April 3rd in 1990s Baseball
Happy 1990s Birthday to Quilvio Veras, who led the NL in stolen bases as a rookie (56) in 1996 with the Marlins and finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year race.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Mike Lansing, who made his big-league debut with the Expos in 1993 and is the all-time MLB hits leader among Wyoming natives.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Gary Pettis, who spent 11 years in the bigs with four teams and won five Gold Golves. He also stole 354 bases, including two 50-steal seasons (1985 & 1986). He finished his career with the Tigers in 1992.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Doug Baker, who spent seven years in the bigs with the Tigers and Twins and won a ring with Detroit in 1984.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Marty Clary, who won five games for the Braves between 1987 and 1990.
Chris Bosio was born OTD in 1963. He made his debut with the Brewers in 1986 and threw a no-hitter for Seattle in 1993. He later became a pitching coach and was fired after charges of making racist comments.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Danny Leon, who went 1-1 for the 1992 Rangers in his only big-league season.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Steve Soderstrom, who went 2-0 for the 1996 Giants. His son, Tyler, was drafted by the A’s in the first round of the 2020 draft, making them the only father-son duo to both be first-round picks.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Jim Pittsley, who spent four years in the bigs with the Royals and Twins, winning a career-high five games in 1997.
Tim Crews was born OTD in 1961. He spent the first six years of his career with the Dodgers before signing with Cleveland as a free agent. He was tragically killed, along with teammate Steve Olin, in a boating accident in spring training in 1993. Bob Ojeda was also seriously injured but recovered.
4/3/90
The Reds trade Jeff Richardson and Mike Roesler to the Pirates for Billy Hatcher.
Hatch hits .276, swipes 30 bags, and helps the Reds win the World Series.
4/3/91
The Chicago White Sox sign Bo Jackson as a free agent. He gets $700,000 guaranteed plus options.
It was initially thought he would spend the year rehabbing his hip and not play but he returns to the lineup in September.
4/3/92
Cleveland signs Alvaro Espinoza as a free agent.
He spends the year in Triple-A, but returns to the bigs in 1993 and hits .278 in 129 games.
4/3/92
The Yankees sign Dion James as a free agent.
He spends the next five years in the Yankees organization.
4/3/92
The Rangers sign Al Newman as a free agent.
He plays in 116 games for Texas and his big-league career is over.
4/3/93
The Red Sox sign Ernie Riles as a free agent.
He spends his final big-league season in Boston.
4/3/93
The Tigers sign David Wells, who had been recently released by the Blue Jays.
He goes 26-19 in Detroit before being dealt to Cincinnati in 1995.
4/3/93
A tough day in Philadelphia as the Phillies release Dale Murhpy.
Murph immediately signs with the Rockies, where he plays 26 games and retires.
4/3/94
The Mariners sign Rich Gossage as a free agent.
He goes 3-1 with a save in the final year of his Hall of Fame career.
4/3/95
The Tigers sign Kent Bottenfield as a free agent.
He spends the year in Triple-A and signs with the Cubs for 1996.
4/3/96
The Royals sign Craig Paquette as a free agent.
He spends the next two seasons in KC and plays until 2003.
4/3/96
The Rangers sign Lee Stevens as a free agent.
He splits the season between Triple-A and the big leagues but becomes a full-time player in 1997.
4/3/98
The Red Sox sign Wil Ledezma as an amateur free agent.
He makes his debut in 2003 with Detroit and spends nine years in the major leagues.
4/3/96
Brooks Kieschnick goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big-league debut for the Cubs.
Brooks was the 10th overall pick in the 1993 draft and hits .345 in limited action as a rookie.
He later became a two-way player for Milwaukee in 2003.
4/3/96
Sal Fasano goes 0-for-3 against Baltimore in his big-league debut.
He collects his first hit on April 12 and plays in 51 games as a rookie for the Royals.
He spends 11 years in the bigs.
4/3/96
Matt Luke makes his big-league debut as a pinch-runner for the Yankees. It is his only major league appearance in 1996 but he returns to the bigs in 1998.
4/3/96
Steve Bourgeois allows two runs in 1 1/3 innings of work against Atlanta in his big-league debut.
He picks up the only win of his career in his next appearance.
4/3/96
Tyler Houston goes 1-for-2 with a double off Mark Dewey in his big-league debut.
The 2nd overall pick of the 1989 draft is traded to the Cubs in June and spends eight years in the bigs with six teams.
4/3/96
Rodney Myers allows one unearned run over two innnigs against the Padres in his big-league debut.
He goes 2-1 as a rookie and pitches until 2004.
4/3/96
Kimera Bartee goes 0-for-1 against Minnesota in his big league debut.
