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Tony Gwynn was born on this day in 1960. He made his debut with the Padres in 1982 and never stopped hitting.
‘Happy ’80s Birthday to Sam Mejias, who spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues and managed in the minor leagues for a decade.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ron Jackson, who spent ten seasons in the bigs with the Angels, Twins, Orioles, and Tigers. He enjoyed his best season in 1979, when he hit .271 with 14 homers and 68 RBI.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Stuper, who pitched for four seasons in the big leagues and won a ring with the 1982 Cardinals.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Steve Hammond, who played in 46 games for the Royals in 1982. His brother, Chris, also pitched in the big leagues.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Doug Loman, who played in parts of two seasons for the Brewers.
5/9/83
The Reds trade Rafael Landestoy to the Dodgers for Brett Wise and John Franco.
Cincinnati makes Franco a reliever and he saves 148 games for them over the next 6 seasons before being dealt to the Mets, where he saves 276 more.
5/9/82
Expos GM John McHale opens his office door at 8 am and finds Bill Lee sitting on the floor eating a peanut butter sandwich. Lee is subsequently released and he never pitches in the big leagues again. But he’s still pitching.
5/9/84
Umpire Joe West ejects two television cameramen from Shea Stadium when they allow the Mets to view replays of a controversial play at the plate in which Hubie Brooks is called out. The Mets beat Atlanta, 3 – 1, with Ron Darling getting the win.
Big Days
5/9/81
Tom Paciorek’s 3-run walk-off homer gives the Mariners a 6-5 win over the Yankees. It’s Wimpy’s first walk-off since the night before when he hit a solo shot to beat the Yankees.
5/9/82
Dan Driessen gets the 1000th hit of his career for the 2nd time.
Driessen thought he had reached the plateau earlier on the season in a game against Houston, but a fan wrote to the Cincinnati Post pointing out an error in the Reds media guide. The fan was right so Driessen had to wait.
5/9/82
The Indians score 8 runs in the 9th & beat the A’s 14-2. Mike Hargrove, Ron Hassey, and Rick Manning all homer.
5/9/84
The Brewers and White Sox wrap up a 25-inning marathon that began the day before. The game takes more than 8 hours to play.
5/9/84
Tom Seaver gets two wins in one day. He pitches the last inning of the suspended game from the day before, then starts the regularly scheduled game and gets the win.
5/9/86
Alvin Davis goes 3 for 4 with two homers and 8 RBI in a 13-3 Mariners win over the Blue Jays
He was also rocking the Trident so in addition to driving in 8, he looked damn good in doing so
5/9/87
George Bell goes 3 for 6 with two dingers and drives in seven in a 15-4 Blue Jays win over the Rangers
Bell drove in 134 runs in 1987.
5/9/87
Eddie Murray homers from both sides of the plate in the same game, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since the day before when Eddie Murray did it.
5/9/87
Chris Speier hits his second grand slam in four days in a 9-4 win over the Pirates.
Prior to this week, Speier hadn’t hit a slam since 1972.
5/9/88
Jerry Reuss becomes the 86th pitcher to record his 200th major league career win when he beats the Orioles 3-0 in Baltimore.
Injuries
5/9/81
Andy Rincon is 2-1 with a 1.77 ERA on the season and carrying a 13-0 lead in the 8th inning against the Pirates when he is struck just above the wrist of his pitching hand by a Phil Garner line drive.
He gets the win but loses the rest of his major league season thanks to a fractured arm. He returns in 1982 and throws 40 innings at the big league level and never pitches in the majors again.
Transactions
5/9/80
The Cardinals release Darold Knowles and his career is over. He finishes with 66 wins, 174 saves, and a ring.
5/9/86
The Phillies release Dave Stewart.
He signs with Oakland and wins 20 or more games four seasons in a row and a ring, then goes to Toronto and wins another ring.
