April 1st in 1990s Baseball
Happy 1990s Birthday to Rich Amaral, who made his debut with Seattle in 1991 and spent ten years in the bigs. He became a regular with the M’s in 1993 and was a 31-year-old rookie.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Matt Herges, who made his debut with the Dodgers in 1999 and pitched in the bigs until 2009, working primarily out of the bullpen. Herges saved 23 games for the 2004 Giants and spent many years as a minor-league pitching coach.
Happy 1990s Birthday to Jose Martinez, who went 0-2 for the 1994 Padres, his only big-league action. In 1991, Martinez won 20 games for the Single-A Columbia Mets.
Frank Castillo was born OTD in 1969. He made his debut with the Cubs in 1991 and pitched until 2005 and was also a minor-league pitching coach. He passed away in 2013.
4/1/90
The Astros trade Terry Wells to the Dodgers for Franklin Stubbs.
Stubbs hits .261 for Houston with 23 homers before moving on to Milwaukee.
4/1/91
The Braves trade a PTBNL and Jimmy Kremers to the Expos for Boi Rodriguez and Otis Nixon.
Nixon swipes 72 bags and helps Atlanta reach the World Series. Atlanta sends minor leaguer Keith Morrison to Montreal to complete the trade.
4/1/91
The Red Sox trade Rob Murphy to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Gardiner.
Murphy goes 0-1 in 57 games for Seattle and signs with Houston for 1992 as a free agent.
4/1/94
The Red Sox trade John Flaherty to the Tigers for Rich Rowland.
Flaherty splits 1994 between the big leagues and the minors but becomes a regular in 1995 and enjoys a 14-year career.
4/1/90
The Orioles sign Armando Benitez as an amateur free agent. He makes his big-league debut in 1994 and racks up 289 saves for his career.
4/1/91
Calling him, “the heart and soul of the club,” the Mets give Dwight Gooden a three-year contract worth $15.45 million.
After winning 119 games in his first seven seasons, Doc goes 25-32 over the next three years.
4/1/92
The Expos sign Bill Landrum as a free agent.
He goes 1-1 in Montreal and wraps up his big-league career in 1993 with the Reds.
4/1/94
The Cardinals sign Rich Rodriguez as a free agent.
He wins three games over parts of two seasons with the Cards and signs with the Giants prior to 1997. He pitches until 2003.
4/1/95
The Cardinals sign Tim Hulett as a free agent. He plays in just four games before being released and signing with the Rangers.
It is his final season as a player.
4/1/98
The Blue Jays sign Dave Stieb as a free agent.
He hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 1993 but goes 1-2 in 19 games and retires for good at the end of the season.
4/1/98
The Twins sign Hector Carrasco as a free agent.
He was selected by the Diamondbacks in the expansion draft, but the team released him, despite a 3-0 record and a respectable 3.46 E.R.A.
4/1/99
The Cubs sign Hideo Nomo to a minor league deal.
They release him three weeks later and he signs with the Brewers.
4/1/96
Jason Kendall goes 3-for-4 against the Marlins in his big-league debut.
He hits an even .300 as a rookie and steals 30 bases, good for 3rd in the Rookie of the Year balloting behind Todd Hollandsworth and Edgar Renteria.
4/1/97
Pokey Reese makes his big-league debut as a defensive replacement. He plays a half-inning and is sent back to Indianapolis to make room on the roster for Ozzie Timmons. Reece returns to Cincinnati and gets his first start on April 12. He eventually turns into a Gold Glove 2nd baseman.
4/1/98
Cuban defector Rolando Arrojo makes his big-league debut for the Devil Rays. He goes six innings to beat Detroit and earn the first win in franchise history.
Later that summer, he is the first Rays All-Star.
4/1/94
The Dodgers announce that Chan Ho Park has made the Opening Day roster, thus making him the first Korean-born player to make a major league roster.
4/1/94
The Rangers open The Ballpark at Arlington with a 10-7 exhibition win over the Mets. The first regular-season game is played on April 11.
