Ron Kittle of the Chicago White Sox, who hit 35 home runs with 100 RBI, wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award, beating out Cleveland infielder Julio Franco and Baltimore pitcher Mike Boddicker.
The Players’ Association fires executive director Kenneth Moffett after barely a year in the job and chooses Donald Fehr as his successor.
New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry breaks the Los Angeles Dodgers’ four-year stronghold on the National League Rookie of the Year Award when he becomes the first non-Dodger to win the honor since Bob Horner in 1978. Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Sax had been the previous winners.
The Seattle Mariners trade reliever Bill Caudill and a player to be named later (minor leaguer Darrel Akerfelds) to the Oakland Athletics for catcher Bob Kearney and reliever Dave Beard.
Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin become the first active players sent to prison for drug violations. The judge hands down three-month sentences to the three members of the Royals for attempting to purchase cocaine.
1983 – Shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles is named the Most Valuable Player in the American League. Ripken, who led the league in hits and runs scored, becomes the first major league player to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in back-to-back seasons.
1983 – University of Alabama first baseman Dave Magadan, who led the NCAA with a .535 batting average last season, wins the Golden Spikes Award as the outstanding amateur baseball player in the United States. Magadan will play for ten major league clubs in a span of 16 years.
1983 – Atlanta Braves outfielder Dale Murphy, who hit .302 with 36 home runs, 121 RBI and 30 stolen bases in the National League, joins Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt as one of the players who has won the MVP Award in consecutive years. Murphy receives 21 of the 24 first-place votes cast.
Mets reliever Jesse Orosco garners four votes for the National League Most Valuable Player Award, ending a six-year drought in which not one player on the team received a single vote for the honor. The last time a writer cast an MVP vote for a New York National Leaguer was on the 1976 ballot when the writers gave Tom Seaver was given consideration.
November 2, 1983 – John Denny garners 20 of 24 of the writers’ first-place votes to win the National League’s Cy Young Award, easily outdistancing runners-up Mario Soto and Jessie Orosco. The Prescott, Arizona native posted a 19-6 record with a 2.37 ERA for the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Game ticket & learn more…