The following are the baseball events of the year 1987 throughout the world.
Awards and honors
Most Valuable Player
George Bell, Toronto Blue Jays, OF (AL)
Andre Dawson, Chicago Cubs, OF (NL)
Cy Young Award
Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox (AL)
Steve Bedrosian, Philadelphia Phillies (NL)
Rookie of the Year
Mark McGwire, Oakland Athletics, 1B (AL)
Benito Santiago, San Diego Padres, C (NL)
Manager of the Year Award
Sparky Anderson, Detroit Tigers (AL)
Buck Rodgers, Montreal Expos (NL)
Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league): Leslie Leary, Auburn Astros, New York–Penn League
January 14 – Catfish Hunter and Billy Williams are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
February 25 – Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspends San Diego Padres pitcher LaMarr Hoyt from baseball following his third arrest on drug possession charges, this time on the U.S.-Mexico border. Hoyt is sentenced to 45 days in jail on December 16, 1986. An arbitrator cuts Hoyt's suspension to sixty days in mid-June and orders the Padres to reinstate him. The Padres, however, give him his unconditional release the following day.
March 3 – Ray Dandridge, a third baseman from the Negro Leagues, is the only player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
March 27 – The New York Mets acquire David Cone and Chris Jelic from the Kansas City Royals for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo.
April 6 – Al Campanis, a former teammate of Jackie Robinson, appears on the ABC news program, Nightline to discuss the progress of racial integration of baseball on the fortieth anniversary of Robinson's first game. When asked why more African-Americans do not become managers or executives, Campanis states that Blacks lack certain qualities for those jobs, drawing the ire of host Ted Koppel. Campanis is fired as Los Angeles Dodgers general manager two days later.
April 13 – At Jack Murphy Stadium, the San Diego Padres set a major league record when the first three batters in the bottom of the first inning hit home runs off San Francisco Giants starter Roger Mason in their home opener. The Padres, trailing 2–0, got homers from Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk.
April 15 – Juan Nieves of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles. He becomes the second-youngest pitcher in major league history to accomplish the feat (22 years, 4 months, 10 days), and the first Brewer.
April 17 – Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits the 500th home run of his career. It comes in the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates' Don Robinson, giving the Phillies an 8-6 win at Pittsburgh.
June 1 – Knuckleballer Phil Niekro of the Cleveland Indians beats the Detroit Tigers 9-6. This is his 314th major league win, and paired with brother Joe Niekro's current total of 216 wins, makes them the winningest brother duo—topping the 529 wins posted by Gaylord Perry and Jim Perry. The Niekros will finish their careers with a combined 539 wins.
June 2 – The Seattle Mariners use the number-one overall pick of the draft to select Ken Griffey, Jr., signaling a turnaround in their fortunes as an organization.
June 22 – With their starting rotation decimated by injury, the New York Mets seek help from Tom Seaver, who is not offered a contract to his liking following the 1986 season (his 1986 salary is $1 million; the Boston Red Sox offer him $500,000, which Seaver declines). Though no actual contract is signed, Seaver joins the club on June 6, and is hit hard on in an exhibition game against the Triple-A Tidewater Tides on June 11. After similarly poor outings on the 16th & 20th, he announces his retirement.
June 28 – Don Baylor of the visiting Boston Red Sox is hit by a pitch from Rick Rhoden in the sixth inning of a 6-2 win over the New York Yankees. The HBP gives Baylor 244 for his career, breaking Ron Hunt's modern-day record.
July 14 – Tim Raines caps a 3-for-3 performance in the All-Star Game with a two-run triple in the top of the 13th inning, giving the National League a 2–0 victory over the American League. Raines is selected the MVP.
July 18 – New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly homers in his record-tying eighth straight game, in a 7-2 Texas Rangers win over the Yankees. He ties the record set by Dale Long in 1956.
