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January 13th

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Happy ’80s Birthday to Kevin Mitchell, who had a monster year for the Giants in 1989, smacking 47 homers and driving in 121. He finished his 13-year career with a .284 batting average and 234 dingers, and a nice catch.

Mike Tyson 1982 Topps Baseball Card

Happy 80’s Birthday to the original Mike Tyson!

Happy ’80s Birthday to Billy Jo Robidoux, who went .342/23/132 in El Paso in 1985 and seemed destined for stardom but it didn’t happen.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Bob Galasso, who pitched in 55 games for the Mariners and Brewers between 1977 and 1981 and also played in the Senior League and in Italy.

Odell Jones 1980 Topps Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Odell Jones, who won 24 games over nine seasons in the bigs and later played in the Senior League.

Jose Nunez 1987 Fleer Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jose Nunez, who went 5-2 as a rookie for the Blue Jays in 1987 and pitched until 1990 before becoming a coach in the Brewers organization.

Steve Comer 1983 Fleer Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Steve Comer, who pitched in the bigs for seven years, primarily for the Rangers. He won 28 games over his first two seasons and later became a reliever.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Madden, who went 9-5 as a rookie for the Astros in 1983 and pitched until 1986.

Gene Roof 1982 Donruss Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Gene Roof, who spent three seasons in the bigs with the Cardinals and Expos and won a ring in 1982.

Bob Forsch was born on this day in 1950. He won 168 games in the bigs and is part of the only brother tandem in history to each throw a no-hitter. He passed away in 2011.

Mike Torrez 1983 Topps baseball card

1/13/83

The Red Sox trade Mike Torrez to the Mets for a PTBNL. New York sent Mike Davis to Boston to complete the trade.

1/13/84

The Dodgers sign Terry Whitfield as a free agent. He had spent the previous three seasons in Japan.

1/13/83

Coming on the heels of their World Series run, the Brewers announce that they have accidentally sold more than 70,000 tickets for Opening Day despite the fact that Milwaukee County Stadium holds only 53,000 people.

Big Days

1/13/82

Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson become the 12th and 13th players elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in their first year of eligibility. Between the two of them, they hit an even .300 with 1,341 homers, 4,109 RBI, 3 MVP Awards, 11 additional Top-5 MVP finishes, 3 World Series Championships and a Rookie of the Year Award.

Transactions

1/13/81

The Tigers select Bob Melvin in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the secondary phase of the January draft. He makes his big-league debut in 1985 and is traded to the Giants in October.

Rob Murphy 1982 minor league baseball card

1/13/81

The Reds select Rob Murphy in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the secondary phase of the January draft. He makes his big-league debut in 1985 and pitches until 1996.

Glenn Davis 1982 minor league baseball card

1/13/81

The Houston Astros select Glenn Davis in the 1st round (5th pick) of the secondary phase of the January draft. He makes his big-league debut in 1984 and hits 190 homers over ten seasons.

Herm Winningham 1982 minor league baseball card

1/13/81

The Mets select Herm Winningham in the 1st round (9th pick) of the secondary phase of the January draft. He makes his big-league debut in 1984 and wins a ring with the Reds in 1990.

1/13/81

The Phillies select Kevin Gross in the 1st round (11th pick) of the secondary phase of the January draft. He makes his debut in 1983 and pitches for 15 years.

1/13/81

The Cubs select Billy Hatcher in the 6th round of the January draft. He makes his debut in 1984 and wins a ring with the Reds in 1990.

1/13/83

The Phillies release Rowland Office. He signs with the Yankees and spends most of the year in Triple-A. He appears in two games at the major league level and his career is over.

Steve Garvey 1987 Topps Baseball Card

1/13/88

Steve Garvey announces his retirement. He goes out with a .294 career batting average, 272 home runs, a ring, and an MVP.

Deaths

Mel Stottlemyre 1987 baseball card

Mel Stottlemyre passed away OTD in 2019. He was a 5-time All-Star and later became one of the most respected pitching coaches in the game.

Doug Harvey 1988 Baseball Card

Former umpire Doug Harvey passed away OTD in 2018. His nickname was God.

Preston Gomez baseball card

Former Padres, Astros, and Cubs skipper Preston Gomez passed away OTD in 2009

We lost Johnny Podres OTD in 2008. Podres won four rings as a player, including winning the 1955 World Series MVP, and then spent 23 years as a pitching coach in the big leagues.

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