Happy ’80s Birthday to Orlando Gonzalez, who played in 79 games for Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Oakland between 1976 and 1980 and later played in the Senior League.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Tom Donohue, who spent two years in the bigs with the Angels in 1979 and 1980.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Fred Breining, who spent five years in the bigs with the Giants and Expos and won 27 games.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Randy Niemann, who spent parts of eight years in the bigs with five teams, including the World Champion 1986 Mets. He later became a minor league pitching coach.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rich Luecken, who made his debut with the Royals in 1989 and won three games over two seasons for KC, Toronto, and Atlanta.
Mike Payne was born OTD in 1961. He appeared in three games for the 1984 Braves and posted an 0-1 record. He passed away in 2001 from Eastern equine encephalitis, contracted from a mosquito bite.
11/15/81
The Indians trade Duane Kuiper to the Giants for Ed Whitson. Kuiper is devastated but it is the beginning of a wonderful friendship between him and the Bay Area
11/15/88
The Pirates sign Gary Redus as a free agent. Pittsburgh obtained Redus from the White Sox earlier in the year. He sings a two-year deal with the Bucs.
11/15/83
Bay City Blues, a short-lived TV show about a minor league baseball team airs its final episode. The show features unknowns Sharon Stone and Dennis Franz.
11/15/84
The Royals meet with free agent pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who grew up within walking distance of Royals Stadium. Sutt eventually signs a five-year deal worth $9 million to return to the Cubs.
11/15/88
Gibby wins the NL MVP. He collects thirteen first-place votes to seven for runner-up Darryl Strawberry. Gibby hit .290 with 25 home runs and 76 RBI, along with 31 stolen bases.
11/15/88
Tom Gordon is named 1988 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America after he averaged more than 12 strikeouts per nine innings. Gordon made his big-league debut in 1988 and wins 17 games for the Royals in 1989.
11/15/89
Sabes win the Cy Young Award for the 2nd time. He went 23-6 with a 2.16 E.R.A. and a 0.96 WHIP in 262.1 innings and collects all but one first-place vote (Dave Stewart).
11/15/82
The Reds release Clint Hurdle. He signs with the Mets and splits the next three years between New York and Triple-A Tidewater.
11/15/85
The Royals release Omar Moreno. He signs with the Braves and plays in 118 games before retiring.
11/15/89
The Braves release Bruce Sutter and his career is over. He finishes with an even 300 saves, a Cy Young Award, and a ring.
Former Cubs infielder Steve Macko passed away OTD in 1981 of testicular cancer. He was just 27-years-old. He was a bat boy for the Rangers when he was a kid and played college ball at Baylor but his big league career was limited to just 25 games.
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