October 4, 1980 – At Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox collects 22 hits but still loses to visiting Toronto‚ 7-6 in 17 innings. The Jays have 17 hits‚ including a game-tying 9th inning 2-run Homerun by Lloyd Moseby‚ off Bob Stanley. Stanley also gives up the game-winning hit to Dane Iorg in the…
On October 4, 1980, Minnie Minoso of the Chicago White Sox becomes the second player to play in five decades. Appearing in his first game since 1976, the 57-year-old Minoso comes to bat as a pinch-hitter. The former Negro Leagues star made his major league debut in 1949.
The 17-1 trouncing of the of the Twins proves to be a very historic day for Willie Wilson. The Royals outfielder is the first big league player to be credited with 700 at-bats in one season, sets the American League record for singles in a season with 184, and joins Garry Templeton to become only the second switch-hitter in history to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate.
Mike Schmidt’s two-run home run off Stan Bahnsen in the top of the 11th inning gives Philadelphia a 6 – 4 win over Montreal and the NL East title. The home run is Schmidt’s 48th of the season, breaking Eddie Mathews’ single-season record for third basemen set in 1953.
The New York Yankees clinch their fourth AL East title in five seasons, beating Detroit, 5 – 2, in the first game of a doubleheader. Reggie Jackson hits his 41st home run of the season and will share the league home run crown with Ben Oglivie of the Milwaukee Brewers.
1980 – A bases-loaded double by Terry Puhl keys a 5-2 victory over Atlanta. Vern Ruhle fires his third straight complete game to increase his record to 12-4. Houston leads the Dodgers by two games with four to play.
Amidst much media and fan pressure, the Red Sox fire their very unpopular manager Don Zimmer who compiled a very respectable 411-304 (.575) record during his five years in the Boston dugout. The Fenway Faithful never forgive ‘Popeye’ for the team’s collapse in 1978, when a 14-game lead slips away, ending in a one-game playoff for the American League pennant, a 5-4 loss to the Yankees, thanks to a legendary home run over the Green Monster hit by Bucky Dent.
In front of only 1,754 patrons, Mets southpaw Pete Falcone beats the Pirates in the season’s last game at Shea Stadium, 3-1. The crowd is the smallest ever to attend a game at the Flushing ballpark, 33 fewer fans than yesterday’s meager gathering.
A’s OF Rickey Henderson sets the American League single-season stolen base record with his 97th in a 5 – 1 win over the White Sox, breaking Ty Cobb’s record of 96 set in 1915. Henderson will finish the season with 100 stolen bases.
Dodger rookie Fernando Valenzuela wins his first ML game, beating the Giants, 4 – 1. Pedro Guerrero has a home run.