Happy ’80s Birthday to former Red Sox slugger Jim Rice, who won the 1978 AL MVP by batting .315 with 46 homers and 139 RBI. Dude was an intimidating force at the plate.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Don Werner, who spent 5 years as the backup to Johnny Bench, the baseball equivalent of carrying a clipboard.
Win Remmerswaal was born OTD in 1954 and pitched for the Red Sox for two seasons. He was talented, but tormented by alcohol problems and spent more than 20 years in a nursing home. He passed away in 2022.
Happy ’80s Birthday to the original Lance McCullers, who went 10-10 as a Padres rookie in 1986. I understand his kid plays, too.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mark Salas, who spent 8 years in the bigs with six teams. He’s also one of three MLB players from the ’80s with a last name that’s a palindrome.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kevin Hagen, who played professionally from 1980 through 1989, including 13 games for the Cardinals in 1983 and ’84. In 1990, Kevin turned down a contract offer from the Phillies to become a firefighter in Kent, Washington.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Nick Capra, who appeared in 45 games over five seasons for the Rangers and Royals and then spent more than 20 years in different roles with the White Sox.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Bob Stoddard, who spent parts of seven years in the big leagues with four teams and won 18 games.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Butcher, who pitched in the big leagues for seven years and won 13 games for the 1984 Twins.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Phil Nastu, who pitched in the big leagues for three seasons with the Giants. His last major league appearance was in 1980.
3/8/81
The Cubs sign Mick Kelleher as a free agent. They sell his to the Tigers a month later and he spends two years with Detroit before finishing his career with the Angels.
3/8/83
The Pirates signed Tom Hausman as a free agent.
He spends two seasons in the minor leagues with the Pirates, Padres, and Dodgers and retires after the 1985 season.
3/8/85
The Blue Jays lock up Dave Stieb by signing him to an 11-year contract worth close to $25 million.
Stieb wins 85 games over the next five years but has injury problems in 1991 and is never the same.
3/8/89
Reds pitcher Rob Dibble shows up late to morning workouts but he has a good excuse: He was in court.
Dibble was cited on February 24th for reckless driving. DIbble claims he was targeted because he was a baseball player.
3/8/87
Joe Carter returns to Indians camp, ending a six-day walkout over a salary dispute.
Carter hit .302 in 1986 with 29 homers, 29 SBs and an MLB leading 121 RBI in 1986 and the Indians automatically renewed his salary for $250,000.
3/8/88
Seattle skipper Dick Williams announces that 1988 will be his final season as a manager. The Mariners fire him in June and he finishes his career with 1,571 wins over 21 seasons, including World Series wins with Oakland in 1972 and ’73 and appearances in 1967 with the Red Sox and 1984 with the Padres.
3/8/84
Atlanta Braves teammates Bob Horner and Bruce Benedict scuffle in center field prior to an exhibition game against the Expos.
Horner looks the worse for wear with cuts, scratches, and blood on his face. Benedict has his jersey torn.
The fight began when Benedict objected to Horner taking many swings in batting practice but the two were not friendly prior to the incident.
We lost Vuke OTD in 2007.
Long-time player, manager, and coach Norm Sherry passed away OTD in 2021.
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