Happy 1990s Birthday to Andruw Jones, who made his debut with the Braves in 1996 and spent 17 years in the bigs. He finished his career with 434 dingers, 1,289 RBI, and 10 Gold Gloves.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Guillermo Velasquez, who played in 94 games for the Padres in 1992 and 1993.
Rheal Cormier was born OTD in 1967. He made his debut with the Cardinals in 1991 and pitched in the bigs for 16 years, winning 71 games. Rheal passed away in 2021.
4/23/90 The Expos trade Rex Hudler to the Cardinals for John Costello. Hud spends three years in St. Louis and hits .253 before playing for the Angels for three years and wrapping up his career with the Phillies.
4/23/97 Needing infield help due to injuries to Fernando Vina and Jose Valentin, the Brewers acquire Jeff Huson from the Rockies for a PTBNL. The Brewers send Creighton Gubanich to Colorado to complete the trade.
4/23/93 The White Sox sign Mike LaValliere as a free agent. He had been released earlier by the Pirates.
4/23/90 Steve Lyons plays all nine positions in the Windy City Classic against the Cubs.
4/23/90 Joe Carter goes 3-for-4 with a homer and 7 RBI in a 13-3 Padres win over the Giants.
4/23/94 Tony Gwynn goes 5-for-5 with a dinger and three RBI as the Padres beat the Phillies 8-2.
4/23/94 Kevin Bass goes 5-for-6 with a dinger and three RBI as the Astros beat the Cardinals 15-5.
4/23/94 Lee Smith picks up his ninth save of the season in Baltimore’s 16th game to reach the mark faster than anyone else in major league history. He finishes the season with a league-leading 33 saves.
4/23/94 Paul O’Neill hits a slam and drives in five to lead the Yankees to an 8-6 win over Oakland. It is O’Neill’s 5th homer in his last eight games. He hits .464 with 14 RBI during this heater.
4/23/94 Matt Williams, Royce Clayton, and Mike Benjamin each hit two-run homers as the Giants beat the Mets 10-1.
4/23/95 As spring training winds down (late due to the players strike) the Tigers score 11 runs in the 9th inning to beat the Reds 21-13. Shannon Penn and Tony Clark each drive in three for Detroit.
4/23/97 Eric Davis homers and drives in six in a 11-9 extra-inning Orioles loss to the White Sox.
4/23/98 Mike Kelly homers twice and the Devil Rays beat Texas 12-5 to set the record for most April wins (11) by an expansion team.
4/23/98 Ken Caminiti homers and Andy Ashby throws eight scoreless to help the Padres beat the Cubs 4-1 to run their record to an MLB best 16-4.
4/23/99 Fernando Tatis hits two grand slams off Chan Ho Park in the same inning as the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 12-5.
4/23/99 Jeff Cirillo goes 3-for-5 against the Pirates to cap an eight-game stretch in which he hits .438. He collects at least two hits in six of the eight games.
4/23/98 The Tigers release Pete Incaviglia. He signs with Houston, plays in 13 games, and his career is over.
4/23/99 The Cubs release Hideo Nomo. He signs with the Brewers and wins 12 games in 176 innings.
4/23/91 The Red Sox place Danny Darwin on the DL with a muscle pull in his shoulder and bronchial pneumonia. It is the first time in his big-league career, which began in 1978, that he goes on the DL. He misses a month.
4/23/91 The Royals place George Brett on the DL with a partial MCL tear in his right knee. He returns to the lineup on May 24th.
4/23/91 The Blue Jays place Al Leiter on the DL with an elbow problem. After throwing 1 2/3 innings, his season is over.
4/23/92 The Twins place Mike Pagliarulo on the DL with a sprained right wrist. The injury keeps him out of action until July.
4/23/97 The Red Sox place Tim Wakefield on the DL with an elbow problem. He returns to the rotation on May 8th.
4/23/98 The Phillies announce that Ricky Bottalico has a bone chip in his elbow that will require surgery. The injury keeps him out of the lineup until July and Mark Leiter steps up as Phillies closer, notching 23 saves.
4/23/99 Jaret Wright is giving up bombs and decides he has had enough.
4/23/91 The Phillies fire manager Nick Leyva and replace him with Jim Fregosi. Leyva compiles a 148-189 record in two-plus seasons for the Phillies. Under Fregosi, the team reaches the World Series in 1993 but loses to Toronto.
We lost Deron Johnson OTD in 1992.
Johnson hit 245 home runs during a 16-year career. In 1965, he led the National League with 130 RBI as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He was serving as an Angels coach at the time of his death. He was just 53.