August 2 – At Royals Stadium, Kevin Seitzer goes 6-for-6 with two home runs and seven runs batted in the Kansas City Royals' 13-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Seitzer becomes the second Royal to collect six hits in one game, Bob Oliver having done so in 1969, the franchise's inaugural season.
August 11 – Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics breaks Al Rosen's American League rookie record by hitting his 38th home run in an 8-2 loss to the Mariners.
August 26 – Paul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers goes hitless, and ends his 39-game hitting streak. It is the longest American League hitting streak since Joe DiMaggio's 56 game streak (a major league record) in 1941.
August 30 – With knuckleball pitcher Charlie Hough on the mound, Texas Rangers catcher Geno Petralli ties a Major League record by committing six passed balls in a 7-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. All seven runs are unearned and come as a result of the passed balls. Petralli commits 35 passed balls on the season, breaking J. C. Martin's modern-day single-season record of 33 in 1965.
September 9 – Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 to pass 4,500 for his career as the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. Ryan strikes out 12 of the final 13 batters and fans Mike Aldrete to complete the seventh inning for his 4,500th strikeout.
September 14 – In the midst of the Toronto Blue Jays' 18-3 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles at Exhibition Stadium, Cal Ripken, Jr. is lifted from the lineup and replaced by Ron Washington, stopping Ripken's consecutive innings played streak at 8,243. In this same game, Toronto hits ten home runs to set a Major League single-game record. Ernie Whitt connects on three of the home runs, Rance Mulliniks and George Bell two each, and Fred McGriff, Lloyd Moseby and Rob Ducey one each.
September 18 – Darrell Evans hits his 30th home run of the season, and becomes the first player to do so after the age of 40.
September 21 – Darryl Strawberry steals his 30th base of the season to join the 30–30 club. With teammate Howard Johnson already having joined, it marks the first time that two teammates achieve 30-30 seasons in the same year.
September 22 – Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox reaches the 200-hit mark for the fifth straight season in an 8-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
October 4 – The Detroit Tigers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 to clinch the American League East division title. The victory caps off a thrilling pennant race in which the Tigers overcome a 3.5 game deficit to the Blue Jays in the last two weeks of the season, including sweeping the Blue Jays at Tiger Stadium in the final weekend, and finishing two games ahead of Toronto in the standings.
October 19 – After a disappointing fourth-place finish, New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner decides to promote manager Lou Piniella to general manager and hires Billy Martin as manager for the fifth time for the 1988 season.
October 25 – In Game Seven of the World Series, starter Frank Viola and reliever Jeff Reardon hold the St. Louis Cardinals to six hits, as the Minnesota Twins win 4–2 for their first World Championship. The franchise's last title came in 1924 as the Washington Senators. Viola is named the Series MVP.
November 10 – In the closest vote in Cy Young Award history, Steve Bedrosian of the Philadelphia Phillies edges Rick Sutcliffe of the Chicago Cubs, 57-55, to win the National League honors. Bedrosian posts a 5-3 record with a 2.83 ERA and 40 saves, while Sutcliffe finishes 18-10 with a 3.68 ERA and 174 strikeouts. Bedrosian is the third relief pitcher ever to win the award in the NL, joining Mike Marshall (1974) and Bruce Sutter (1979).
November 18 – Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs is announced as the winner of the National League MVP Award, becoming the first recipient of the award to play for a last place team.
