Happy ’80s Birthday to Jesus Maria “Pepe” Frias.
Known more for his glove than his bat, Frias hit exactly one home run in his career. It was a solo shot off John Candelaria in 1979.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Steve Stone, who turned in a career season in 1980, en route to the Cy Young Award.
Stone finished the season 25-7 with a 3.23 ERA in 250 innings.
He also posed for Playgirl, but I’ll let you Google that on your own.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Chuck Rainey, who was on pace for a great year in 1980 when an elbow injury struck.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Robin Ventura, who had an outstanding college career, played on the U.S. Olympic Team, and spent 16 years in the big leagues.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Billy Smith, who spent six years in the big leagues and wrapped up his career in 1981 with the Giants. won four games for the Indians in 1982 and 1983.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Dopson, who pitched in eight seasons and won a career-high 12 games in 1989 for Boston.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Victor Rodriguez, who played in 17 big league games for the Orioles and Twins in the 1980s.
He also spent 19 years in the minor leagues.
7/14/87
The Royals trade Juan Beniquez to the Blue Jays for Luis Aquino.
Beniquez finishes his career in Toronto after the 1988 season.
7/14/88
The Cubs trade Dave Martinez to the Expos for Mitch Webster.
Martinez was just solid.
7/14/80
The Cubs sign Rolando Roomes as an amateur free agent.
Chicago trades him to Cincinnati in 1988 in exchange for Lloyd McClendon and he gets the bulk of his major league at-bats with the Reds in 1989.
7/14/85
The Dodgers sign Henry Rodriguez as an amateur free agent.
He makes his big league debut in 1992 and spends eleven years in the major leagues, twice topping the 30-homer mark.
7/14/86
The Tigers sign Jim Slaton as a free agent.
He appears in 22 games and his career is over.
He finishes with 151 wins over 16 seasons.
7/14/88
The Cardinals sign Dan Quisenberry as a free agent.
He spends a season and a half in St. Louis, then wraps up his career in 1990 as a member of the Giants.
7/14/80
J.R. Richard makes the last start of his career. He leaves the game against the Braves after just 3.1 innings complaining of nausea. He was placed on the disabled list and suffered a career-ending stroke a few weeks later.
7/14/87
The BBWAA votes to rename the Rookie of the Year Award in honor of Jackie Robinson.
7/14/87
Tim Raines goes 3 for 3 with 2 RBI to earn MVP honors in the All-Star Game.
7/14/88
Michael Jack Schmidt announces he intends to play in 1989 and then hits his 537th career home run to pass Mickey Mantle and move into 7th place on the all-time list.
7/14/88
Ken Griffey collects his 2,000th career hit in a game against the Mets. He’d finish with 2,143.
7/14/89
Sid Fernandez strikes out 16 against Atlanta but is tagged with a 3-2 loss when Lonnie Smith leads off the 9th inning with a home run.
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