1985 in baseball

Year in baseball
this year = 1985

Champions

Major League Baseball

*World Series: Kansas City Royals over St. Louis Cardinals (4-3); Bret Saberhagen, MVP

4TeamBracket | RD1=League Championship Series | RD2=World Series
RD1-seed1=| RD1-seed2=| RD1-seed3=| RD1-seed4=
RD1-seed1=East | RD1-team1=Toronto Blue Jays
RD1-seed2=West | RD1-team2=Kansas City Royals
RD1-score1=3 | RD1-score2=4
RD1-seed3=East | RD1-team3=St. Louis Cardinals
RD1-seed4=West | RD1-team4=Los Angeles Dodgers
RD1-score3=4 | RD1-score4=2
RD2-seed1=AL | RD2-team1=Kansas City Royals
RD2-seed2=NL | RD2-team2=St. Louis Cardinals
RD2-score1=4 | RD2-score2=3

*American League Championship Series MVP: George Brett
*National League Championship Series MVP: Ozzie Smith
*All-Star Game, July 16 at the Metrodome: National League, 6-1; LaMarr Hoyt, MVP

Other champions

*Caribbean World Series: Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic)
*College World Series: Miami (Fla.)
*Japan Series: Hanshin Tigers over Seibu Lions (4-2)
*Little League World Series: Seoul National, Seoul, South Korea

Awards and honors

*Most Valuable Player
**Don Mattingly, New York Yankees, 1B (AL)
**Willie McGee, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)
*Cy Young Award
**Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City Royals (AL)
**Dwight Gooden, New York Mets (NL)
*Rookie of the Year
**Ozzie Guillén, Chicago White Sox, SS (AL)
**Vince Coleman, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)
*Manager of the Year Award
**Bobby Cox, Toronto Blue Jays (AL)
**Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)

MLB Statistical Leaders

¹Major League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Major League Baseball final standings

Events

*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 (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's percentage to the necessary 75%.

*March 6 - Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.

*March 28 - The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated comes out, including George Plimpton's hoax article on Sidd Finch.

*April 28 - Only hours after being swept by the Chicago White Sox in a three-game series at Comiskey Park, the New York Yankees fire Yogi Berra as manager 16 games into the season. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner does not fire Berra personally, but instead dispatches general manager Clyde King to deliver the news for him. Berra will be replaced by Billy Martin, whom he had replaced as manager after the by|1983 season; this will be the fourth of Martin's five stints as Yankee skipper. Berra vows after the slight to never again set foot in Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owns the team.

*June 11 - In a 26-7 romp over the New York Mets, Von Hayes of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs in the first inning of a game. Hayes led off the bottom of the first with a homer, then hit a grand slam later in the frame. Those were the only two home runs hit in the high-scoring affair.

*July 2 - Pitcher Joe Niekro of the Houston Astros wins his 200th career game, 3–2 over the San Diego Padres. Joe and Phil Niekro join Jim Perry and Gaylord Perry as the only pitching brother combinations to each win at least 200 games.

*July 4-5 - In a bizarre game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 16-13 in a 19-inning game that featured Keith Hernandez hitting for the cycle, and the Braves coming back to tie the game twice in extra innings, most notably in the bottom of the 18th. Pitcher Rick Camp, a career .074 hitter batting only because the Braves had no position players left, shockingly hit a solo home run in the 18th to re-tie the game at 11-11. At the end of the game, even though it was July 5, 3:15 am, the Braves went ahead and shot off their scheduled Fourth of July post-game fireworks for the fans who endured to the end.

*July 11 - Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros becomes the first pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts, fanning Danny Heep in the 6th inning of Houston's 4–3 win over the New York Mets.

*July 15 - Dave Parker wins the first annual All-Star Home Run Derby.

*July 16 - The National League beats the American League 6–1 at Minnesota's Metrodome for its 13th win in the last 14 All-Star Games. The San Diego Padres' LaMarr Hoyt allows one unearned run in three innings and is named MVP.

*August 4
**Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox records his 300th career win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
**Rod Carew of the California Angels gets his 3000th career hit; a double off of Frank Viola.
**Phil Rizzuto has his number 10 retired by the New York Yankees.

*August 5 - Darryl Strawberry hits 3 home runs helping the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2.

*August 6 and 7 - All parks go dark for a brief strike. All missed games are made up before the season ends.

*August 15 - Cal Ripken hits 100th career home run helping Baltimore Orioles beat Texas Rangers 9-1.

*September 8 - Pete Rose inserts himself into the Cincinnati Reds' lineup as a late addition, and picks up two singles, the second of which gives him 4,191 hits in his career, tying him with Ty Cobb for the career record. Being that the game is at Wrigley Field, the game is eventually called because of darkness after nine innings, resulting in a rare 5-5 tie.

*September 11 - Eric Show of the San Diego Padres goes down in history for pitching Pete Rose's historic 4,192nd career hit; a line drive single to center field. It breaks the tie for the career record which Rose had shared with Ty Cobb since September 8.

*October 6 - Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees becomes the second pitcher this year to record his 300th career win, in a 6-0 shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays.

