1985 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

1Major League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Major league baseball final standings

Events

January

  • January 3
  • *Disappointed at the failures of their "also-ran" 1983 and 1984 teams, St. Louis Cardinals owner August A. Busch Jr. and his senior advisors fire general manager Joe McDonald. No successor is immediately named.
  • *The January edition of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft—then held twice annually—yields future major leaguers Alex Cole, Chuck Finley and John Wetteland.
  • *The defending National League champions, the San Diego Padres, sign veteran utility player Jerry Royster, granted free agency from the Atlanta Braves on November 8, 1984.
  • *Rusty Staub agrees to return to the New York Mets for a final MLB season. Now a pinch-hitting specialist who only rarely appears in the field, Staub, 40, had been granted free agency from the Mets last November 12.
  • January 7
  • *Outfielder Lou Brock and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with Wilhelm becoming the first relief pitcher ever selected. Second baseman Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots, but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's percentage to the necessary 75%.
  • *The Montreal Expos obtain infielder U. L. Washington from the Kansas City Royals for left-hander Mike Kinnunen and outfielder Kenny Baker.
  • January 8
  • *The San Diego Padres sign veteran relief pitcher Tim Stoddard, granted free agency last November 8. Stoddard won ten games and saved seven others last year for the NL East-winning Chicago Cubs, and faced the Padres twice in the 1984 NLCS.
  • *The New York Yankees purchase the contract of catcher Juan Espino from the Cleveland Indians.
  • January 16 – The Seattle Mariners release their former slugging DH, Richie Zisk, ending his pro baseball career. The 35-year-old didn't play in 1984 after failing a physical examination because of a degenerative condition in his troublesome left knee.
  • January 18 – Four teams—the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets and Texas Rangers—combine for a blockbuster trade. In it, the Royals obtain six-time Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Jim Sundberg from Milwaukee, and the Brewers receive pitchers Tim Leary from the Mets and Danny Darwin from the Rangers. For their part, the Royals send pitcher Frank Wills to the Mets, and catcher Don Slaught to the Rangers. Milwaukee also gains a minor-league catcher, Bill Hance, from Texas as a "player to be named later."
  • January 24 – The fourth and final "Type-A Free-Agent Compensation Draft", implemented after the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, results in the selection of two important relief pitchers and one shortstop from a pool of eligible players made available by clubs who "opt in" to Type-A free agency.
  • *The Toronto Blue Jays select fireballing reliever Tom Henke from the Rangers as compensation for the loss of DH Cliff Johnson. Henke, 27, will help pitch Toronto to the AL East championship and win two contests in the 1985 ALCS.
  • *The California Angels obtain veteran right-hander Donnie Moore from the Atlanta Braves as compensation for the Baltimore Orioles' signing of two ex-Angels, Don Aase and Fred Lynn. This coming season, Moore, 30, will win eight games, save 31, make the AL All-Star team, and help his club contend for its division title.
  • *A premier relief pitcher is also involved, indirectly, in the St. Louis Cardinals' selection of shortstop Ángel Salazar. The 23-year-old Salazar, who appeared in 57 games for the 1984 Montreal Expos, is plucked from the player pool as payment for St. Louis' loss of future Hall-of-Fame closer Bruce Sutter, signed in December by the Braves.
  • January 26 – The San Francisco Giants trade veteran left-handed reliever Gary Lavelle to the Toronto Blue Jays for right-handed starter/reliever Jim Gott and two minor-leaguers, pitcher Jack McKnight and shortstop Augie Schmidt. Lavelle, 36, has won 73 games and saved 127 in his 11 seasons with the Giants.
  • January 30 – The California Angels sign veteran outfielder Ruppert Jones, granted free agency from the world-champion Detroit Tigers last November 8.

    February

  • February 1
  • *In one of the off-season's most impactful transactions, the San Francisco Giants trade slugging outfielder Jack Clark to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Dave LaPoint, shortstop José Uribe, and outfielders David Green and Gary Rajsich. Clark, 29, is a two-time NL All-Star who has bashed 163 home runs in a Giant uniform; hampered by a knee injury, he had played only 57 games in. His power-hitting will help St. Louis win National League pennants this season and in. Field manager Whitey Herzog, temporarily operating without a general manager, works with the Cardinals' high-level executive committee to complete the trade.
  • *Basking in unprecedented popularity after their triumphant 1984 campaign, the Detroit Tigers cut off further season-ticket sales after hitting the 9,000 mark. "We think we've reached the saturation point," says a team executive. The team sets aside enough unsold box and reserved-seat tickets to accommodate single-game sales.
  • February 4 – Still a.300 hitter at age 38, Al Oliver is sent to his sixth major-league address when the Philadelphia Phillies deal him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Pat Zachry. He'll finish his farewell season with his seventh MLB team, going three for eight in the 1985 ALCS as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. His 18 years in MLB see Oliver bat.303 lifetime, and collect 2,743 hits, seven All-Star selections, a World Series ring, and the NL batting title.
  • February 16 – The San Diego Padres sign future Hall-of-Fame second baseman and 12-time All-Star Roberto Alomar, of Salinas, Puerto Rico, as an international amateur free agent. The son and brother of major-leaguers, Roberto will begin his pro career this season at age 17 in the Class A South Atlantic League.
  • February 19 – The Minnesota Twins reacquire Roy Smalley, obtaining him from the Chicago White Sox for designated hitter Randy Johnson and minor-league outfielder Ron Scheer. The switch-hitting Smalley, now 32, was Minnesota's starting shortstop from mid- through ; he'll transition from the infield to DH this season and will ultimately win a 1987 World Series ring in his second stint in the Twin Cities.
  • February 25 – The St. Louis Cardinals name Dal Maxvill, who appeared in three World Series between and as their starting shortstop or second baseman, to fill their weeks-long void as general manager. A native of the St. Louis suburbs who holds a degree in electrical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Maxvill, now 46, most recently was a coach on Joe Torre's staff with the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves.
  • February 27 – The Texas Rangers reacquire former three-time All-Star shortstop Toby Harrah from the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Billy Sample and a PTBNL. Harrah, 36, now a second baseman, is one of 1972's original Rangers, arriving with the franchise from Washington. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Buddy Bell in December 1978.
  • February 28 – The Pittsburgh Pirates sign right-hander Rick Reuschel, granted free agency from the Chicago Cubs last November 8. Reuschel, 35, will be one of the few bright spots on a 104-loss team, posting a 14–8 record with nine complete games in 31 mound appearances in 1985.

    March

  • March 6 – Outfielder Enos Slaughter, 68, and late shortstop Arky Vaughan, who drowned in a boating accident at age 40 in 1952, are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
  • March 7 – Phil Seghi, 75, general manager of the Cleveland Indians since January 1973, steps down in favor of former Texas Rangers GM Joe Klein, 42, who is named vice president, baseball operations.
  • March 18 – Commissioner Peter Ueberroth officially reinstates Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The two had been banned from working within Major League Baseball by Ueberroth's predecessor, Bowie Kuhn, due to their associations with gambling casinos.
  • March 23 – Designated hitter Oscar Gamble returns to the Chicago White Sox after a seven-year absence. Gamble, now 35, hit 31 homers for the slugging 1977 ChiSox. He had been granted free agency from the New York Yankees last November 8.
  • March 28 – The April Fools' Day issue of Sports Illustrated—which features George Plimpton's hoax article on fictional baseball phenom Sidd Finch—hits the newsstands.