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Happy ’80s Birthday to Lee Mazzilli, who was a heartthrob in New York but never quite reached the stardom projected upon him. He was still a very solid player, though, and spent 14 seasons in the big leagues.
Happy ’80s Birthday to HOF pitcher Tom Glavine, who decided not to play hockey despite being drafted in the 4th round by the L.A. Kings. Turned out to be a wise move.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jeff Kunkel, who was drafted 3rd overall in 1983 and spent eight years in the big leagues with the Rangers and Cubs.
Howard was born OTD in 1918.
3/25/81
The Phillies trade Bob Walk to the Braves for Gary Matthews. Sarge helps Philadelphia reach the World Series two years later because Sarge is awesome.
3/25/82
The Royals trade Rance Mulliniks to the Blue Jays for Phil Huffman. Mulliniks becomes a regular in Toronto and plays there for 11 years before retiring.
3/25/83
The Tigers trade minor leaguer Walter Poole to the Twins for Sal Butera. Butera spends a year in the Tigers organization and signs with Montreal for 1984.
3/25/84
The Orioles trade Tito Landrum to the Cardinals for minor leaguer Oscar Brito. Back in St. Louis, Landrum hits .272 in 105 games.
3/25/89
The Indians send Jay Bell to the Pirates in exchange for Felix Fermin. Paired with Jeff King a year later, Bell anchors the left side of the Pirates infield until they’re dealt to Kansas City together in 1997.
3/25/82
The Blue Jays sign Glenn Adams as a free agent. He hits .258 in his final big league season and retires.
3/25/87
The Astros sign Ray Fontenot as a free agent. He spends the year in Triple-A and retires.
Big Days
3/25/83
The White Sox take exception to Brad Lesley’s mound antics after he strikes out Marv Foley. The two teams exchange words but stay in the dugout.
3/25/85
A judge upholds the ban on lights at Wrigley Field, ensuring there will be no night games. The ban is eventually lifted and the Cubs begin playing night baseball in 1988.
3/25/86
Giants manager Roger Craig tells the media that Will Clark will be his Opening Day first baseman. Clark has played all of 65 minor league games, all in Single-A but Craig is confident he’ll hit. “He’s got major league hitter written all over him,” says Craig.
He’s right. Clark homers off Nolan Ryan in his first at-bat in the big leagues.
Transactions
3/25/80
The Mariners release Danny Walton. He signs with the Rangers and plays in 10 games at the major league level before retiring.
3/25/83
The Yankees release Barry Foote and his career is over. He spends 10 years in the big leagues and appears in the postseason twice.
3/25/83
The Red Sox release Brian Kingman. He catches on with the Giants and splits the year between Triple-A and the big leagues before retiring.
3/25/83
The Twins release Pete Redfern. He signs with the Dodgers and makes a few appearances in the minor league before retiring with 42 career big league wins.
3/25/83
The Tigers release Kevin Saucier and his career is over. He finishes with 15 career wins and goes into scouting.
3/25/84
The Astros purchase Alan Bannister from the Indians. He plays in 9 games at the major league level before being traded to Texas.
3/25/86
The Mariners release former overall #1 pick Al Chambers. He sits out the 1986 season and signs with Houston for 1987 but he’ll never play in the big leagues again.
3/25/86
The Padres release Mario Ramirez. He catches on with the Twins and spends the year in Triple-A before playing in Mexico in 1987.
3/25/87
The Mariners release Bobby Castillo. He pitches in Japan in 1987 and his career is over.
3/25/88
The Indians purchase Willie Upshaw from the Blue Jays. Toronto feels they don’t need Upshaw since they have two youngsters named Cecil Fielder and Fred McGriff who can play first base. He hits .245 in his final big league season and spends two years in Japan before retiring.
3/25/88
The White Sox release Ray Searage. He signs with the Dodgers and later became a very successful pitching coach.
3/25/88
The White Sox release Jim Winn. He signs with the Twins and appears in 9 games before retiring at the end of the season.
3/25/89
The Reds sell Jeff Treadway to the Braves. The Georgia native spends four years in Atlanta and helps the Braves reach the World Series in 1991 and ’92.
3/25/89
The Phillies sell John Russell to the Braves. He spends one year in Atlanta, then heads to Texas where he forms a battery with Jeff Russell.
Fights
3/25/81
The Pirates and Tigers get into a bench-clearing brawl that lasts nearly 10 minutes after Bill Robinson is hit in the face by a pitch from Tigers rookie Howard Bailey.
Injuries
3/25/84
Mets rookie John Gibbons, who appeared to have locked up the #1 catcher spot, breaks his cheek in a home plate collision with Joe Lefebvre.
He remains in the game for another inning before asking a trainer to examine him. The injury limits him to just 10 games at the big league level in 1984.
Deaths
Cal Sr. passed away OTD in 1999.
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