*October 27 - The Kansas City Royals rout the St. Louis Cardinals 11–0 in Game Seven of the 1985 World Series to become only the sixth team to rally from a 3-1 deficit and win the WS. Bret Saberhagen pitches the shutout and wins the Series MVP honors.

*October 27 - George Steinbrenner fires New York Yankees' manager Billy Martin for the fourth time. Hired to replace him is rookie manager and former Yankee, Lou Piniella.

Movies

*"The Slugger's Wife"

Births

January-March

*January 7 - José García
*January 17 - Emmanuel Burriss
*January 17 - Jai Miller
*January 20 - Fabio Castro
*January 28 - Wesley Wright
*February 5 - Eric O'Flaherty
*February 8 - Félix Pie
*February 14 - Tyler Clippard
*February 20 - Ryan Sweeney
*March 2 - Brandon Wood
*March 9 - Brian Bocock
*March 9 - Jesse Litsch
*March 22 - Justin Masterson
*March 23 - Emilio Bonifacio

April-June

*April 5 - Lastings Milledge
*April 5 - Ian Stewart
*April 15 - John Danks
*April 26 - Sean Rodriguez
*May 2 - José Ascanio
*May 2 - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
*May 21 - Andrew Miller
*May 22 - Rick VandenHurk

July-September

*July 1 - Chris Perez
*July 3 - Greg Reynolds
*August 1 - Adam Jones
*August 5 - Travis Denker
*August 16 - Daric Barton
*August 20 - Blake DeWitt
*August 22 - Ryan Feierabend
*September 3 - Troy Patton
*September 14 - Delmon Young
*September 17 - Eric Hurley
*September 23 - Joba Chamberlain

October-December

*October 7 - Evan Longoria
*October 17 - Carlos González
*November 13 - Asdrúbal Cabrera
*November 19 - Brad Harman
*December 4 - Carlos Gómez
*December 30 - Sean Gallagher

Deaths

January-June

*January 16 - Ken Chase, 71, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and New York Giants between 1936 and 1943
*February 12 - Van Lingle Mungo, 73, All-Star pitcher whose antics delighted Brooklyn Dodgers fans; led NL in strikeouts, shutouts and innings once each
*February 26 - George Uhle, 86, pitcher for the Indians and Tigers who won 200 games and is credited with having developed the slider pitch in the 1920s; also batted .289, one of the highest averages for a pitcher
*March 8 - Al Todd, 83, catcher for the Phillies, Pirates, Dodgers and Cubs between 1932 and 1943
*March 10 - Bob Nieman, 58, left fielder for six teams who batted .300 twice for the Orioles; first player to hit home runs in his first two major league at-bats, later a scout
*March 25 - Joe Wood, 65, infielder who played briefly for the 1943 Detroit Tigers
*May 4 - Bill Kunkel, 48, AL umpire since 1968 who worked two World Series and four ALCS; previously a relief pitcher for the Athletics and Yankees, and father of Rangers shortstop Jeff
*May 5 - Joe Glenn, 76, catcher for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox, who caught Babe Ruth during his last pitching game in 1933, and also catched Ted Williams in a rare relief appearance in 1940
*May 6 - Kirby Higbe, 70, All-Star pitcher for five NL teams who won 22 games for the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
*May 21 - Archie McKain, 74, left-handed reliever who posted a 26-21 record with a 4.26 ERA and 16 saves for the Red Sox, Tigers and Browns from 1937-43
*June 10 - Bob Prince, 68, broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1948 to 1975

July-December

*July 2 - Guy Bush, 83, pitcher who won 176 games, most with the Chicago Cubs, but was best remembered for having given up Babe Ruth's last home run
*July 27 - Smoky Joe Wood, 95, pitcher for the Red Sox who posted a 34-5 record with an 1.91 ERA in 1912, and went on to win three games in the World Series against the New York Giants; after wearing out his arm by age 26 with a record of 117-57, returned as an outfielder with the Indians and batted .366 while platooning in 1921; later coached at Yale for 20 years
*July 27 - Carl Yowell, 82, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in the 1920s
*August 25 - Dick Wakefield, 64, All-Star left fielder who played for the Detroit Tigers, New Yankees and New York Giants between 1941 and 1952
*October 14 - Ossie Bluege, 84, All-Star third baseman who played his entire 18-year career for the Washington Senators; later the team's manager, coach and farm director
*November 11 - Frank Mulroney, 82, pitcher for the 1930 Boston Red Sox
*November 15 - Riggs Stephenson, 87, left fielder who batted .336 lifetime while usually platooning, mainly with the Cubs
*November 23 - Sam West, 81, All-Star center fielder for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns who batted .300 eight times
*November 25 - Ray Jablonski, 58, All-Star third baseman, mainly with the Cardinals, Reds and Giants, who had 100 RBI in his first two seasons
*December 6 - Burleigh Grimes, 92, Hall of Fame pitcher, most notably for the Dodgers, who won 270 games with five 20-win seasons using the spitball, of which he was the last permitted practitioner; later a manager and coach
*December 8 - Bill Wambsganss, 91, second baseman for the Cleveland Indians who made the only unassisted triple play in World Series history
*December 14 - Roger Maris, 51, All-Star right fielder who hit 61 home runs in 1961 to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record, earning his second consecutive MVP award, but whose career faltered under the public stress accompanying the accomplishment