The Indians trade pitcher Len Barker to the Braves for Rick Behenna, cash, and two players to be named later. The two turn out to be OF Brett Butler and 3B Brook Jacoby.
Greg Luzinski becomes the first player to park three home runs onto the roof at Comiskey Park, connecting off Boston’s Oil Can Boyd in a 6 – 2 Chicago victory. Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams each accomplished the feat twice.
The Louisville Redbirds become the first minor league team to draw more than a million fans. A total of 1,052,438 people will watch the St. Louis AAA farm team play their American Association rivals at Cardinal Stadium, formerly known as Fairgrounds Stadium.
Cubs Chuck Rainey is one out away from a no-hitter when the Reds’ Eddie Milner singles to center on the first pitch. Rainey settles for a 3 – 0 one-hitter, his first complete game of the season. For Milner, this is the third of five instances in which he will collect his team’s only hit in a game, a major league mark he’ll share with Cesar Tovar.
1B Pete Rose does not play in the Phillies’ 5 – 3 loss to the Giants, ending his consecutive games played streak at 745. Manager Paul Owens had planned to use Rose as a pinch hitter in the 10th inning, but Joel Youngblood ends the game with a 2-run home run off Steve Carlton in the bottom of the 9th.
Orioles southpaw Tippy Martinez picks off three runners in the 10th inning as the Blue Jays take long leads trying to take advantage of his new battery mate, Lenn Sakata, an infielder with no professional catching experience pressed into service behind the plate. The converted catcher gets revenge as his three-run homer in the bottom of the frame wins the game, 7 – 4.
Kansas City’s Amos Otis notches his 2,000th career hit, a single in a 10 – 2 win over the White Sox.
At Wrigley Field, Reds rookie Jeff Russell beats Fergie Jenkins and the Cubs, 4 – 2. Russell adds his only career home run. Dave Concepcion is called out on a steal attempt, and then is tossed out for arguing with umpire Dave Pallone. He also gets suspended for three days for allegedly spitting on Pallone during the argument.
1983 – The Cubs replace Lee Elia with Charlie Fox, a special assistant to general manager Dallas Green who managed the Giants to the National League West title in 1971. Chicago is in 5th place in the NL East with a 54-69 record.
On the same day, two minor leaguers, Vince Coleman and Donnell Nixon, break Rickey Henderson’s single-season record by stealing their 131st base of the season.
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