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Stolen Base record broken
Lou Brock breaks Ty Cobb's record of 892 stolen bases when he steals two bags against the Padres. -
The birth of Mr. October
Reggie Jackson hits 3 home runs to help lead the Yankees to a 8-4 victory over the Dodgers, earning him the nickname “Mr. October”. -
Pete Rose continues to hit
Pete Rose hits his 3000 hit off of Expos’ pitcher Steve Rodgers. -
Rose's Hitting Streak
Pete Rose goes 2-4 to begin his national league record 44 game hitting streak, which ends on July 1st. -
Martin out once again
Billy Martin resigns from the team after referring to Reggie Jackson as a liar and George Steinbrenner a convict in a post game interview. It is the 3rd time he and the team have parted ways. -
Rickey debuts
Rickey Henderson plays the first game of his prolific career. He collects two hits and steals his first base. -
Disco Demolition
In a promotion called, “Disco Demolition Night” at Comisky Park, fans are urged to helped destroy disco records. In between games of the doubleheader, thousands of unruly fans enter the playing field, damaging it and wreaking havoc throughout the rest of the park. The White Sox have to forfeit the 2nd game. -
Thurman Munson dies
Yankees catcher and captain Thurman Munson crashes his Cessna while practicing landing at the Akron-Canton Airport. His passengers survive but he perishes in the crash. -
Rose breaks Cobb's record
Pete Rose hits his 200th hit of the season for his 10th straight season with 200+ hits, breaking Ty Cobb’s record of nine straight. -
3000 for Ryan
Nolan Ryan strikeouts Cesar Geronimo for his 3000th career strikeout. -
Carlton leads lefties
Steve Carlton becomes the all time left handed strikeout leader when he fans seven in a game against the Cardinals. -
Strike starts
Players strike against the owners when the owners insist on receiving compensation for losing free agent players. Over the next 49 days, there are 713 games cancelled, players lost $4 million per week in salaries and owners lost $72 million overall. The strike caused the season to be split, with the winners of the 1st half playing the winners of the 2nd half in the league championship series. -
Streak begins
Cal Ripken starts at 3rd base for the Orioles in what would be his first of 2632 consecutive games played. -
300th Save
Rollie Fingers collects his 300th save against the Mariners, the first pitcher to achieve this feat. -
Rickey breaks Brock's record
Rickey Henderson steals his 119th base of the season, breaking the record previously held by Lou Brock. He would end up with 130 stolen bases for the season. -
Big Train's record falls
Nolan Ryan strikes out Brad Mills for his 3509th strikeout of his career, breaking Walter Johnson's 55 year old record. -
Pine Tar Incident
George Brett blasts a 2 run go ahead home run in the bottom of the 9th. Yankees manager Billy Martin asks the umps to check brett’s bat where they find that it has more than the allowed 18” of pine tar. The home run is nullified, causing Brett to go ballistic. The Royals protest the call and the league overturns it. The game is finished out on august 18th. -
Cocaine Convictions
Three Kansas City players; Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens and Jerry Martin along with Vida Blue, are convicted of attempting to purchase cocaine. -
4000 for Rose
Pete Rose hits his 4000th hit, 21 years to the day after the first hit of his career. -
Sidd Fitch
Sports Illustrated runs a cover story on the fictitious Sidd Fitch, a story concocted by George Plimpton, of a Tibetan raised pitcher for the mets who could throw 168 mph. In the April 15th issue, it is announced to be an April Fools joke. -
4000 for Ryan
Nolan Ryan strikes out Danny Heep in the 6th inning to record his 4000th strike out, becoming the 1st pitcher to have over 4000 strikeouts. -
Rose becomes the leader
Pete Rose surpasses Ty Cobb as the all time hits leader when he hits his 4192nd off of Eric Show of the Padres. -
Drug Suspensions handed out
Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspends 11 players in light of the convictions of the Pittsburgh Drug Trials. While he commuted their suspensions in exchange for fines and community service, these players and 10 others, were subject to random drug testing throughout their careers. -
First of 762
Barry Bonds hits the first of his 762 career home runs. -
Bo Knows
Bo Jackson, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner opts to play baseball and signs a contract with the royals. He would go on to become the 1st player to win the MVP award in both Baseball and Football. -
Sparky makes history
Sparky Anderson becomes the only manager in ML history to win 600 games in both leagues. -
Schmidt hits 500
Mike Schmidt hits his 500th career hr off of Pirates’ Don Robinson. -
Ryan reaches 4500
Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 to gather 4500 strikeouts in his career. -
Night Baseball
The first night game in it's 74 year history is played at Wrigley Field. -
Founding 40/40 club member
Jose Canseco steals his 40th base and becomes the first member of the 40/40 club. -
Gibson's Walk Off Homer
In the 1st game of the world series, trailing the athletics 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers send up the injured Kirk Gibson to pinch hit against Dennis Eckersley. With the count 3-2, Gibson hits one into the right fields stands and the dodgers get the “Walk-off” win. The Dodgers end up winning the series in 5 games. -
Skydome Opens
The Toronto blue jays begin play in the skydome, the 1st retractable roof dome stadium in baseball. -
Rose is banned
Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti bans Pete Rose for life from baseball for his involvement in gambling. Just 7 days later, Giamatti dies of a heart attack. -
Quake postpones Series
The 3rd game of the world series is postponed after the bay area is struck by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake just moments before the start of the game. The series would resume 10 days later. -
$3 million Man
Free agent Kirby Puckett signs the first contract with an average yearly salary of $3 million. -
Rose goes to prison
Pete Rose is sentenced to 5 months in prison for filing false income tax returns, not accounting for income earned from selling memorabilia and proceeds won from horse racing. -
Father and Son
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr start for the Mariners, marking the first time a father and son take the field together. -
47 Saves in a season
Bobby Thigpen gets his 47th save, breaking the season save record previously established by Dave Righetti. He would go on to save 57 games this season. -
Steroid Memo
Commissioner Fay Vincent sends a memo to the owners stating that steroid use is illegal but it is snot enforced until after several big name players are implicated in the BALCO scandal. -
7th No Hitter
Nolan Ryan throws his 7th no hitter. -
Rickey steals #939
Rickey Henderson passes Lou Brock when he steals his 939th base. -
Camden Yards
Oriole Park at Camden Yards opens. Most teams follow suit and build similar intimate ballparks in the coming years. -
Wild Card
Owners agree to split each league into 3 divisions and add a wild card playoff round the following year. -
Ryan's farewell
Nolan Ryan exits the game after only facing 6 batters, the last game of his illustrious career in which he won 324 games and struck out 5714 batters.
