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February 17th

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Alan Wiggins 1985

The talented but troubled Alan Wiggins was born on this day in 1958. He passed away in 1991.

Jamie Easterly 1982 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jamie Easterly, who spent 13 years in the big leagues with the Braves, Indians, and Brewers He made his debut in 1974 and the first two batters he faced were Pete Rose and Joe Morgan. Welcome to the show, kid.

Roger Craig

Happy ’80s Birthday to pitching coach extraordinaire Roger Craig, who wore the uniform of nine different teams as a player, coach or manager and won four World Series rings.

Dave Roberts 1982 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Roberts, who was the top pick in the 1972 draft and made his big league debut the following day. 

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Macha, who appeared in 11 games for the Braves and Blue Jays in 1979 and 1980. 

Mike Hart 1988 Topps Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Hart, who appeared in 13 games for the 1984 Twins and 34 for the 1987 Orioles.

Mike Campbell 1989 Fleer Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Campbell, who was the 1987 Pacific Coast League MVP but suffered shoulder trouble and was unable to reach his potential. 

2/17/87

The Cubs trade Guy Hoffman to the Reds for Wade Rowdon. 

Hoffman goes 9-10 in his lone season in Cincinnati while Rowdon hits .226 in limited major league action for Chicago. 

Bill Castro 1981 Fleer Baseball Card

2/17/81

The Yankees sign Bill Castro as a free agent. He goes 1-1 for the Yankees and spends the next two years with the Royals before retiring. 

Jerry Morales 1981 Topps Traded baseball card

2/17/81

The Cubs sign Jerry Morales as a free agent. Morales was an all-star with the Cubs in 1977 and he returns to Chicago to finish his career. 

Dave Tomlin 1981 minor league baseball card

2/17/81

The Blue Jays sign Dave Tomlin as a free agent. He spends the year in the minor leagues but returns to the majors in 1982 with Montreal and bounces back and forth between the big leagues and the minors through the 1987 season. 

J.R. Richard baseball card

2/17/84

The Astros sign J.R. Richard as a free agent but he never pitches. He’s released in April and his career is over. 

2/17/87

The Rangers sign Ed Jurak as a free agent. He spends the year in the minor leagues but returns to the big leagues in 1988 and ’89 with Oakland and San Francisco. 

Doug Bair 1989 minor league baseball card

2/17/89

The Blue Jays sign Doug Bair as a free agent. The veteran reliever spends one season in Toronto and finishes his career with two years in Pittsburgh.

Big Days

2/17/87

Don Mattingly wins his arbitration case and will make $1.975 million in 1987. The salary breaks the record for the largest amount ever awarded to a player set by Jack Morris just four days ago.

Fights

2/17/80

Jim Lefebvre and Tommy Lasorda go toe to toe in a TV studio. It doesn’t end well for Tommy. Here’s the story

Deaths

Larry Cox 1981 Topps Baseball Card

We lost Larry Cox OTD in 1990. 

Tony Phillips 1985 baseball card

We lost Tony Phillips OTD in 2016. 

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