Steve Macko was born OTD in 1954. He appeared in 25 games for the Cubs in 1979 and 1980 but was forced to retire due to testicular cancer. He passed away in 1981.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Al Lachowicz, who appeared in two games for the 1983 Rangers. He pitched in the minor leagues until 1986.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Greg Olson, who made his debut with the Twins in 1989 and spent 1990 through 1993 with the Braves.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Roy Smith, who pitched in the big leagues for 8 years and later became a front office exec for the Pirates and Dodgers.
Happy ’80s Birthday to John Pawlowski, who made eight appearances with the White Sox in 1987 and 1988. He picked up his lone big-league win on April 22nd 1988.
9/6/80
Tim Wallach makes his debut as a defensive replacement for Ron LeFlore and homers off Phil Nastu in his first big-league at bat. He spends 17 years in the bigs, makes five All-Star appearances, and inspires a super collector.
9/6/82
Bill Doran goes 0-for-3 against San Diego in his big-league debut. He collects his first hit the following day and has a solid twelve-year career, including winning a ring with the Reds in 1990.
9/6/82
Marty Barrett goes 0-for-1 against Cleveland in his big-league debut. He enjoys a ten-year career with Boston and the Padres and hits .433 in the 1986 World Series. In 21 postseason games, Marty hit .333.
9/6/83
After more than 700 games in the minors, Reds infielder Skeeter Barnes makes his major league debut and get hit by two pitches.
9/6/83
Ron Darling makes his big-league debut for the Mets and the first three batters he faces are Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, and Mike Schmidt. He allows one run in six 1/3 innings and is saddled with the loss.
9/6/87
Tim Belcher, the overall #1 pick of the 1983 draft, throws two scoreless innings against the Mets and picks up a win in big-league debut. He wins 146 games over his 14-year career.
9/6/87
Ron Gant goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. He goes 2-for-4 in his next start and mashed baseballs in the major leagues until 2003.
9/6/87
Gregg Jefferies goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut. He becomes a regular in 1989 and spends 14 years in the major leagues with six teams.
9/6/89
Ben McDonald allows one run in 2 2/3 innings against Cleveland in his big-league debut, just three months after he was the overall #1 pick in the draft and just two weeks after signing his first contract. McDonald pitches for nine years and wins 78 games.
9/6/80
Bobby Brown, Bobby Murcer & Oscar Gamble combine to go 5-for-12 with 6 RBI as the Yankees beat the Angels 7-4.
9/6/81
Fernando Valenzuela throws his 7th shutout of the season. The win moves his record to 12-4 with a 2.37 E.R.A.
9/6/82
The Pirates retire Willie Stargell’s number 8 in a ceremony at Three Rivers Stadium. Gotta love Pops.
9/6/83
Ron Kittle homer over the roof at Comiskey Park. It’s the 5th-straight game in which he’s homered, and the shot is his 32nd of the year. He would end the season with 35 and take home Rookie of the Year honors.
9/6/85
With Marla Collins looking on, Pete Rose collects two hits, including a home run in a 10-5 win over the Cubs. He needs three more hits to pass Ty Cobb
9/6/85
Fernando throws 11 shutout innings against the Mets but gets a no-decision. The Mets score two in the 13th inning off Tom Niedenfuer to win the game.
9/6/85
Chris Brown goes 4-for-4 with a homer and six RBI in an 8-3 Giants win over Montreal. He finishes the season with 16 homers and 61 RBI and finishes 4th in the Rookie of the Year Balloting.
9/6/85
Carlton Fisk goes 4-for-5 with 2 dingers and drives in 7 as the White Sox beat the Rangers 12-1.
9/6/86
Joe Carter has five hits, including two homers, drives in four, and scores five times as Cleveland hammers the Brewers 17-9.
9/6/86
After hitting a record 210 homers in his career without a grand slam, Bob Horner finally gets one as the Braves beat the Pirates. It’s the only slam of his career.
9/6/86
Fernando strikes out 14 Phillies as the Dodgers win 3-2. It’s Fernando’s 18th win of the season and he would finish the year with a 21-11 record.
9/6/86
Jose Cruz hits a walk-off two-run homer to beat the Cardinals 7-6. It’s Houston’s 22nd walk-off win of the season.
9/6/87
Teddy Higuera throws his 3rd straight shutout, a 6-0 win over the Twins. The shutout moves his record in his last 7 starts to 6-1 with a 1.16 E.R.A. The A.L. hit .127 against him during that run.
9/6/88
Jose DeLeon throws a 3-hit shutout and strikes out 12 in a 1-0 win over the Expos. He would finish the year with a 13-10 record and 208 strikeouts.
9/6/80
George Brett injures his wrist on a check swing in the 8th inning against Cleveland. He finishes the game with a .396 batting average but does not return to the lineup until September 17th.
He hits “only” .345 in the final 16 games of the season and finishes at .390.
9/6/81
Despite winning the first half title, and 8 of their last 10 games, the Yankees fire manager Gene Michael for committing the cardinal sin of criticizing The Boss. He is replaced by Bob Lemon, who is fired early in the 1982 season and replaced by Gene Michael.
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