Welcome to this day in baseball Daily rewind my name is Tom Hannon and I am your host. Thank you so much for joining me today as we back step our way through July 29 – August 4. Our format has been changing a bit and just to give you a quick recap, we are…
On October 3, 1990 George Brett pinch hits a fifth-inning RBI sac fly, and then singles in the seventh inning to end the season winning the batting title with a .329 batting average. Kansas City’s 5 – 2 losses the game to the Cleveland Indians. The Royals superstar is the only player to win three…
Special Memory or Event? Want to have some fun? Advertise your business? Dedicate this page Mike Schmidt (.286, 48 HR, 121 RBI) had perhaps his finest season, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to their first ever World Series title in 1980. The Hall of Fame third baseman was named Most Valuable Player of the National…
1980 – The Baltimore Orioles sign free agent outfielder Jim Dwyer.
The St. Louis Cardinals release outfielder Bobby Bonds. Despite his 326 home runs and 456 stolen bases in 13 seasons, Bonds hit just .203 with St. Louis in 1980. He will make one more stop, his sixth in the last four years, with the Chicago Cubs in 1981.
The Boston Red Sox mail Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk their new contracts two days after the Basic Agreement’s December 20 deadline. Boston’s blunder make their All-Stars eligible for free agency.
1980 – Unless contracts are tendered to certain veterans by today’s deadline, the Basic Agreement requires they be allowed to become free agents. In a major blunder, the Red Sox will miss the deadline, permitting All-Stars Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk to be eligible for free agency.
1980 – Ferguson Jenkins is convicted on cocaine possession charges in a Canadian court, but has the verdict immediately erased by Judge Gerald Young because of his years of “exemplary” conduct.
Dave Winfield (.276, 20, 87) becomes the highest-paid player in the history of sports, when he agrees to a ten-year free-agent deal with the Yankees worth a record $16 million. After announcing the former Padres outfielder’s deal, team owner George Steinbrenner tells 34 year-old Reggie Jackson (.300, 41, 111) who had been asked his opinion about the acquisition by The Boss and had heartily endorsed the signing, he will not be offered an extended contract when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season because of his age.
On December 14, 1980, Elston Howard, the first black player to play for the New York Yankees, dies of heart failure at the age of 51. Howard won the 1963 Most Valuable Player Award for the Yankees.