The great Tom Seaver was born OTD in 1944. Rookie of the Year, three Cy Young Awards, a Ring, 300 wins, 3,500+ strikeouts, and a Hall of Famer. That works. He passed away in 2020.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Frost, who won 16 games in ’79 with the Angels but had elbow problems and retired at 29.
Happy ’80s Birthday to The Wild Thing
Happy ’80s Birthday to Paul Sorrento, who made his major league debut in September of 1989 and spent 11 years in the bigs. Dude could hit bombs.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Ray Chadwick, who pitched in seven games for the 1986 Angels and later coached in college.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Brad Havens, who spent ten years in the bigs with five teams and won ten games for the 1982 Twins.
11/17/81
The Yankees traded Aurelio Rodriguez to the Blue Jays for a PTBNL. Toronto Blue Jays sends Mike Lebo (minors) to New York to complete the trade.
Toronto deals Rodriguez to the White Sox in April of 1982.
11/17/88
The Phillies sign Tom Herr as a free agent. He was acquired from the Twins in a trade in October and turned down less money from the Dodgers to sign close to home with the Phillies.
11/17/89
Coming off a 1988 campaign in which he hit 30 homers and drove in 108 for the Red Sox, Nick Esasky signs a three-year deal with the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, Esasky develops vertigo and struggles before retiring.
11/17/89
Bret Saberhagen signs a three-year $9 million contract extension with the Royals that makes him the highest-paid player in baseball.
11/17/80
Bill Virdon is named National League Manager of the Year by the Associated Press after guiding the Astros to their first playoff appearance.
11/17/81
Michael Jack Schmidt wins the N.L. MVP for the second straight year. Schmitty hits a career-high .316 with 31 homers and 91 RBI in the strike-shortened season. For the two years combined, Schmidt hit .298 with 79 homers and 212 RBI in 252 games.
11/17/82
After taking a pay cut heading into the season, Dale Murphy becomes the first Braves player to win the NL MVP Award since Henry Aaron in 1957. He hits .281 with 36 homers and 109 RBI. He liked it so much he won the award again the following year.
11/17/83
Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin, who, along with former teammate Vida Blue, had pleaded guilty to attempting to purchase cocaine, are each sentenced to three months in prison.
11/17/84
Tigers pitching coach Roger Craig announces his retirement. He wanted a raise and the Tigers said no so he walked away. His retirement lasted all of ten months as he was named to replace Jim Davenport as manager of the Giants in September of 1985.
11/17/87
George Bell becomes the first Blue Jays player to win the American League MVP Award. Bell hits .308 with 47 home runs and led the league with 134 RBI and 369 total bases. Dude could mash and he wore powder blues.
11/17/82
Steve Boros is named manager of the Oakland A’s. He takes over for Billy Martin and lasts until the middle of 1984 when he is replaced by Jackie Moore.
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