December 7th
Happy Birthday to Johnny Bench, eight trades, and 14 free agent signings highlight December 7th in 1980s Baseball
Mike Schmidt
December 1st
Happy Birthday to George Foster, free-agent signings galore, and a couple of Tigers appear on Magnum, P.I. on December 1st in 1980s Baseball
November 19th
Happy Birthday to Bob Boone, the Phillies, Cardinals, and Indians make a three-way trade, and another MVP for Schmitty highlight November 19th in 1980s Baseball.
November 17th
Bret Saberhagen becomes the highest-paid player in the game, Bill Virdon is manager of the Year and Mike Schmidt wins another MVP on November 17th in 1980s Baseball
October 28th
Mike Schmidt collects some hardware and the Dodgers and A’s win World Championships on October 28th in 1980s Baseball.
October 15th
Willie McGee has a huge day and the Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox punch their World Series tickets on October 15th in 1980s Baseball.
October 4th
Happy Birthday to The Duke, Schmitty hits a huge dinger, and Greg Gagne pulls off a rarity on October 4th in 1980s Baseball
October 2nd
Yaz’s swansong, the Cubs go off, and lots of managerial comings and goings highlight October 2nd in 1980s Baseball.
September 28th
Three teams clinch, Lance Parrish sets a record, and Orel Hershiser keeps rolling on September 28th in 1980s Baseball
September 27th
Happy Birthday to Mike Schmidt, and three more teams clinch division titles on September 27th in 1980s Baseball.
September 20th
Wade Boggs hits a milestone, Mike Schmidt hits a milestone, and the Padres clinch on September 20th in 1980s Baseball
September 14th
Ernie Whitt goes off, two big days for Mike Scott, and Bob Brenly redeems himself on September 14th in 1980s Baseball.
September 10th
Happy Birthday to The Big Unit. Bill Gullickson sets a record, and the Mets and Cardinals empty the benches on September 10th in 1980s Baseball
August 28th
Happy Birthday to a Cy Young winner, Tommy has issues with The Phanatic, and a future Rookie of the Year makes his debut on August 28th in 1980s Baseball.
August 14th
Happy Birthday to The Bird, a future Cy Young winner makes his debut, and Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt hit milestones on August 14th in 1980s Baseball
August 8th
Happy birthday to Jose Cruz, the Rangers end the Lee Mazzilli experiment and Doug DeCinces continues to swing a hot bat on August 8th in 1980s Baseball
May 31st
Gary Carter goes big fly and little fly in the same game, an interesting CG for Neil Allen and Prime Time makes his debut today in 1980s Baseball
May 20th
Milestones for Schmitty and Lefty and a nightmare for John Wathan highlight Today in 1980s Baseball
May 15th
Happy Birthday to two Hall of Famers and a big day for pitchers, both on the mound and at the plate on Today in 1980s Baseball.
May 8th
Happy Birthday to an underrated pitcher and big days from three Hall of Famers highlight Today in 1980s Baseball
May 2nd
Happy Birthday to Zonk, a big day for Tim Raines, and Schmitty’s final dinger highlight May 2nd in 1980s Baseball
April 24th
Happy Birthday to a former Rookie of the Year, John Franco makes his debut and a big day for Schmitty highlight April 24th in 1980s Baseball
April 22nd
Happy Birthday to a Golden Spikes winner, an unlucky day for Mike Torrez, and Morgan Fairchild distracts Gibby April 22nd in 1980s Baseball
April 18th
The Reds run wild, a Rookie of the Year makes his debut, and a big day for Mike Schmidt highlight April 18th in 1980s Baseball
April 13th
Pete Rose makes history, Rollie Fingers makes history and the game loses two legends on April 13th in 1980s Baseball
March 4th
A big day for Tram, Straw and Mex make up, and Schmitty’s outrageous salary highlight March 4th in 1980s Baseball.
January 29th
Happy Birthday to Steve Sax, Gibby finds a new home and Bill Veeck sells the White Sox on January 29th in 1980s Baseball
January 8th
Happy Birthday to Randy Ready, Bill Gullickson heads east and Mike Schmidt is one of ten ’80s icons to get the Hall Call on January 8th in 1980s Baseball
Wild One at the Vet
Sometimes mistakes can work in your favor. That was certainly the case for Tommy Lasorda and the L.A. Dodgers when they took on the Phillies at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia on May 4th, 1980. Prior to the game, Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton took the lineup care to home plate and handed it to umpire Paul Pryor. …
Dream Season: Mike Schmidt
Every player longs for that dream season. The one where they stay healthy and just produce. I’m going to crunch the numbers and create dream seasons for notable 1980s stars. We’ll start with Mike Schmidt. April 1986 Schmitty had some slow starts, but his final season was not among them. He went 2-4 with a …
Best Baseball Weekend EVER
It was January of 1995 and Mike Schmidt had just been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I distinctly remember coming home that day and my girlfriend, now wife, could sense I was a bit down. She asked me what was wrong and I told her I had always told myself I would go …
The Best of 2016 on ’80s Baseball
I started this blog 364 days ago. Since then, I’ve published 64 posts, including guest posts, for which I’m very grateful. It’s been a great year and I thought I’d take a look back at the Top 5 posts of 2016 based (unscientifically) on page views. Number 5: George Brett’s amazing 1980 Brett was absolutely ridiculous …
Schmidt, Carlton and the 1980 Phillies
The poster hung on the wall of my bedroom in southwest Ohio for years. MVP and CY. Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton. My guys. I was far from unique in worshiping the two future Hall-of-Famers, but to this day the site of this poster still makes me smile. The Phillies were considered underachievers entering …
Schmidt & Brett in 1971
The most important day of the 1980 baseball season may very well have taken place in June of 1971. June 8th was draft day. The Chicago White Sox held the #1 pick and chose a high school catcher named Danny Goodwin from Peoria Central High School. Goodwin was the consensus #1 choice, a 6′-2″ 195 …
Bad Blood at The Vet
“Green’s Phillies Win Brawl Game” read one headline. “Phillies Wrestle First Place Away From Bucs” read another. On May 26th, 1980, the Pittsburgh Pirates came to Veterans Stadium for an NL East showdown. Philadelphia had won four straight to cut Pittsburgh’s lead in the division to just a half game and the four-game series was …
The 80’s are my 50’s
I grew up reading Angell, Halberstam, Kahn and others wax nostalgic about baseball in the 1950’s. The pictures they painted of sun-drenched afternoons at Ebbets Field or the Polo Grounds made the era come to life. I’m sure it was a magical time with great baseball. They can have it. This isn’t an indictment of …
