Happy ’80s Birthday to former Astros and Angels pitcher Ken Forsch, who no-hit the Braves in 1979 and posted double-digit wins in six straight seasons.
Happy ’80s Birthday to former Angels, Red Sox, and Orioles pitcher Don Aase. Ten-year-old me liked his name. Don won 66 games and saved 82 more over 13 years.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Jim Smith, who appeared in 42 games for the 1982 Pirates.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Glen Cook, who went 2-3 for the 1985 Rangers.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Al Pardo, one of four native-born Spaniards to play in the big leagues. AL went to high school in Tampa and spent parts of four seasons with Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Happy ’80s Birthday to Mike Dyer, who made his debut with the Twins in 1989 and resurfaced in the major leagues in 1994 after battling injuries. He pitched until 1996.
9/8/81
The Dodgers sign Jerry Grote as a free agent. He appears in two games and his career is over but he gets a ring!
9/2/82
The Pirates sign Grant Jackson as a free agent. He appears in one game and his career is over.
9/8/82
The Red Sox sign Rey Quinones as an amateur free agent.
He makes his big-league debut in 1986 and plays in the bigs for four seasons.
9/8/81
Bryn Smith goes 2/3 scoreless against the Phillies in his big-league debut. He will pick up his first win on September 21st and pitch in the major leagues until 1993.
9/8/82
Don Mattingly makes his big-league debut in left field as a defensive replacement. He goes 2-for-14 in seven games in 1982 but things get much better after that.
9/8/83
Dick Schofield goes 0-for-2 against the White Sox in his big-league debut. He spends 14 years in the major leagues and wins a ring with the 1993 Blue Jays.
5/8/86
Rafael Palmeiro goes 1-for-4 with an RBI single off Tom Hume in his big-league debut. He plays for 20 seasons and retires with 3,020 hits and 569 homers.
9/8/88
Tom Gordon throws two scoreless in relief against Oakland in his big-league debut. Flash pitches in the bigs for 21 years and leads the league in saves in 1998. He also provides comfort to a young girl lost in the woods.
9/8/89
Stan Belinda throws a scoreless inning in relief against the Mets in his big-league debut. He spends 12 years in the major leagues with six teams.
9/8/89
Paul Sorrento goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter against the Royals in his big-league debut. He spends 11 years in the major leagues and hits 166 homers, including a career-high 31 in 1997 with Seattle.
9/8/89
Jason Grimsley allows one run over five innings against the Expos and picks up a win in his big-league debut. He would pitch for 15 years and win two rings with the Yankees.
9/8/84
The Angels/White Sox game features six players whose fathers played in the big leagues.
Roy Smalley Jr. (Roy), Jerry Hairston (Sam), Bob Boone (Ray), Dick Schofield Jr. (Dick), Joel Skinner (Bob) and Vance Law (Vern) all make an appearance.
Boone and Hairston also have sons that will appear in the major leagues.
9/8/80
Four members of the Red Sox go 3-for-4 as Boston beats Cleveland 10-4. Carlton Fisk drives in four.
9/8/80
Tommy John wins his 20th game as the Yankees knock off the Blue Jays 7-4. It’s the third time in four seasons John reaches the 20-win mark.
9/8/80
Bowie Kuhn suspends Fergie Jenkins after he was arrested on drug possession charges in August. He returns to the mound on September 26th.
9/8/81
Cesar Cedeno is fined $5,000 after attacking a fan during the Astros’ 3 – 2 loss to the Braves. Witnesses said that three men in the box seats had been bothering Cedeno’s wife and making remarks about a 1973 incident in which he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the accidental shooting death of a young woman in the Dominican Republic.
9/8/82
Bob Forsch shuts out the Expos on just 91 pitches. He throws a CG, walks no one, and strikes out 1.
9/8/82
A wild one at The Launching Pad as the Braves beat the Dodgers 12-11 in 10 innings. The two teams combine for 35 hits and seven home runs. Paced by Claudell Washington’s 5-for-6 night with 6 RBI, the top 5 in the Atlanta order (Washington, Ramirez, Murphy, Chambliss & Horner) go 15-for-26 with 10 RBI. Murph wins it with a walk-off single off Steve Howe.
9/8/83
Rafael Ramirez goes 5-for-6 with a homer and three RBIs in a 12-9 Braves win over the Giants. Braves baseball on TBS was immediately followed by The Andy Griffith Show.
9/8/84
Rick Sutcliffe throws a four-hit shutout and strikes out 12 in a 6-0 win over the Mets. In his 17 starts since coming to the Cubs from Cleveland, Sutt is 16-1 with a 2.74 E.R.A.
9/8/85
Pete Rose collects two hits against the Cubs to tie Ty Cobb’s all-time record.
9/8/87
The Royals steal six bases against the Angels in a 4-2 win. Willie Wilson leads with two.
9/8/87
The Giants steal six bases against the Astros in a 6-4 win. Kevin Mitchell leads with three while Dave Henderson swipes two.
9/8/87
Larry Parrish homers twice and drives in 5 in a 12-1 Texas win over Oakland.
9/8/88
Howard Johnson goes 5-for-5 with a homer and 4 RBIs in a 13-6 Mets win over the Cubs.
9/8/88
Bart Giamatti is named Peter Ueberroth’s successor and is scheduled to take office on April 1, 1989.
9/8/88
Wade Boggs becomes the first modern player to reach 200 hits in six consecutive seasons.
9/8/89
Mark Gubicza signs a new seven-figure contract and then throws seven shutout innings against the Twins. That’s a damn-good day.
9/8/89
George Brett collects his 2,500th hit in a 6-0 win over the Twins. He would finish with 3,154.
9/8/80
The Dodgers make an under-the-radar transaction that would pay large dividends the following season.
9/8/81
The Expos release Tommy Hutton and his career is over. He finishes with 410 hits over 12 seasons with Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto, and The Dodgers.
9/8/81
The Expos fire manager Dick Williams. Youppi is permitted to stay. Williams finishes his tenure in Montreal with a 380-347 record over five seasons. He joins the Padres in 1982 and takes them to the World Series in 1984 before finishing his managerial career in Seattle.
9/8/86
Earl Weaver announces he will step down as Orioles manager at the end of the season. He finishes with 1,480 wins, four pennants, and a World Series title.
9/8/87
The Cubs fire manager Gene Michael and replace him with Frank Lucchesi. The team finishes the year with 8 wins in their final 25 games and Don Zimmer takes over in 1988.
We lost Joaquin Andujar OTD in 2015 after a battle with diabetes.
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