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Happy ’80s Birthday to former Yankees farmhand Buck Showalter, who complained in 1982 that he had no chance to get called up because George just signed free agents instead of promoting minor leaguers.
Then there was the whole cotton uniforms thing…
Happy ’80s Birthday to Reggie Cleveland, who spent 13 years in the big leagues and won 105 games.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Kevin Romine, who spent seven years and the big leagues and has two sons who played in the big leagues.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Nelson Norman, who spent parts of six season in the big leagues with Texas and Pittsburgh and played in a career-high 147 games in 1979.
5/23/86
The A’s sign Dave Stewart as a free agent after the Phillies released him two weeks earlier.
Stewart goes to Oakland and wins 117 games over the next six-plus seasons.
5/23/80
Nardi Contreras goes 3.2 innings in his big league debut.
He plays just one season in the major leagues, but spent many years asa a pitching coach on multiple levels.
5/23/87
Pat Pacillo goes five innings against the Pirates in his big league debut.
He wins three games for the Reds as a rookie.
5/23/89
Alex Sanchez allows just one run in six innings and picks up a win in his big league debut for the Blue Jays.
He pitches just one season in the major leagues.
5/23/89
Jack Hardy goes 3.1 innings in his big league debut for the White Sox.
He pitches in five games in the major leagues.
Big Days
5/23/80
MLB owners and the Players Association reach an agreement to avert a strike.
The players were set to strike on Memorial Day weekend, but Marvin Miller and Ray Grebey worked into the wee hours of the morning to finally get a deal done.
Later, someone wrote a book about the season. I recommend it.
5/23/80
Fergie Jenkins goes the distance in a 3-1 win over the Rangers to earn his 250th career win.
He’d finish with 284.
5/23/81
Tony Bernazard goes 4 for 5 to lead the White Sox to a 15-4 win over the Angels.
He finished the season with 106 hits in 106 games.
5/23/81
Paul Splittorff throws 11 shutout innings against the Twins and gets a no-decision. KC finally wins the game on Willie Wilson’s bottom of the 15th inning RBI single off future White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper.
5/23/82
Randy Jones shuts out the Astros on 4 hits despite throwing just two pitches faster than 75 miles per hour. That would be the definition of a crafty lefty.
5/23/84
Dan Petry beats the Angels 4-2 to run Detroit’s record to 34-5. It’s the Tigers’ 16th straight road win.
5/23/84
Fernando Valenzuela shuts out the Phillies on 3 hits while striking out 15. The start comes seven days after the Phillies roughed Fernando up, which included Steve Carlton hitting a grand slam.
5/23/87
Ozzie Virgil goes 0 for 6 with 5 strikeouts in a 7-6 loss to the Cubs.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
On the plus side, he got to catch all 16 innings.
5/23/89
Bo Jackson unloads on Nolan Ryan in Arlington. The ball travels an estimated 461 feet to straight away center field. Here’s Ryan telling the story and it’s great.
