1980 – The Houston Astros sign free agent second baseman Joe Morgan. Houston was the first major league team the two-time National League MVP played with before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds and became a force in the Big Red Machine.
1980 – Hank Aaron refuses an award from Commissioner Bowie Kuhn honoring him for hitting his 715th home run. Aaron charges that baseball’s treatment of retired black ballplayers falls far short of what is needed.
The Mets’ new owners are formally introduced to the local media at Shea Stadium’s Diamond Club. Nelson Doubleday will be the new chairman of the board, replacing the outgoing Lorinda de Roulet, who will play no role in the future of the franchise, and Fred Wilpon is named the president and CEO of the club.
1980 – Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon head a group of investors who purchase the New York Mets from the DeRoulet family for a reported $21.1 million, the highest price paid for a major league franchise up to that time. Doubleday, whose publishing company supplies 80 percent of the purchase price, and is also a relative of Abner Doubleday, will serve as chairman of the board, while Wilpon, a former teammate of Sandy Koufax’s at Brooklyn’s Lafayette High School, will serve as team president and chief operating officer.
1980 – Al Kaline and Duke Snider are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Kaline is the 10th player to be elected in his first year of eligibility, while Snider is making his 11th appearance on the ballot.
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