Happy ’80s Birthday to The Secretary of Defense He’s getting up there in age, so maybe now he can only cover 1/4 of the earth instead of 1/3.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Rob Wilfong, who made his debut with the Twins in 1977 and spent 11 years in the big leagues with Minnesota, California, and San Francisco.
Happy ’80s Birthday to David West, who made his debut with the Mets in 1988 and was a key bullpen arm for the 1993 N.L. Champion Phillies
Happy ’80s Birthday to Dave Rucker, who spent seven years in the bigs with four teams and earned 16 wins.
9/1/84
The Astros trade Luis Pujols to the Royals for minor leaguer James Miner.
9/1/87
The Red Sox trade Dave Henderson to the Giants for a PTBNL. San Francisco sends Randy Kutcher to Boston to complete the trade.
Hendu appears in 15 games for the Giants and signs with Oakland for the 1989 season.
9/1/80
The Pirates sign Bernie Carbo as a free agent. He appears in seven games and his major league career is over. He spends part of 1981 in Triple-A with the Tigers.
9/1/80
The Phillies coax Tim McCarver out of the booth and back behind the plate for the stretch run.
9/1/81
The Angels sign Joe Ferguson as a free agent. He appears in 60 games for the Angels between 1981 and 1983 and his career is over.
9/1/82
The Dodgers sign Manny Mota as a free agent. At the age of 44, he appears in one game and his playing career is over.
9/1/82
The Padres sign a skinny 17-year-old catcher from Puerto Rico. He’d win Rookie of the Year five years later.
9/1/83
The Tigers sign Bob Molinaro as a free agent. He appears in eight games and his major league career is over but he does play 111 games in 1984 in Triple-A for the Orioles.
9/1/84
The Dodgers sign Ramon Martinez as an amateur free agent. Apparently, he has a kid brother, too.
9/1/85
The Blue Jays sign Steve Nicosia as a free agent. He appears in six games and his major league career is over.
9/1/85
The White Sox sign Mike Squires as a free agent. He appears in two games and his career is over.
9/1/89
The White Sox sign Jerry Hairston as a free agent. He appears in three games and his career is over.
9/1/80
The Cubs call up some big dude from AAA to make his big-league debut. He’d end up in the Hall of Fame
9/1/80
Tony Pena strikes out as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. He finishes 6th in the Rookie of the Year balloting the following year and spends a total of 18 seasons in the major leagues.
9/1/82
Greg Brock makes his big-league debut and reaches on an error. He finishes 7th in the N.L. Rookie of the Year balloting in 1983 and spends 10 years in the major leagues.
9/1/83
Orel Hershiser allows three runs (1 earned) in one inning against the Expos in his major league debut. He wins 204 games over 18 seasons in his career and wins the Cy Young in 1988.
9/1/83
Sid Bream goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut for the Dodgers. He is traded to the Pirates in 1985 in a deal involving Bill Madlock and spends 12 years in the big leagues.
9/1/83
R.J. Reynolds lines out as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut. He spends eight years in the bigs and appears in the 1990 NLCS with the Pirates.
9/1/83
Joe Orsulak strikes out as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. In his defense, he had to face Nolan Ryan. He spends 14 seasons in the bigs and collects 1,173 hits.
9/1/84
Rick Schu goes 0-for3 against the Giants in his big-league debut. He hits .276 in 1984 and spends nine seasons in the major leagues.
9/1/84
Herm Winningham goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. He spends nine years in the major leagues and wins a ring with the Reds in 1990.
9/1/85
John Cerutti strikes out Harold Baines in his big-league debut. He joins the Jays rotation in 1986 and goes 9-4. John spent seven years in the big leagues. He passed away in 2004.
9/1/86
John Smiley allows two runs against the Reds in one-third of an inning in his debut. He spends 12 years in the big-leagues and wins 20 games in 1991.
9/1/89
Juan Gonzalez goes 0-for-2 against the Royals in his major league debut. He spends 17 years in the big leagues and wins two MVP awards.
9/1/89
Mike Fetters allows four runs (3 earned) in 3 1/3 innings in his big-league debut against the Yankees. He spends 16 years pitching out of the bullpen for multiple teams and saved 71 games between 1994 and 1996.
9/1/89
Mike Blowers goes 0-for-1 against the Angels in his big-league debut. He’d spend 11 years in the major leagues with the Mariners, Yankees, Dodgers, and A’s.
9/1/89
Lenny Webster catches one inning against Toronto in his big-league debut. He would play 12 years in the major leagues and appear in the playoffs with Baltimore in 1997.
9/1/89
Dean Palmer goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. He would play in the major leagues for 14 seasons and top the 30-homer mark four times.
9/1/80
Ed Farmer and Al Cowens bury the hatchet at home plate before the Tigers/ White Sox game. Cowens charged the mound in June when Farmer was pitching in retaliation for being hit by a pitch in 1979.
9/1/80
Joe Morgan’s leadoff HR leads the Astros to a 10-4 win over the Pirates. It’s just the 4th time all season the Astros reached double figures in runs scored.
9/1/83
Tom Brunansky hits a slam and a two-run shot for the Twins in an 11-0 win over the Red Sox.
9/1/84
42-year-old Tony Perez hits a walkoff homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Reds a 7-5 win over the Pirates.
9/1/85
Keith Moreland and Chris Speier each drive in 4 as the Cubs beat the Braves 15-2 at Wrigley Field. Cubs score 15 runs on 1 homer
9/1/86
Gary Gaetti homers twice and drives in five in a 9-3 Twins win over Milwaukee.
9/1/86
Jim Presley homers thrice and drives in four in a 10-2 Mariners win over the Orioles.
9/1/86
Sid Fernandez strikes out 14 Giants over seven innings but gets a no-decision. The Mets score three in the 8th to win the game 5-2.
9/1/87
Some no-good S.O.B. sabotages Billy Hatcher’s bat. I’ve made it my life’s mission to see Hatch exonerated.
9/1/87
Teddy Higuera throws a one-hit shutout against the Royals. Ross Jones’ 8th-inning triple is the only hit Higuera allows.
9/1/81
The Expos purchase Grant Jackson from the Pirates for $50,000. He appears in ten games for the Expos and signs with the Royals for 1982.
9/1/81
The White Sox release Francisco Barrios and his career is over. He finishes with a 38-38 record over seven seasons.
9/1/86
The Blue Jays purchase Mickey Mahler from the Rangers. He appears in two games and his major league career is over. He spends part of 1987 in Triple-A with the Cardinals.
9/1/84
The Mariners fire manager Del Crandall and name Chuck Cottier as interim skipper. Cottier assumes the role full-time in 1985 and Crandall never manages again.
Bart Giamatti passed away OTD in 1989
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