Former Atlanta Braves pitching coach Bob Gibson was born OTD in 1935. I understand he played a bit himself.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Teddy Higuera, who went 69-38 in his first four seasons before falling victim to arm troubles.
Happy ’80s Birthday to The White Rat, who spent 18 seasons as a manager with the Angels (I know, right?), the Rangers, Royals, and the Cardinals where he won a World Series title.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dion James, who spent 11 years in the bigs with four different teams.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Wehrmeister, who made his debut with the Padres in 1976 and pitched until 1985. Over six seasons, Dave won two games and saved two more.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jeff Cox, who appeared in 61 games for the A’s in 1980 and 1981. Jeff began his career by collecting nine hits in his first eighteen at bats and later coached at multiple levels, including winning a ring with the Royals in 1985.
11/9/82
Robin Yount is a near-unanimous selection as the AL MVP. Rockin Robin hits .331 with 29 homers and 114 RBI. He leads the AL in hits, doubles, slugging%, OB%, and total bases. That’s a helluva year. Reggie Jackson gets one first-place vote but finishes 6th overall in the balloting.
11/9/83
University of Alabama first baseman Dave Magadan wins the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the U.S. Magadan led the nation with a .525 batting average and led the team in hits (114), doubles (31), total bases (180) and slugging percentage (.829).
11/9/88
Frank Viola receives 27 of a possible 28 first-place votes to win the A.L. Cy Young Award. He went 24-7 to cap a five-year run in which he goes 93-56 and wins a World Series.
11/9/89
The Pirates announce that Jim Rooker raised more than $45,000 for charity after his 317-mile walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in October. When the Pirates took a 10-0 lead on the Phillies on June 8th, Rooker, a Pirates broadcaster, said he would walk home if the Pirates lost. Philadelphia won the game and Rooker made good on his promise.
11/9/89
Ben McDonald wins the Golden Spikes Award after going 14-4 for LSU. He was selected #1 overall in the draft by the Baltimore Orioles and made his MLB debut in September.
11/9/83
The Yankees release Rowland Office and his career is over. He finishes with eleven years in the bigs and 626 hits.
11/9/87
The Cardinals release Dan Driessen and his career is over. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 1973 and was the first Designated Hitter in National League history when he started at DH for the Reds in the 1976 World Series.
We lost Ken Howell OTD in 2018. Howell was a 3rd-round pick in 1982 and spent seven years in the big leagues with the Dodgers and Phillies. He was just 57 years old.
Former Braves and Reds manager Russ Nixon passed away OTD in 2016.
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