Commissioner Peter Ueberroth Suspends 11 players
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Commissioner Peter Ueberroth Suspends 11 players

1986 – In Major League Baseball’s sternest disciplinary move since the 1919 Black Sox were banished for life, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year’s suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquin Andújar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, and Lonnie Smith will be fined 10 percent of their annual salaries to drug abuse programs. The commissioner also doles out lesser penalties to 14 other players for their use of drugs.

Don Sutton twirls a five-hit shutout to blank St. Louis, 3-0 the 53rd of his career

Don Sutton twirls a five-hit shutout to blank St. Louis, 3-0 the 53rd of his career

1981 – Don Sutton twirls a five-hit shutout to blank St. Louis, 3-0. Art Howe adds a two-run homer. Off the field, Mike Ivie is hospitalized for mental exhaustion less than a month after he was traded to Houston for Jeff Leonard and Dave Bergman. Expected to be the cleanup hitter, Ivie bats .237 with no homers in 19 games. He will miss the rest of the season. 

Fireworks in Cincinnati as Ray Knight and Joaquin Andujar spark old flames

Fireworks in Cincinnati as Ray Knight and Joaquin Andujar spark old flames

1979 – Fireworks in Cincinnati. The upstart Astros nip the Reds, 3-2, to take their first-ever ten-game divisional lead. Jose Cruz and Jeff Leonard drive home runs in the seventh to lead the come-from-behind victory. Joaquin Andujar and Ray Knight, ex-teammates in the Cincy farm system, start a bench-clearing brawl after hurling insults across the diamond.  Joe Sambito cools the Reds with two shutout innings for the save 

Catcher Joe Ferguson is traded to the Dodgers for two players to be named later (outfielder Jeff Leonard and infielder Rafael Landestoy)

Catcher Joe Ferguson is traded to the Dodgers for two players to be named later (outfielder Jeff Leonard and infielder Rafael Landestoy)

1978 – Catcher Joe Ferguson is traded to the Dodgers for two players to be named later (outfielder Jeff Leonard and infielder Rafael Landestoy). On the field, the Astros split a twinbill against the Padres, winning 9-4 and losing 9-3. Wilbur Howard stars in the opener with three hits and three RBIs.