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Happy ’80s Birthday to Gumby, Dammit!
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ron Kittle, who won the 1983 AL Rookie of the Year and is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Charlie Hough, who is the all-time MLB wins leader among Hawaii natives with 216. He struck out Willie Stargell to earn a save in his debut in 1970 and was the starter for the first game in Marlins history in 1993.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Bob Dernier, who won a ring with the Phillies in 1980 and was half of the Cubs Daily Double along with Ryno. The two of them combined to steal 77 bases and score 208 runs in 1984. Holy Cow.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Milt Thompson, who was an under-the-radar guy, but dude could hit. He was huge for the ’93 Phillies
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Russell, who was drafted in the 1st round out of Oklahoma by the Phillies in 1982 and spent 10 years in the big leagues with them, the Braves and the Rangers. He also managed the Pirates.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Henry Cotto, who spent ten years in the big leagues with four teams and another seventeen as a minor-league coach.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Danny Jackson, who made his debut with the Royals and won 23 games for the 1988 Reds. Over 15 seasons, Danny won 112 games and two rings
Happy ’80s Birthday to Juan Nieves, who won 32 games for the Brewers between 1986 and 1988, including a no-hitter, before suffering an arm injury that ended his career.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Davis, who pitched in the bigs for four seasons and won seven games for three teams.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Littlefield, who won seven games for the Cardinals and Padres in 1980 and 1981. He went from St. Louis to San Diego in an 11-player trade that sent Rollie Fingers and Gene Tenace to the Cardinals. St. Luis flipped Fingers to the Brewers a few days later
1/5/83
The Royals trade Rich Gale to the Reds in exchange for Mike Vail. Gale goes 4-6 in his one season in Cincinnati before finishing his big-league career with Boston in 1984. The Giants flip Vail to the Giants at the end of spring training in exchange for Wallace Johnson.
1/5/80
The Royals sign Tom Candiotti as a free agent after he pitched in the Northwest League in 1979. He goes 10-10 at two minor league levels and is selected by the Brewers in the Rule IV draft in December.
1/5/82
Frank Tanana signs a free agent deal with the Rangers. Unfortunately for Frank, he leads the A.L. with 18 losses on a dreadful team. He pitches for another 11 years and wins another 127 games before retiring.
1/5/84
The Yankees sign Phil Niekro as a free agent. In his age-45 season, Knucksie wins 16 games and throws 215 innings.
1/5/84
The Cubs sign Richie Hebner as a free agent. He spends his final two seasons in Chicago and retires after the 1985 season.
1/5/88
The Red Sox sign Dennis Lamp as a free agent. He spends four years in Boston, winning 20 games and recording two saves before finishing his career in Pittsburgh in 1992.
1/5/88
The Reds sign Ron Roenicke as a free agent. He splits the year between Triple-A Nashville and Cincinnati and finishes his career in the Texas organization in 1989.
1/5/88
The Dodgers sign Don Sutton as a free agent. He returns to L.A. to finish his career and goes 3-6 in 16 starts.
1/5/89
The Expos sign Darryl Motley as a free agent. He spends the year in Triple-A and splits 1990 between the Reds and Rangers organizations.
Big Days
1/5/85
Lance Parrish guest stars on Diff’rent Strokes
1/5/89
MLB signs a $400 million contract with ESPN to televise 175 games per season on cable beginning in 1990.
1/5/93
Voters decide that 563 career dingers, an MVP, and 5 rings outweigh Reggie’s attempting to assassinate the Queen of England and elect him to the HOF
1/5/98
Don Sutton is elected to the Hall of Fame, largely on the strength of his Match Game performance. And his perm.
1/5/99
George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount are elected to the Hall of Fame. Orlando Cepeda is elected by the Veterans Committee.
Deaths
We lost Jerry Coleman OTD in 2014
We lost Tugger OTD in 2004 I met him at an event in Clearwater in the 1990s and, being a total dork, I said “I’ll never forget you striking out Willie Wilson to end the 1980 World Series.” I’m quite sure Tug remembered it, too, and I’m also sure he’d heard that thousands of times. To his eternal credit, Tugger looked at me and said, “Ah, Willie Wilson. My favorite baseball player.” Tugger was the best.
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