Please join me in wishing a big Happy ’80s Birthday to the great Johnny Lee Bench. Best catcher ever and nothing else needs to be said.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Billy Bates, who scored perhaps the most important run for the Reds in the last 40 years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Shane Mack, who spent 9 years in the show roaming the outfield for the Twins, Padres, Royals, A’s, and Red Sox.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ozzie Virgil Jr. a two-time All-Star who spent 11 years in the bigs
Happy ’80s Birthday to Scot Thompson, who finished 3rd in the 1979 Rookie of the Year balloting and spent eight years in the bigs with the Cubs, Giants, and Expos.
Paul Dade was born OTD in 1951. He spent six years in the bigs and finished up up with the Padres in 1980. Paul passed away in 2016.
12/7/83
Cleveland trades trade Jack Perconte and Gorman Thomas to the Mariners for Tony Bernazard.
12/7/83
In a three-team deal, Scott Sanderson is traded from the Expos to the Cubs. Montreal receives pitcher Gary Lucas from San Diego‚ and the Padres get P Craig Lefferts‚ 1B-OF Carmelo Martinez and 3B Fritzie Connally from Chicago, and IF Al Newman from Montreal.
12/7/83
The Brewers trade Ned Yost and Dan Scarpetta to the Rangers for Jim Sundberg.
12/7/83
The Angels trade Tim Foli to the Yankees in exchange for Curt Kaufman and cash. Foli spends one year in the Bronx and finishes his career in 1985 with the Pirates.
12/7/84
The Tigers trade Howard Johnson to the Mets for Walt Terrell. Hojo goes to New York and rakes.
12/7/84
The Brewers trade Don Sutton to the A’s for a PTBNL, Eric Barry (minors), and Ray Burris. Sutton goes 13-8 in 29 starts in Oakland before being dealt to the Angels in September.
12/7/88
The Twins trade three minor leaguers to the Mets for Mike Santiago (minors) and Wally Backman.
12/7/88
The Angels trade Gus Polidor to the Brewers for Bill Schroeder.
12/7/80
Whitey Herzog makes his first major move in the St. Louis Cardinals rebuild when he signs catcher Darrell Porter as a free agent. He’d win the World Series MVP in 1982.
12/7/83
The Reds open their checkbook and sign native son Dave Parker. In four seasons in Cincinnati, Cobra hits .281 with 107 homers and 432 RBI. He finishes 2nd in the NL MVP balloting in 1985.
12/7/84
The Orioles sign Lee Lacy as a free agent.
12/7/84
The Braves sign Bruce Sutter to a six-year, $10 million free agent contract. He has a nice year in 1985 but blows out in 1986 and is never the same.
12/7/87
Bob Dernier‚ who hit a career-high .317 with 31 stolen bases for the Cubs in 1987‚ signs a one-year contract with his original major league club‚ the Phillies.
12/7/88
The Rangers sign Nolan Ryan, who wins 16 games the next season as a 42-year-old. Not too shabby
12/7/88
The Mariners sign Jeffrey Leonard as a free agent. He hits .253 with 34 homers over two seasons in Seattle and retires after 1990.
12/7/88
The Mariners sign Tom Niedenfuer as a free agent. He spends one year in Seattle and finishes his career with the Cardinals in 1990.
12/7/88
The Phillies sign Mike Schmidt as a free agent. Schmitty had flirted with the Reds but chose to finish his career in Philadelphia.
12/7/89
The Mariners sign Pete O’Brien to a four-year, $7.6 million deal as a free agent.
12/7/89
The Expos sign Oil Can Boyd as a free agent. He goes 10-6 in 1990 and 6-8 in 1991 before being dealt to Texas.
12/7/89
The Royals sign Storm Davis to a three-year, $6 million free agent deal.
12/7/89
Cleveland signs Keith Hernandez to a two-year, $3.5 million free agent deal.
12/7/89
The Detroit Tigers signed Lloyd Moseby as a free agent.
12/7/87
Pete Rose tells the media that he won’t play in 1988 but leaves the door open for a return.
“I’ve already played longer than (some people) thought I should,” he says. “You can call it retired or whatever you want to call it.”
12/7/88
The Phillies released Kent Tekulve. He signs with the Reds prior to 1989 and finishes his career in Cincinnati.
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