Champions

Major League Baseball

• World Series: New York Mets over Boston Red Sox (4-3); Ray Knight, MVP

• American League Championship Series MVP: Marty Barrett
• National League Championship Series MVP: Mike Scott
• All-Star Game, July 15 at the Astrodome: American League, 3-2; Roger Clemens, MVP

Other champions

• Caribbean World Series: Águilas de Mexicali (Mexico)
• College World Series: Arizona
• Cuban National Series: Industriales
• Japan Series: Seibu Lions over Hiroshima Toyo Carp (4-3-1)
• Little League World Series: Tainan Park, Taiwan

Awards and honors

• Most Valuable Player
• Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox (AL)
• Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies (NL)
• Cy Young Award
• Roger Clemens, Boston Red Sox (AL)
• Mike Scott, Houston Astros (NL)
• Rookie of the Year
• José Canseco, Oakland Athletics (AL)
• Todd Worrell, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
• Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award
• Dave Righetti, New York Yankees (AL)
• Todd Worrell, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
• Manager of the Year Award
• John McNamara, Boston Red Sox (AL)
• Hal Lanier, Houston Astros (NL)

MLB Statistical Leaders

Major League Baseball final standings

Events

• January 8 - Willie McCovey is the only player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America, and becomes the 16th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Billy Williams falls four votes shy of the 319 needed for election.
• February 28 - Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspended 11 players who had testified to cocaine involvement in the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985.
• March 10 - Ernie Lombardi, the National League MVP in 1938, and Bobby Doerr, a nine-time American League All-Star, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
• April 29 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners and becomes the first pitcher in major league history to strike out 20 players in a nine-inning game in a 3-1 Red Sox victory.
• June 4 - Pitching at Fulton County Stadium, the Atlanta Braves' pitcher Craig McMurtry serves up the first home run in Barry Bonds' career.
• June 18 - Don Sutton of the California Angels records his 300th career win.
• June 21 - In a move that shocks many, reigning Heisman Trophy winner Vincent "Bo" Jackson announces that he will forego dealing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had made him the first overall selection of the National Football League Draft, and signs a contract to play baseball for the Kansas City Royals.
• July 6 - First baseman Bob Horner of the Atlanta Braves becomes the ninth player in history (and the first since Mike Schmidt in 1976) to hit four home runs in one game. Horner is, however, the first to do so in a losing effort as his Braves fall to the Montréal Expos 11-8 at Fulton County Stadium.
• July 15 - At the Houston Astrodome, the American League wins the All-Star Game 3–2, for its second triumph in the last 15 years. AL starter Roger Clemens pitches three perfect innings to win the Game's MVP Award.
• August 1 - Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota Twins records his 3000th career strikeout.
• August 11 - Cincinnati player-manager Pete Rose, 45, singled four times and doubled to set a NL record with the 10th five-hit game of his career. Rose drove in three runs in a 13-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, to move one ahead of Max Carey for the record.
• August 12 - Don Baylor of the Boston Red Sox set an AL record when he was hit by a pitch for the 25th time that season, breaking the record he shared with Bill Freehan (1968) and Norm Elberfield (1911). Kansas City's Bud Black was the pitcher as the Royals completed a doubleheader sweep with a 6-5 victory.
• August 14 - Pete Rose enjoys a 3-for-4 day, the last hit being the 4,256th and final hit of his career.
• August 17 - Pete Rose inserts himself in as a pinch hitter, and takes a called third strike from San Diego Padres pitcher Goose Gossage to end a 9-5 loss for the Cincinnati Reds. It is Rose's final plate appearance (15,890), at-bat (14,503), and game (3,562), all of which are Major League career records.
• August 27 - Darryl Strawberry hits his 100th career home run helping the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 6-5.
• September 3 - Billy Hatcher's home run in the top of the 18th inning gives the Houston Astros an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The two teams began with 14 innings one day earlier, and use a major league record 53 players in the game.
• September 17 - The New York Mets secure the National League East title with a 4-2 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs, their 95th victory of the year. The team would finish the season at 108-54, the best record of any team during the 1980s.
• September 22 - Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first Mexican pitcher to have a 20-win season in the majors, beating the Houston Astros 9-2 while allowing just two hits.
• September 25 - Houston Astros pitching ace Mike Scott hurls a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at the Houston Astrodome. The victory clinches the National League West title for the Astros.
• September 26 - An 8-3 win for the California Angels in Texas gives the franchise its second American League West crown.
• September 28 - The Boston Red Sox claim the American League East championship with a 12-3 drubbing of the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
• October 12 - In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox, trailing 3 games to 1 to the California Angels and one out away from elimination, are rescued when Don Baylor delivers a 2-run home run to trim the Angel lead from 5-2 to 5-4. Then, with Rich Gedman running on first, and one strike away from elimination, Dave Henderson crushes a pitch from California's Donnie Moore into the center field stands for a 6-5 lead. The Red Sox win 7-6 in extra innings and extend the series to another game.
• October 15 - In the longest game in post-season history (until the 2005 National League Division Series), the Mets beat the Astros 7–6 in 16 innings to earn their first trip to the World Series since 1973. New York scores three runs in the top of the 9th to force extra innings. The Mets score three more runs in the top of the 16th, and Houston answers with two of its own before Jesse Orosco fans Kevin Bass to end the game.
• October 25 - With the Red Sox leading 5-3 in Game 6 of the World Series, and just one out away from winning their first championship since 1918, the Red Sox give up hits to Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight, and pitcher Bob Stanley throws a wild pitch that allows Mitchell to score. Then Mookie Wilson hits a slow grounder that keeps bouncing, right between the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner, allowing Knight to score to give the New York Mets an improbable 6-5 win. Boston's Calvin Schiraldi absorbs the loss.
• October 27 - At Shea Stadium, the New York Mets win Game Seven of the World Series over the Boston Red Sox, 8–5. Third baseman Ray Knight is named the Series MVP.