He hits .253 in 110 games as a rookie and spends parts of six seasons in the major leagues.
4/3/96
Steve Montgomery allows four runs to Toronto in one inning of work in his big-league debut.
He throws 13 2/3 innings as a rookie and pitches in parts of four seasons.
4/3/96
Mike Durant goes 3-for-4 with a double against the Tigers in his big-league debut.
He bats .210 for the Twins in 1996, his lone season in the major leagues.
4/3/97
Ricardo Rincon allows one run in 1 2/3 innings against the Giants in his big-league debut. He wins four games as a rookie and save 14 the following season for the Pirates.
4/3/97
Emil Brown goes 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in his big league debut.
He collects two hits in his next appearance and spends parts of 10 seasons in the major leagues.
4/3/97
Fernando Hernandez allows two runs in an inning of work to the Twins in his big-league debut. He makes one more appearance on April 5th and that is the extent of his big-league experience.
4/3/97
Todd Ritchie goes three innings and picks up a win against the Tigers in his big-league debut for the Twins. He spends eight years in the major leagues and wins 43 games.
4/3/97
Will Cunnane throws two scoreless innings in relief against the Mets in his big-league debut.
He wins six games as a rookie and pitches in the bigs for eight years.
4/3/98
Javier Vazquez gets the loss against the Cubs in his big-league debut.
He goes 5-15 as a rookie, but wins 165 games over his 14-year career.
4/3/91
Demolition crews begin tearing down Old Comiskey Park in Chicago, which had been the home of the White Sox since 1910. The gathered crowd boos.
4/3/92
The Red Sox conclude 27 years of spring training at Winter Haven, Florida, by beating the Tigers, 14-4.
The Sox move to Fort Myers in 1993.
4/3/94
The Reds host the Cardinals in the first Sunday night season opener and Ray Lankford homers as the first batter of the year. St. Louis wins the game 6-4 behind Bob Tewksbury.
4/3/96
Fred McGriff goes 3-for-4 with 6 RBI in a 15-2 Atlanta win over the Giants.
Amazingly, he does this with zero extra-base hits. Fred was so damn smooth.
4/3/96
In a four inning game, Saint Francis College beats Robert Morris 71-1. The Fighting Saints score 26 runs in the 1st inning, 22 more in the 2nd, four in the 3rd and 19 in the 4th. Future Cardinals farmhand Brian Mazurek hits for the cycle, while Mike Holcomb sets a NCAA mark with nine runs scored. Only 19 of the runs are earned thanks to 16 Robert Morris errors.
4/3/96
The Tigers take a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the 3rd when Minnesota explodes for 11 runs in the next two innings and wins 16-7. Dave Hollins hits the only homer of the game for Minnesota.
4/3/97
Jimmy Key makes his Orioles debut and beats the Royals, 4-2, to run his opening day record to 7-0. He wins 16 games for the Birds.
4/3/98
Jose Valentin goes 3-for-4 with three dingers and 5 RBI in a 7-1 Brewers win over the Marlins.
4/3/98
Derek Bell goes 3-for-4 with a dinger and 6 RBI in a 15-2 Astros win over the Rockies. Through the first four games of the season, Bell is hitting .471.
4/3/90
The Expos release Joaquin Andujar and his career is over. He was in camp as a non-roster invitee.
He wins 127 games, including a career-high 20 in 1984, and a ring over his 13-year career.
4/3/90
The Cubs release Greg Booker.
He signs with the Giants and appears in two games at the major league level.
4/3/90
The White Sox release Jeff Fassero.
He signs with Cleveland and spends the year in the minor leagues before hooking on with Montreal in January of 1991. He makes his big-league debut that year and pitches for 16 years.
4/3/90
The Astros release Roger Mason.
He returns to the Pirates and spends the year in Triple-A before returning to the bigs in 1991 and pitches until 1995.
4/3/90
The White Sox release Jerry Reuss.
He returns to the Pirates and finishes his career there, drawing the start on the final day of the season. The man had a good career.
4/3/91
The Red Sox release Cecilio Guante and his career is over. He finishes with 29 wins and 35 saves over nine seasons.
4/3/92
The Pirates release Rick Reed.
He signs with the Royals and pitches until 2003, including two All-Star appearances.
4/3/98
The Twins select Hector Carrasco off waivers from the Diamondbacks.
He wins 6 games over two seasons in Minnesota and pitches until 2007.
4/3/97
The Rangers place Will Clark on the DL with a fractured finger suffered when he tripped over the bullpen mound chasing a foul pop. He makes his season debut on April 18 and hits .326.
4/3/98
The Phillies place Mark Portugal on the DL with knee soreness. He returns to the rotation on May 14th and wins 10 games on the season.
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