Long Gone (TV)
January 2 – Dave Sappelt
January 7 – Brandon Bantz
January 7 – Kyle Hudson
January 10 – Alberto Rosario
January 10 – Ryan Dennick
January 12 – Iván Nova
January 13 – Oliver Drake
January 14 – Logan Forsythe
January 16 – Zelous Wheeler
January 17 – Jeff Beliveau
January 17 – Cody Decker
January 17 – Tanner Scheppers
January 19 – James Darnell
January 20 – Luis Exposito
January 21 – Brandon Crawford
January 21 – Chase d'Arnaud
January 21 – Jake Diekman
January 21 – Roger Kieschnick
January 21 – Josh Wall
January 23 – Cord Phelps
January 26 – Héctor Noesí
January 26 – Jemile Weeks
January 28 – José Ceda
January 29 – José Abreu
January 29 – Alex Avila
January 30 – Luis García
January 30 – Tyler Moore
January 31 – Melky Mesa
January 31 – Caleb Thielbar
February 1 – Austin Jackson
February 1 – Joe Mahoney
February 5 – Mark Hamburger
February 6 – Pedro Álvarez
February 6 – Travis Wood
February 11 – Brian Matusz
February 12 – Argenis Díaz
February 13 – Ryan Buchter
February 13 – Curtis Partch
February 13 – Ryan Perry
February 13 – Henry Urrutia
February 15 – Rob Scahill
February 16 – Tom Milone
February 17 – David Cooper
February 19 – Josh Reddick
February 22 – Carlos Peguero
February 25 – Phil Irwin
February 25 – Henry Rodríguez
February 25 – Andrew Werner
February 28 – Thomas Field
February 28 – Aaron Thompson
March 4 – Dan Cortes
March 8 – Joel Carreño
March 9 – Daniel Hudson
March 10 – Charles Leesman
March 14 – Blaine Hardy
March 21 – Carlos Carrasco
March 22 – Ike Davis
March 24 – Lucas Luetge
March 25 – Hyun-jin Ryu
March 25 – Kirby Yates
March 27 – Buster Posey
March 28 – Bryan Morris
March 28 – Josh Zeid
March 30 – Mike Broadway
March 30 – Shairon Martis
March 31 – Peter Bourjos
April 2 – Brad Glenn
April 3 – Jay Bruce
April 3 – Jason Kipnis
April 4 – Odrisamer Despaigne
April 4 – Cameron Maybin
April 5 – Jung-ho Kang
April 8 – Yonder Alonso
April 8 – Jeremy Hellickson
April 9 – Eric Campbell
April 10 – Ryan Verdugo
April 16 – Richard Bleier
April 17 – Dan Jennings
April 20 – Hiram Burgos
April 20 – Dusty Coleman
April 21 – Ryan Adams
April 21 – Brent Morel
April 22 – Tyson Ross
April 24 – Welington Castillo
April 25 – Danny Espinosa
May 1 – Iván de Jesús, Jr.
May 6 – Gerardo Parra
May 10 – Brayan Villarreal
May 11 – Red Patterson
May 12 – Adam Liberatore
May 12 – Lance Lynn
May 13 – D. J. Mitchell
May 15 – David Adams
May 15 – Michael Brantley
May 15 – Brian Dozier
May 16 – Tyler Cloyd
May 21 – Allan Dykstra
May 22 – Jaye Chapman
May 24 – Blake Tekotte
May 24 – Henry Villar
June 5 – Manny Piña
June 7 – Sean Halton
June 11 – Ezequiel Carrera
June 13 – Justin Miller
June 15 – Jake Elmore
June 15 – Josh Lindblom
June 15 – Eduardo Núñez
June 16 – Arquimedes Caminero
June 18 – Jason Castro
June 18 – J. B. Shuck
June 18 – Taylor Thompson
June 19 – Collin McHugh
June 24 – Juan Francisco
June 24 – Sam Freeman
June 29 – Jeremy Moore
June 30 – Ryan Cook
June 30 – Cole Figueroa
July 3 – Casey Coleman
July 7 – Yangervis Solarte
July 8 – Christian Friedrich
July 8 – Josh Harrison
July 8 – Mason Tobin
July 10 – Jermaine Curtis
July 10 – Johnny Giavotella
July 10 – Gregory Infante
July 16 – Eric Surkamp
July 17 – Leonel Campos
July 17 – Nick Christiani
July 18 – Conor Gillaspie
July 19 – Yan Gomes
July 21 – Diego Moreno
July 26 – Alex Burnett
July 26 – Vidal Nuño
July 27 – Preston Guilmet
August 2 – Juan Jaime
August 4 – Mike Freeman
August 4 – David Martínez
August 5 – Tim Federowicz
August 7 – Ryan Lavarnway
August 7 – Kirk Nieuwenhuis
August 7 – Josh Smith
August 7 – Rafael Ynoa
August 10 – Wilson Ramos
August 10 – Matt den Dekker