Births

• February 27 - Yovani Gallardo
• April 8 - Félix Hernández
• April 18 - Billy Butler
• May 3 - Homer Bailey

Deaths

January-April

• January 2 - Bill Veeck, 71, executive who owned the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox (twice) at various times, always launching fan-friendly promotions which greatly increased attendance and the sport's popularity; notable stunts included using midget Eddie Gaedel in a 1951 game, and installing fireworks in the Comiskey Park scoreboard
• January 13 - Mike Garcia, 62, All-Star pitcher who won 142 games for the Cleveland Indians, winning 20 games and leading the AL in ERA twice each; member of the Indians' "Big Four", along with Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn
• February 17 - Red Ruffing, 80, Hall of Fame pitcher whose 273 victories included four straight 20-win seasons for the Yankees from 1936-1939, with seven World Series victories helping the team win six championships; batted .300 eight times, and was later a minor league manager
• April 27 - Marty Karow, 81, coach at Texas A&M and Ohio State who won the 1966 College World Series with the Buckeyes; briefly an infielder with the 1927 Red Sox
• April 28 - Pat Seerey, 63, outfielder who hit four home runs in a 1948 game while with the White Sox

May-August

• May 4 - Paul Richards, 77, manager and executive, formerly a catcher, who built the Baltimore Orioles team that later dominated the AL in the late 1960s and early 1970s; also manager of the White Sox, and executive with Houston and Atlanta
• June 6 - John Carmichael, 83, Chicago sportswriter from 1927 to 1972
• June 9 - Milton Richman, 64, sportswriter for United Press International since 1944
• July 2 - Peanuts Lowrey, 68, All-Star outfielder, mainly with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who batted .310 in 1945 World Series
• July 8 - Johnny Cooney, 85, pitcher/outfielder/first baseman for the Boston Bees & Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees between 1921 and 1944, later a longtime coach
• July 9 - Red Lucas, 84, pitcher who won over 150 games for the Reds and Pirates; had 27 consecutive complete games in 1931-32 and set record with 114 career pinch hits
• July 25 - Ted Lyons, 85, Hall of Fame pitcher who played his entire 21-year career with the Chicago White Sox, collecting 260 victories; led AL in wins, innings, complete games and shutouts twice each, and won 22 games for 62-92 team in 1930
• August 11 - Tom Gorman, 67, NL umpire form 1951 to 1976, briefly a pitcher with the New York Giants, who worked in five World Series and nine no-hitters

September-December

• September 4 - Hank Greenberg, 75, Hall of Fame first baseman and left fielder for the Detroit Tigers who won MVP awards at both positions; career .313 hitter led the American League in home runs and RBI four times each despite losing four and a half seasons to military service; 58 homers in 1938 shared record for right-handed batters; first Jewish player elected to Hall of Fame
• October 3 - Vince DiMaggio, 74, All-Star center fielder for five NL teams, and the oldest of the baseball-playing DiMaggio brothers, Joe and Dom
• October 12 - Norm Cash, 51, All-Star first baseman for the Tigers who won the 1961 AL batting title with a .361 mark, but never again hit over .283
• October 19 - George Pipgras, 86, pitcher who led AL with 24 wins for 1928 Yankees; later an AL umpire for nine seasons
• December 10 - Si Burick, 77, sportswriter for the Dayton Daily News since 1928 who covered the Cincinnati Reds and became the first writer from a non-major league city to be honored by the Hall of Fame
• December 12 - Johnny Wyrostek, 67, All-Star outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds