Happy ’80s Birthday to Neal Heaton who threw four complete games and also recorded seven saves for the Indians in his rookie season of 1983.
Happy ’80s Birthday to the well-traveled Skeeter Barnes, who spent parts of 9 seasons in the bigs and parts of 17 seasons in the minors. He’s also spent time as a minor league coach and manager.
Happy ’80s Birthday to former Pirates IF and long-time Giants coach Ron Wotus. Ron spent parts of two seasons in the bigs with Pittsburgh and was a coach or minor league manager in the Giants organization for 20 years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Chuck Cary, who appeared in 134 big league games across 8 seasons and retired to go into real estate.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Wright, who threw two no-hitters in the minor leagues and was the American Association Pitcher of the Year in 1977 but suffered arm injuries that scuttled his career. He appeared in 24 games for the Royals at the major league level.
Original Blue Jay Jesse Jefferson was born OTD in 1949.
Jesse won 39 games over the course of nine big league seasons. He passed away in 2011.
3/3/81
The Cardinals sign Steve Braun as a free agent.
He spends the final five seasons of his career in St. Louis and wins a World Series in 1982.
3/3/82
The Brewers sign Edgar Diaz as an amateur free agent.
He makes his big league debut in 1986 and appears in a total of 91 games over two seasons.
3/3/83
Steve Carlton signs a four-year $4.15 Million contract, making him the highest-paid pitcher in history.
3/3/83
The Rangers sign Jerry Browne as an amateur free agent.
The Governor makes his debut in 1986 and spends 10 years in the big leagues.
3/3/82
Fernando Valenzuela rejects the Dodgers 1982 salary offer of $325,000 and says he’ll hold out until his salary demands are met. Coming off a Rookie of the Year season in which he reportedly made $42,300, Fernando is looking for a deal that would pay him close to $800,000 per season. The holdout eventually ends in late March and Fernando wins 19 games for L.A. in 1982.
3/3/84
Peter Ueberroth is elected commissioner, succeeding Bowie Kuhn. Ueberroth takes office on October 1st.
3/3/88
Gibby walks out of Dodgers camp after Jesse Orosco puts eye black in his hat. It’s important to set the tone.
3/3/80
The Expos release Dyar Miller.
He signs with the Mets and pitches for two more seasons before retiring.
3/3/89
The Phillies release Julio Machado.
He signs with the Mets and pitches until 1991 with New York and Milwaukee.
We lost Joe Altobelli OTD in 2021
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