August 11 – Drew Storen
August 13 – Dustin Garneau
August 13 – J. J. Hoover
August 14 – Jeremy Hazelbaker
August 14 – David Peralta
August 15 – Jorge de León
August 17 – Thomas Neal
August 18 – Justin Wilson
August 20 – Matt Hague
August 21 – J. D. Martinez
August 23 – Zach Braddock
August 25 – Logan Morrison
August 25 – Justin Upton
August 25 – Adam Warren
August 26 – Ryan Brasier
August 26 – Greg Halman
August 27 – Brett Bochy
August 31 – Stephen Cardullo
August 31 – Steve Johnson
September 1 – David Carpenter
September 1 – Sean O'Sullivan
September 1 – Trayvon Robinson
September 3 – Domonic Brown
September 3 – Drew Hayes
September 5 – Scott Barnes
September 7 – Rusney Castillo
September 7 – Gorkys Hernández
September 10 – Paul Goldschmidt
September 11 – Brandon Laird
September 21 – Jeremy Jeffress
September 23 – González Germen
September 23 – Xavier Scruggs
September 24 – Jake Goebbert
September 25 – Lars Anderson
September 25 – Vance Worley
September 27 – Grant Green
September 27 – David Hale
September 28 – Nick Greenwood
September 28 – Derrick Robinson
September 28 – Jerry Sands
September 29 – Alí Solís
September 30 – Kenley Jansen
October 1 – Erik Komatsu
October 2 – Rafael Lopez
October 5 – Marc Krauss
October 7 – Alex Cobb
October 9 – Cory Burns
October 10 – Adrian Cardenas
October 10 – Elvin Ramírez
October 14 – Kole Calhoun
October 19 – John Holdzkom
October 20 – Edwar Cabrera
October 20 – Ian Thomas
October 21 – Justin De Fratus
October 23 – Félix Doubront
October 23 – Kyle Gibson
October 27 – Jay Jackson
October 27 – Ben Paulsen
October 30 – Ryan Kelly
October 31 – Yamaico Navarro
November 1 – Anthony Bass
November 1 – Steven Geltz
November 1 – Donnie Joseph
November 3 – Kyle Seager
November 3 – Ryan Tepera
November 6 – Caleb Cotham
November 6 – Cory Rasmus
November 8 – Bryan Shaw
November 11 – Kyle McPherson
November 12 – Mike Leake
November 13 – Tim Adleman
November 16 – Jordan Walden
November 19 – Bryan Holaday
November 20 – Jeff Locke
November 24 – Kelvin Marte
November 24 – Chris Herrmann
November 25 – Grant Dayton
November 25 – Nate Karns
November 30 – Chase Anderson
December 3 – Andrew Oliver
December 5 – A. J. Pollock
December 5 – Chris Rearick
December 8 – Kyle Drabek
December 8 – Zach McAllister
December 8 – Alexander Torres
December 9 – Buddy Baumann
December 9 – Blake Smith
December 9 – Mat Latos
December 9 – Pedro Villarreal
December 9 – Adam Wilk
December 13 – Aneury Rodríguez
December 15 – Scott Copeland
December 16 – Hector Santiago
December 17 – Donovan Solano
December 17 – Travis Tartamella
December 18 – Rex Brothers
December 18 – Rudy Owens
December 19 – Aaron Loup
December 21 – Khristopher Davis
December 22 – Zach Britton
December 22 – Chad Jenkins
December 23 – Tyler Robertson
December 23 – Jordany Valdespin
December 26 – Mike Minor
December 28 – Shawn O'Malley
January 1 – Velma Abbott, 57, Canadian infielder who played from 1946 to 1947 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
January 5 – Dale Mitchell, 65, All-Star left fielder and career .312 hitter who spent almost his entire career with the Indians; made the last out in Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, but had only one more major league at bat
January 6 – Margaret Danhauser, 65, outstanding first sacker for the Racine Belles of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1943 through 1950
January 17 – Ed Busch, 69, shortstop who played from 1943 to 1945 for the Philadelphia Athletics
January 20 – Hank Behrman, 65, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants between 1946 and 1949
