Categories: December

December 26th

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Happy ’80s Birthday to The Wizard of Oz!

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mario Mendoza. The original Super Mario.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Carlton Fisk, who caught in the big leagues for 24 years. Twenty-Four Freaking Years. 1972 Rookie of the Year 11-Time All-Star Gold Glove Winner Hall of Famer

Happy ’80s Birthday to Phormer Philies Phenom Jeff Stone, who kinda Phizzled after batting .362 in 51 games in 1984.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Traber, who hit 13 homers in 65 games for the Orioles in 1986. He also sang the National Anthem on the day of his big-league debut.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jeff King, who played a solid 3B for the Pirates and Royals for 11 seasons.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Storm Davis, who threw six scoreless in Game 4 of the 1983 ALCS against the White Sox, which helped propel the Orioles to the World Series.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Chris Chambliss, who is one of four members of the Cleveland Indians to win Rookie of the Year, Chris spent 17 years in the bigs with the Tribe, Yankees, and Braves. He once hit a really big home run

Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Rader, who spent ten years in the bigs with five teams and was the runner-up to Jon Matlack in the 1972 N.L. Rookie of the Year balloting.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Willis, who spent five years with the Blue Jays and was one of three people to beat Ron Guidry in his remarkable 1978 season. He later became a pitching coach.

12/26/80

The Orioles sign Eddie Murray to a 5-year deal worth more than $5 million. Not bad for a guy who made $150,000 in 1980.

12/26/84

The Brewers sign Yutaka Enatsu as a free agent.

The 36-year-old Enatsu is one of the top strikeout pitchers in Japan. He posts a 4.91 E.R.A. in spring training and is one of the last players cut in 1985. 

12/26/88

The Mets sign Kevin McReynolds to a three-year deal worth $5.5 million. McReynolds had said he would become a free agent after December 31st if the Mets didn’t sign him. He was coming off a year in which he hit .288 with 27 homers and 99 RBI and finished 3rd in the N.L. MVP balloting.  

Deaths

We lost Paul Blair OTD in 2013

We lost Chris Brown OTD in 2006

We lost The Pope OTD in 2003

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J. Daniel

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