In the completion of a game suspended the previous day after 17 innings, the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 2 – 1 in 21 innings despite running out of position players and having to use pitchers Fernando Valenzuela and Bob Welch in the outfield. Jerry Reuss pitches the final four innings for the win, then starts the regularly-scheduled game and wins again, 7 – 4.
On June 7, 1982, the Chicago Cubs select high school shortstop Shawon Dunston with the first pick of the amateur draft. The highly touted Dunston, who had hit .790 for Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, will make his major league debut in 1985. With the fifth pick of the first round, the New York…
Future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins reaches the 3,000 strikeout plateau when he whiffs Gary Templeton in the third frame of the Cubs’ 2-1 loss to San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium. Next season, the 39 year-old Canadian-born right-hander will finish his 19-year major league career with a total of 3,192 K’s in 4,500.2 innings.
On January 27, 1982, the Chicago Cubs make one of their best trades in franchise history, acquiring infielders Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa from the Philadelphia Phillies for shortstop Ivan DeJesus. Bowa and DeJesús will have a few more productive seasons in the major leagues, but Sandberg, after starting out his career at third…
1981 – Astros trade outfielder Gary Woods to the Cubs for outfielder Jim Tracy. Woods had hit .377 as a September call-up in 1980 but reverted to .209 the next season. Tracy never makes it into a regular season game for Houston but he will one day become the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies.
1981 – Seattle takes Mike Moore with the first pick overall in the annual amateur draft. The Cubs take Joe Carter with the 2nd pick while the Angels take Dick Schofield third.
1980 – The Cubs trade reliever Bruce Sutter, the 1979 National League Cy Young Award winner, to the Cardinals for 3B Ken Reitz, OF-1B Leon Durham, and a player to be named.
Don Zimmer is named manager of the Texas Rangers, becoming the 10th manager in the club’s nine-year history.
Bill Gullickson whiffs 18 batters, the most strikeouts ever recorded by a rookie in a major league game. The Expos right-hander throws a complete-game four-hitter, beating Chicago at Olympic Stadium, 4-2.
1980 – Joe Niekro comes on in relief to start the 16th inning of a scoreless tie with the Cubs at the Dome. He wins it himself an inning later when he drives home Enos Cabell for a 1-0 triumph in 17 frames. Houston pitchers allow just seven hits to increase their lead in the NL West to three games over Los Angeles.
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