1984 – Willie Hernandez of the Detroit Tigers wins the 1984 American League Cy Young Award, edging fellow reliever Dan Quisenberry of the Kansas City Royals. Hernandez posted a 9-3 record with 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA. Hernandez becomes only the third reliever to win the award. In 1977, Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees became the first relief pitcher to do so in the American League.
Giant pitcher John Montefusco (15-9, 2.88, 215), also known as ‘The Count,’ wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award. The Expos’ freshman catcher Gary Carter (.270, 18, 68), a 2003 inductee into the Hall of Fame, receives nine of the first-place votes of the 24 cast by the writers to finish second in the balloting.
The writers select A’s hurler Catfish Hunter as the recipient of the American League’s Cy Young Award. The 25-game winner, due to a contract dispute with owner Charlie Finley, will be declared one of baseball’s first free-agents and will become the game’s highest-paid pitcher in baseball at the end of December when he signs a five-year contract with the Yankees for $3.75 million.
October 30, 1973: Tom Seaver wins his second Cy Young Award (19-10, 2.08 ERA, 18 complete games and 251 Ks). Seaver said: “Sandy Koufax won the award three times and I’ve won it twice and have a chance to win it a third time.” Seaver will win his 3rd Cy Young in 1975….
1967 – The Chicago White Sox announce the team will play nine regular season games in Milwaukee during the 1968 season. Chicago will become the first American League team to play regular season games outside its own city since 1905.
Sandy Koufax, who unanimously won the Cy Young Award six days ago, is also named the National League’s MVP. The Dodger southpaw, who compiled a 25-5 record along with a 1.88 ERA, out points Cardinals’ infielder Dick Groat, 237-190.
The sale of the historical, but out-of-date, Ebbets Field to real estate developer Marvin Kratter becomes one of the first indications the ballpark is nearing its end, and, perhaps, a harbinger of the Dodgers’ departure from Brooklyn. As part of the deal, club owner Walter O’Malley is given a three-year lease, with an additional two years to be added in January, to stay and play at the Flatbush facility, which means the ‘Bums’ have a potential home in the borough until 1961.
On October 30, 1945, Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey signs Jackie Robinson and John Wright to minor league contracts with the team’s Triple-A affiliate at Montreal. Robinson will play the entire 1946 season with the Montreal Royals before earning a promotion to Brooklyn and play in his first game on April 15, 1947. Robinson and…
The Cardinals name their coach Gabby Street as the team’s field boss to replace Bill McKechnie, who left to manage the Boston Braves. In his first two seasons, the new Redbirds’ manager will lead the club to two National League pennants and a World Series championship.
On October 30, 1916, future Hall of Famer Leon Day was born in Alexandria, Virginia. Although Day would never play in the major leagues because of the color line, he became a star pitcher for the Newark Eagles of the Negro leagues and gained election to the Hall of Fame in 1995.
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