1987 in baseball

Draft

January

• January 14 – Catfish Hunter and Billy Williams are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

February

• 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

• 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 in exchange for Rick Anderson, Mauro Gozzo and Ed Hearn.

April

• 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. Nieves becomes the second-youngest pitcher in major league history to accomplish the feat (22 years, 4 months, 10 days), as well as the first Brewer to do it.
• 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

• June 1 – Knuckleballer Phil Niekro of the Cleveland Indians beats the Detroit Tigers, 9–6. This is his 314th major league victory for Niekro, which paired him with brother Joe a current total of 216 wins, making them the winningest pitching brother duo, surpassing 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 1987 MLB draft to select Ken Griffey, Jr., signaling a turnaround in their fortunes as an organization.
• June 17 - Former Kansas City Royals manager Dick Howser dies of brain cancer at age 51. Howser had attempted to manage the team at the start of spring training, but found he was physically too weak and was replaced by Billy Gardner.
• June 22 – With their starting rotation decimated by injuries, the New York Mets seek help from Tom Seaver, who is not offered a contract to his liking following the 1986 season, whose salary was $1 million. Then the Boston Red Sox offer him $500,000, which Seaver also declines. Though no actual contract is signed, Seaver joins the Red Sox on June 6, and is hit hard on during 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 a modern-day record set by Ron Hunt.

July

• 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

• 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

• 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.
• September 27 - Four days after being signed as a free agent and almost a month after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, 48-year-old Hall of Famer Phil Niekro pitches in his final major league game for the Atlanta Braves. Niekro starts the game against the San Francisco Giants, pitches three innings, and gives up six hits and five runs.
• September 28 - Kevin Seitzer becomes the first rookie since Tony Oliva and Dick Allen in 1964 to collect 200 hits in a season.

October

• 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

• November 3 - Mark McGwire who hit a then MLB rookie record of 49 home runs was the unanimous choice for the American League Rookie of the Year. Only the second time that happened (Carlton Fisk was the other in 1972).
• 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.

December

• December 1 – Free agent outfielder Brett Butler is signed by the San Francisco Giants. Butler hit .295 with nine home runs, 41 RBI, and 33 stolen bases for the Cleveland Indians in this season.

January

• January 2 – Dave Sappelt
• January 7 – Brandon Bantz
• January 7 – Kyle Hudson
• January 10 – Ryan Dennick
• January 10 – Paolo Espino
• January 10 – Alberto Rosario
• 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

• 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 – David Cooper
• 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 – Danny Farquhar
• February 19 – Josh Reddick
• February 22 – Tommy Field
• February 22 – Carlos Peguero
• February 25 – Phil Irwin
• February 25 – Henry Rodríguez
• February 25 – Andrew Werner
• February 28 – Aaron Thompson

March

• March 4 – Dan Cortes
• March 7 – Joel Carreño
• March 9 – Daniel Hudson
• March 10 – Charles Leesman
• March 14 – Blaine Hardy
• March 21 – Michael Brady
• March 21 – Carlos Carrasco
• March 22 – Ike Davis
• March 24 – Lucas Luetge
• March 24 – Josh Zeid
• 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

• 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 – Dusty Coleman
• April 20 – Ian Thomas
• April 21 – Ryan Adams
• April 21 – Brent Morel
• April 22 – Tyson Ross
• April 24 – Welington Castillo
• April 25 – Danny Espinosa

May

• 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

• 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 – Jeremy Bleich
• 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

• July 3 – Casey Coleman
• July 3 – Zach Putnam
• July 7 – Yangervis Solarte
• July 8 – Christian Friedrich
• July 8 – Josh Harrison
• July 8 – Mason Tobin
• July 9 – Rusney Castillo
• 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
• July 28 – Jae-gyun Hwang

August

• August 2 – Juan Jaime
• August 4 – Hiram Burgos
• 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 21 – J. D. Martinez
• August 23 – Zach Braddock
• August 25 – Logan Morrison
• August 25 – Murphy Smith
• 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

• 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 – 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

• 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 21 – Justin De Fratus
• October 23 – Félix Doubront
• October 23 – Kyle Gibson
• October 27 – Jay Jackson
• October 27 – Ben Paulsen
• October 28 – Casey Lawrence
• October 30 – Ryan Kelly
• October 31 – Yamaico Navarro

November

• 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

• December 3 – Andrew Oliver
• December 5 – A. J. Pollock
• December 5 – Chris Rearick
• December 8 – Kyle Drabek
• December 8 – Zach McAllister
• December 8 – Alex 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 – Khris 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

• January 1 – Velma Abbott, 57, Canadian infielder who played from 1946 to 1947 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
• January 1 – Norene Arnold, 59, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher and infielder.
• 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 19 – George Selkirk, 79, All-Star outfielder who helped lead the New York Yankees to 5 World Series titles.
• January 20 – Hank Behrman, 65, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants between 1946 and 1949.

February

• 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

• March 9 – 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

• 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

• May 1 – Bobo Holloman, 62, pitcher for the 1953 St. Louis Browns, who threw a no-hitter in his first major league start.
• 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

• 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.
• June 21 – Phil Weintraub, 79, first baseman who once drove in 11 runs in one game while playing for the New York Giants.

July

• 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

• 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

• 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

• October 17 – Pete Cote, 85, utility for the 1926 New York Giants.

November

• November 16 – Jim Brewer, 50, 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 24 – Jim Russell, 69, outfielder for the Pirates, Braves and Dodgers from 1942 to 1951.
• 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

• December 24 – Nino Espinosa, 34, pitcher for the Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays from 1974 to 1981.