4/1/94
The Giants reward manager Dusty Baker with a two-year contract extension. Baker was named manager of the year after leading the Giants to 103 wins in 1993.
4/1/95
Kevin Mitchell’s first hit as a member of the Fukuoaka Daei Hawks is a grand slam. He hits .300 in 37 games and returns to the U.S. in 1996.
4/1/95
The strike is finally settled and the ridiculous “replacement player” debacle is over.
4/1/96
Ryne Sandberg returns to the Cubs lineup after coming out of retirement. Ryno goes 0-for-3 and hits .244 in 150 games.
4/1/96
A freak snowstorm causes the postponement of Cleveland’s home opener against the Yankees.
4/1/97
Junior homers in his first two at-bats of the season as the Mariners beat the Yankees 4-2. The homers both come off David Cone and mark the fourth time in his career that Junior homers on Opening Day.
4/1/98
The Arizona Diamondbacks play their first-ever game in the $355 million Bank One Ballpark. Colorado wins 9-2 but the people in the pool had a good time.
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4/1/91
The Yankees release Steve Balboni.
He signs with the Rangers in June and spends all of 1991 and 1992 in the minor leagues before resurfacing in the bigs briefly in 1993, his final season.
4/1/91
The Brewers release Mike Campbell.
The former first-round pick signs with the Rangers and spends the next six years bouncing back and forth between the minor leagues and the bigs.
4/1/91
The Cubs release Dave Clark.
He signs with the Royals for 1991 and then hooks on with Pittsburgh.
4/1/91
Cleveland releases Ron Kittle, whom they had signed in January.
He returns to Chicago and finishes his playing career with the White Sox where he won Rookie of the Year (1983).
4/1/91
The Mets release Terry Puhl, who had been in camp with them. He signs with the Royals and plays in 15 games before retiring.
4/1/91
The Angels release Rick Schu.
He returns to the Phillies and resurfaces in the bigs for one game with the Expos in 1996.
4/1/91
The Braves release Andres Thomas and his career is over.
He finishes with 492 hits and a .234 batting average in 577 games.
He enjoyed his best season in 1988 when he hit .252 with 13 homers and 68 RBI.
4/1/91
The Brewers release Rick Wrona.
He signs with the Rangers and spends the year in the minor leagues before moving on to Cincinnati in 1992.
4/1/92
The Braves release Mike Heath.
He returns to Oakland and spends the year in the Pacific Coast League before retiring.
4/1/92
The Reds release Al Newman, whom they had signed in February.
He signs with the Rangers two days later and hits .220 in 116 games in his final season.
4/1/93
The Braves release Wally Backman.
He had been in camp with Atlanta but didn’t make the team. He signs with Seattle a few days later but is released in May, ending his career.
4/1/93
The Twins release Cory Lidle after he posts a 3-2 record over two seasons in rookie ball. He sticks with it and eventually reaches the bigs in 1997 with the Mets. He wins 82 games over nine seasons but is tragically killed in a plane crash in 2006.
4/1/94
The Phillies purchase Charlie Montoyo from the Expos.
He spends the next three years in the minor leagues and eventually becomes a manager with Toronto.
4/1/94
The Expos release Tim Leary.
They re-sign him a few weeks later and release him again in June. He sings with the Rangers and finishes his career with Texas.
4/1/94
The Red Sox select Ricky Trlicek off waivers from the Dodgers.
He goes 1-1 in 12 games at the major league level and pitches with multiple teams through 1997.
4/1/94
The Mariners select Torey Lovullo off waivers from the Angels.
He splits the year between Triple-A and the bigs and plays until 1999 before going into coaching.
4/1/98
The Angels release Tony Phillips.
He signs with Toronto in July, plays 13 games for the Jays, and is traded to the Mets. He finishes his career with Oakland in 1999.
4/1/96
John McSherry collapses on the field at Riverfront Stadium and passes away.
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