1980 was brutal. A heatwave swept across the southeast which resulted in nearly 150 deaths across seven states. From…
That Time I Met George Brett
NOTE: This is a guest post from Tim Harms. Manners matter. More on that in a moment as I share…
The weirdest day of the 1980 season
"Is it a full moon or somethin'?" That's what my mother-in-law says when weird stuff happens. June 20th, 1980 must…
Super Joe Charboneau
Being an Indians fan is hard. REALLY HARD. But in the spring of 1980, there was a glimmer of hope…
Schmidt, Carlton and the 1980 Phillies
The poster hung on the wall of my bedroom in southwest Ohio for years. MVP and CY. Mike Schmidt…
Schmidt & Brett in 1971
The most important day of the 1980 baseball season may very well have taken place in June of 1971. June…
It’s Strawberry Season
The Pittsburgh Pirates sent a scout to look at him. He left after a few minutes. Not because he wasn't…
1980’s Longest Hitting Streak
DiMaggio: 56 Other DiMaggio: 34 Landreaux: 31 Wait... what? From 1941 through 1980, the three longest hitting streaks in the…
Bad Blood at The Vet
"Green's Phillies Win Brawl Game" read one headline. "Phillies Wrestle First Place Away From Bucs" read another. On May 26th,…
It’s Rainey in Boston
Quick: Name the American League Pitcher of the Month in May 1980. Steve Stone won the Cy Young award, though a…
Moonlighting – Starring Ozzie Smith
Before there was Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd there was Ozzie Smith. While there may be no truth to the…
Reggie vs. Koosman
Reggie Jackson may have been the straw that stirred the drink, but it took a few years after his arrival…
McCovey’s Last Bomb
Sometimes you witness history and don't even know it. That was the case for the 18,622 people in attendance for…
Billy Martin vs. the Marshmallow Man Part II
The story of how Billy Martin lost his job with the Yankees after a fight with a marshmallow salesman in…
Horner vs. Turner
Bob Horner almost never played for the Atlanta Braves and it would have been Ted Turner's fault. Turner purchased the…
Al Bumbry
On my Facebook page, I like to find stories about guys rather than just post their batting average or home…
Send in the Qs
April 13th, 1980 began like just another day. But by the end of the evening, some 17,000 plus baseball fans…
The Birth of the Game Winning RBI
It seemed like a good idea at the time. At the beginning of 1980, Major League Baseball implemented Rule 1004-a,…
“The Kid” signed for me
I SUCKED at baseball when I was a kid. I was among the t-ball elite of Oxford, Ohio back in…
Bert Blyleven Bolts from the Bucs
The complete game is an anachronism in baseball today. But in 1980 it was an important part of the game…
Joe Morgan and J.R. Richard’s (not so ) Secret Mission
On April 1st, 1980, members of the Major League Baseball Players Association voted to walk out of the final week…
Desperado: The Jerry Terrell Story
967-1. That was the vote. On April 1st, 1980, players across the major leagues voted on whether or not to…
My Top 3 Larry Bowa Moments
I was an outsider. A malcontent. I grew up as a Phillies Phan in Reds Country in the 1970s. Mike…