March 22nd in 1980s Baseball

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Happy ’80s Birthday to Eric Rasmussen, who threw a shutout in his big league debut and also played in a band with John D’Acquisto called Wild Pitch.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Matt Sinatro, who played parts of 10 seasons in the bigs with four different teams and is the only player from his high school in Connecticut to play in the big leagues. He has also coached for the Rays, Mariners, Cubs, and Astros.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Rich Monteleone, who made his debut with the Mariners in 1987 and made 210 appearances in the big leagues without recording a start or a save.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Ramón Martínez, who made his debut in 1988 with the Dodgers and was the Cy Young runner-up in 1990.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Dan Boitano, who was drafted five times and made his debut with the Phillies in 1978. He won two games in the big leagues with the 1981 Mets.

Happy Birthday to Scott Bradley who spent 9 years in the big leagues with multiple teams and has been the head coach at Princeton since 1998.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Glenallen Hill, who got all of this one.

Happy Birthday to Bob Costas who has a great story of the first time he met Howard Cosell.

3/22/81

The Reds sign Tony Walker as an amateur free agent. They send him to Houston in the spring of 1983 and he plays in 84 games for the Astros in 1986.

3/22/89

The A’s sign Donnie Hill as a free agent. He spends the year in Triple-A, then returns to the big in 1990 with the Angels.

Big Days

3/22/81

The Orioles send a young infielder named Cal Ripken down to the minor leagues. He’d resurface later.

Transactions

3/22/85

The Indians release Jerry Ujdur and his career is over. He finishes with 12 wins over 5 years with the Tigers and Indians.

3/22/87

The Giants purchase Francisco Melendez from the Phillies. He spends the next two years in the Giants organization and hits his only big league homer in 1987 against the Braves.

3/22/87

The A’s release Carlos Diaz and his career is over. He finishes with 13 wins over 5 seasons with the Dodgers, Braves, and Mets.

3/22/87

The Pirates purchase Dann Bilardello from the Expos. He spends the year in Tripe-A, then returns to the bigs in 1988.

Injuries

3/22/82

Rick Sutcliffe is hit by a line drive off the bat of Ty Waller and injures the thumb of his pitching hand. The injury keeps him out of the rotation until mid-May, though he does pitch out of the pen. He finishes the season with 14 wins and leads the A.L. in E.R.A.