Former Orioles and Blue Jays pitcher Mike Flanagan was born on this day in 1951. Mike won 23 games, and the AL Cy Young Award, in 1979 and pitched in the bigs for 18 years. He passed away in 2011.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Billy Ripken, who once had a baseball card of some renown.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rick Sofield, who turned down a scholarship to play football at Michigan after he was drafted by the Twins. He played parts of three season for the Twins and later coached in the minor leagues
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tom Gorman, who spent parts of seven years in the bigs with the Mets, Expos, Phillies, and Padres.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rondin Johnson, who appeared in 11 games for the 1986 Royals.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ted Wilborn, who appeared in 30 games for the Blue Jays and Yankees in 1979 and 1980.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Paul Noce, who played in 71 games for the Cubs and Mets over two seasons in the bigs and spent 20 years as the head coach at Hillsdale College, in Michigan.
12/16/82
The Reds trade Tom Seaver back to the Mets for Jason Felice, Lloyd McClendon and Charlie Puleo in a deal that had been in the works for quite a while. The major sticking point for the Reds was the inclusion of Charlie Puleo, who had won nine games in 1982 for the Mets. In five and a half seasons in Cincinnati, Seaver wins 75 games and throws a no-hitter.
12/16/85
The Cubs trade a PTBNL and Billy Hatcher to the Astros for Jerry Mumphrey.
12/16/88
The Phillies trade Milt Thompson to the Cardinals for Curt Ford and Steve Lake which allows this to happen.
12/16/80
The Mets sign Rusty Staub as a free agent. He hits .276 in his second stint in New York and retires prior to 1986.
12/16/81
The Braves sign Andres Thomas as an amateur free agent. He makes his big-league debut in 1985 and spends six seasons in Atlanta.
12/16/88
The Cardinals sign Bob Tewksbury as a free agent. He spends most of 1989 in the minor leagues but goes 66-46 from 1990 through 1994 before moving on to Texas.
12/16/88
Jim Clancy signs a three-year deal with the Astros worth $3.45 million after spending his entire career with the Blue Jays.
12/16/80
George Steinbrenner and Bill Veeck trade barbs with Veeck calling Steinbrenner a convicted felon and Steinbrenner saying that Veeck was the real reason Eddie DeBartolo’s purchase of the White Sox was not approved by the rest of the owners.
“I feel sorry for poor Bill Veeck,” said Steinbrenner. “I don’t think anyone in the country thinks his remarks were in good taste.”
Veeck accused Steinbrenner of being afraid DeBartolo would compete with him for players.
12/16/86
The Twins reject multiple contract proposals from free agent pitcher Jack Morris and he eventually returns to Detroit. This is what the baseball owners called “fiscal responsibility” and it was openly talked about that teams would not bid on players from other teams.
12/16/83
George fires Billy for the 3rd time.
Former Toronto Blue Jays manager Bobby Mattick passed away OTD in 2004. He spent 70 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach, and scout.
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