Highylights include:
1990
Free-agent slugger Darryl Strawberry signs a 5-year contract with his hometown Dodgers, formally ending his 8-year stay with the Mets. He is the Mets all-time home run leader with 252.
Strawberry spent three seasons in LA. He hit 29 homers in 1991 over 139 games. But, he played only 43 games in 1992 and 32 games in 1993 while hitting a combined ten home runs. The Dodgers released him in May of 1994.
1989
Cubs OF Jerome Walton wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 22 of 24 first-place votes to defeat teammate Dwight Smith. They are the first NL teammates to finish 1-2 in the voting since the Phillies Jack Sanford and Ed Bouchee in 1957. Walton is the first Cub to win rookie honors since Billy Williams, in 1961.
Walton and Smith were supposed to help keep the Cubs at the top of the National League for at least a few more years. Walton played for five other teams before being released by Tampa Bay in 1998. Smith played for the Angels, Orioles, and Braves through 1996 before heading to the independent leagues.
1962
Charlie Metro, head coach of the Cubs college of coaches from June 4th to season's end (43-69), is fired.
Ah, the College of Coaches. From wikipedia:
The College of Coaches was an unorthodox strategy employed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961 and 1962. After the Cubs finished 60-94 in 1960, their eighth straight losing season and 14th consecutive nonwinning campaign, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley announced in December 1960 that the Cubs would use four coaches as managers, rather than the traditional one-manager approach. Said Wrigley at the time, "Managers are expendable. I believe there should be relief managers just like relief pitchers."
Makes sense to me! How did that work out for ya?
The Cubs front office argued that under this system, players would be exposed to the wisdom and experience of four coaches instead of just one field manager. However, in practice, players were often confused by this system. It was not always clear which coach would be in charge for a given game, and occasionally the various coaches were at odds with each other. The Cubs would be managed by four different men in 1961 and three more in 1962 — two were holdovers from 1961 — and all seven had losing records, despite managing teams with future Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Ernie Banks.
Oh. Well, at least they tried something.
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