Kirby Puckett was born on this day in 1960 and we miss him.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kevin Brown, who was drafted out of Georgia Tech in 1986 and went from the Gulf Coast League to the Big Leagues by the end of the season. He started one game for the Rangers in 1986 and went 5 while allowing just two runs and picking up a win. He spent all of 1987 and most of 1988 in the minors, then finished 6th in the 1989 Rookie of the Year vote.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Butch Wynegar, who was drafted in the 2nd round in 1974 out of high school and finished 2nd in the 1976 Rookie of the Year race to Mark Fidrych before spending 13 years in the bigs with the Twins, Yankees and Angels.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Steve Lake, who spent 11 years in the big leagues and once shared a baseball card with his pet Ruffles
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ty Waller, who played professionally for 11 years, including parts of four years in the big leagues and then coached or managed in the minor leagues until 2015.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tim Ireland, who appeared in 11 games for the Royals in 1981 and ’82 and served as a minor league coach and manager as well as a scout specializing in the Pacific Rim for multiple organizations.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave McKay, who spent 8 years in the big leagues and was the only Canadian on the roster of the 1977 Blue Jays.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Rochford, a native New Englander who pitched in 8 games for the Red Sox between 1988 and 1990.
3/14/83
Steve Carlton becomes the highest-paid pitcher in baseball when he signs a deal that guarantees him $1.15 Million for 1983.
3/14/86
The Blue Jays sign Cesar Cedeno as a free agent. They release him at the end of spring training.
He plays 37 games with the Dodgers and his career is over.
3/14/80
Darryl Porter leaves Royals camp and checks into drug and alcohol rehab. He returns to the team in May and makes the All-Star team. Some of the stories in his book are harrowing.
3/14/87
In the first meeting between the Mets and Red Sox since the 1986 World Series, Al Nipper hits Darryl Strawberry in the back with a pitch in apparent retaliation for Straw taking his time after homering against Nipper in Game 7 the previous fall. Gotta love bench-clearing brawls in spring training.
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