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January 20th

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Ozzie Guillen 1989 baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to the always interesting Ozzie Guillen, who won a Rookie of the Year with the White Sox and a World Series as their manager.

Cecil Espy 1988 Fleer baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Cecil Espy, who was a first-round pick of the White Sox in 1980 and spent eight years in the big leagues with the Rangers, Dodgers, Pirates, and Reds.

Bill Scherrer 1984 Fleer Baseball Card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Bill Scherrer, who spent seven years in the bigs with four teams, including the Tigers, with whom he won a ring in 1984.

Dale Murray 1981 minor league baseball card

1/20/81

The Blue Jays sign Dale Murray as a free agent. He goes 9-7 over two seasons and signs with the Yankees prior to 1983

Bill Nahorodny 1982 Indians postcard

1/20/82

The Indians sign Bill Nahorodny as a free agent. He splits the year between Triple-A and the big leagues before signing with Detroit in 1983.

Pete Rose 1984 Baseball Card

1/20/84

Pete Rose signs with the Montreal Expos as a free agent and a glorious 95-game stint north of the border ensues.

Vida Blue 1986 Mothers

1/20/87

The A’s sign Vida Blue as a free agent. He retires during spring training and his career is over. 

1/20/88

The Pirates sign Dave Hostetler as a free agent. Hostetler had played the previous two seasons in Japan. He splits the year between Triple-A and Pittsburgh and his career is over.

1/20/88

The Yakult Swallows of the Japanese League sign Doug DeCinces to a one-year, $700,000 contract. He hits .244 with 19 homers in 84 games and retires.

Big Days

1/20/88

The Players Association files a grievance against MLB owners charging collusion for the third year in a row.

“The charge is ludicrous,” claims the owners’ rep Barry Rona. The owners are ultimately found guilty of collusion for the third year in a row.

Transactions

1/20/83

The Mariners select Danny Tartabull from the Reds as a free agent compensation pick. Wasn’t free agent compensation great?

Rudy May 1983 Donruss Baseball Card

1/20/83

The White Sox select Rudy May as compensation for the Yankees’ signing of free agent Steve Kemp. May’s contract had expired, but his agent, Dick Moss, successfully argued that his no-trade clause was still in effect, and he re-signs with the Yankees.

1/20/84

The White Sox claim Tom Seaver from the New York Mets as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Dennis Lamp. The Mets left Seaver unprotected, thinking no one would claim a 39-year-old pitcher coming off a bad season. They were wrong.

Deaths

Mike Sadek 1980 baseball card

We lost Mike Sadek OTD in 2021

Moose Stubing 1989 Topps baseball card

We lost former Angels skipper Moose Stubing OTD in 2018. He played and managed in the big leagues but never recorded a hit (0-for-5) as a player or a win (0-8) as a manager.

Bill Johnson 1984 minor league baseball card

Former Cubs pitcher Bill Johnson passed away OTD in 2018

Vern Ruhle 1985 Fleer Baseball Card

We lost Vern Ruhle OTD in 2007. Ruhle spent 13 years in the big leagues and won 12 games for the Astros after filling the rotation slot vacated when J.R. Richard had a stroke. After retirement, he spent many years as a pitching coach.

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