February 2 – Olive Little, 69, Canadian All-Star female pitcher who threw four no-hitters in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
February 9 – Larry French, 79, All-Star pitcher who won 197 games, primarily with the Pirates and Cubs, before beginning a 26-year Naval career in 1943
March 8 – Zeke Bonura, 78, first baseman for the White Sox, Senators, Giants and Cubs, who hit .300 or more in four of his seven major league seasons with a career-high .345 in 1937
March 11 – Fred Lucas, 84, outfielder who hit a .265 average in 20 games for the 1935 Philadelphia Phillies
March 16 – Bob Kline, 77, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators in the 1930s, later a minor league manager
April 27 – John Burrows, 74, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs in the 1940s
April 29 - Bud Bates, 75, Outfielder for Philadelphia Phillies in 1939
May 1 – Bobo Holloman, 62, pitcher for the 1953 St. Louis Browns, who threw a no-hitter in his major league debut
May 7 – Boom-Boom Beck, 82, pitcher who posted a 38-65 record for seven different teams between 1924 and 1945
May 14 – Luke Sewell, 86, All-Star catcher for four AL teams who managed the St. Louis Browns to their only pennant in 1944
May 31 – Jerry Adair, 50, middle infielder for four AL teams, mainly the Orioles, who set various records for error-free play
June 13 – Huck Betts, 90, pitcher who had a 61-68 record with the Philadelphia Phillies (1920–25) and Boston Braves (1932–35)
June 15 – George Smith, 49, Negro League second baseman who played from 1963 to 1966 for the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox
June 17 – Dick Howser, 51, manager, formerly an All-Star shortstop, who led the Kansas City Royals to their first World Series championship in 1985
July 22 – Don McMahon, 57, All-Star relief pitcher for seven teams who led NL in saves in 1959, retired with the third most relief appearances in history
July 27 – Travis Jackson, 83, Hall of Fame shortstop for the New York Giants who batted .300 six times, led NL shortstops in assists four times and double plays twice; later a minor league manager
August 8 – Juan Antonio Yanes, 85, who for more than three decades was one of the leading promoters of Venezuelan baseball both in the amateur and professional fields
August 31 – Dick Young, 69, longtime New York sportswriter known for his hard-hitting style
September 1 – Pinky Whitney, 82, All-Star third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Braves who had four 100-RBI seasons
September 2 – Cam Carreon, 50, catcher for the Orioles, Indians and White Sox from 1959 to 1966
October 10 – Pete Cote, 85, utility for the 1926 New York Giants
November 16 – Jim Brewer, 49, All-Star relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who held the club record for career saves
November 17 – Paul Derringer, 81, 6-time All-Star pitcher who had four 20-win seasons for the Cincinnati Reds; earned 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the 1940 World Series
November 21 – Dusty Cooke, 80, outfielder for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds during the 1930s, who later coached and managed with the Philadelphia Phillies
November 27 – Babe Herman, 84, right fielder who batted .324 lifetime, and whose popularity while with the Brooklyn Dodgers was undiminished through a variety of fielding and baserunning lapses; hit for the cycle three times
December 24 – Nino Espinosa, 34, pitcher for the Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays from 1974 to 1981
1987 in baseball Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
