1985 in baseball

Champions

Major League Baseball

*World Series: Kansas City Royals over St. Louis Cardinals (4-3); Bret Saberhagen, MVP

*American League Championship Series MVP: George Brett
*National League Championship Series MVP: Ozzie Smith
*All-Star Game, July 16 at the Metrodome: National League, 6–1; LaMarr Hoyt, MVP

Other champions

* Caribbean World Series: Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic)
*College World Series: Miami (Florida)
*Japan Series: Hanshin Tigers over Seibu Lions (4-2)
* Big League World Series: Broward County, Florida
* Junior League World Series: Tampa, Florida
*Little League World Series: Seoul National, Seoul, South Korea
* Senior League World Series: Pingtung, Taiwan

Awards and honors

*Baseball Hall of Fame
** Lou Brock
**Enos Slaughter
**Arky Vaughan
**Hoyt Wilhelm
*Most Valuable Player
** Don Mattingly, New York Yankees, 1B (AL)
**Willie McGee, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)
*Cy Young Award
**Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City Royals (AL)
** Dwight Gooden, New York Mets (NL)
* Rookie of the Year
** Ozzie Guillén, Chicago White Sox, SS (AL)
** Vince Coleman, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)
*Manager of the Year Award
**Bobby Cox, Toronto Blue Jays (AL)
** