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May 18th

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Happy ’80s Birthday to Reggie!

How good to you have to be to attempt to kill the head of state of an ally and still get into the Hall of Fame? 

Jim Sundberg baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Sundberg, who won 6 Gold Gloves in 16 years behind the plate for the Rangers, Royals, Cubs, and Brewers

He was overshadowed by Fisk, Munson and Bench but he was a damn good catcher.

Dennis Leonard 1983 baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to former Royals pitcher Dennis Leonard, who won 92 games between 1976 and 1980 with 78 complete games and 19 shutouts.

Dude was a helluva pitcher.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Erik Hanson, who was the first righty in Mariners’ history to strike out 200 or more batters in a season.

Happy ’80s Birthday to Andre David, who played 38 games for the Twins over two seasons and hit his only big league homer of Hall of Famer Jack Morris. 

Jim Farr baseball card

Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Farr, who appeared in five games for the 1982 Rangers. 

Bobby Bonds 1982 baseball card

5/18/82
The Yankees sign Bobby Bonds as a free agent.

He hits .179 in 28 games in Triple-A and he’s done. 

5/18/89
The Seibu Lions purchase Orestes Destrade from the Pirates. 

He hits 154 homers in four seasons in Japan and returns to the States to lay for the Marlins. 

5/18/84 

Benny Distefano goes 1 for 3 with a triple off Pete Falcone in his big league debut. 

The lefty-thrower catches three games for the Pirates in 1989. 

Matt Kinzer 1989 baseball card

5/18/89

Matt Kinzer throws 3.1 scoreless innings in his big league debut against the Astros. 

The Purdue grad pitches in nine games in his big league career. 

Big Days

Rick Langford 1980 baseball card

5/18/80

Rick Langford gets knocked out of his start against the Blue Jays in the 5th inning.

He’d finish his next 22 starts.

Fernando Valenzuela 1981 baseball card

5/18/81

Fernando Valenzuela finally loses a game.

The Phillies beat the Dodgers 4-0 and Fernando’s ERA jumps all the way to 0.90.

Larry Herndon 1982 baseball card

5/18/82

Larry Herndon hits 3 bombs and drives in 7 in an 11-9 win over the A’s.

Richard Dotson baseball card

5/18/83

Rich Dotson throws a one-hitter against the Orioles and loses the game 1 – 0. Baltimore’s one hit is a home run by Disco Dan Ford.

Greg Brock 1983 Topps Baseball Card

5/18/83

Greg Brock homers twice and drives in six in a 13-3 win over the Expos. 

5/18/83

Jack Clark homers and drives in six in an 8-1 win over the Phillies. 

Ted Simmons 1983 baseball card

5/18/83

Ted Simmons goes 4 for 4 and drives in six in a 7-6 win over Toronto.

At this point, Simba is hitting .426 in May. He’d finish the month batting .394. 

Eddie Murray 1986 Fleer baseball card

5/18/86

Eddie Murray goes 4 for 5 and drives in seven in a 13-4 win over Oakland. 

Dave Stewart 1988 Fleer Baseball's Best

5/18/88

Dave Stewart sets a record by committing his 12th balk of the year. He finishes the year with 16. 

The Year of the Balk was fun, wasn’t it? 

Transactions

Duffy Dyer 1981 baseball card

5/18/81

The Tigers release Duffy Dyer and his career is over. He spends 14 years in the bigs and won a ring with the Mets in 1969.

Injuries

Bert Blyleven 1984 Topps Baseball Card

5/18/84

Bery Blyleven is jogging in the outfield before the game and sprains his ankle when he steps on a baseball.

The injury forces him to miss three weeks.

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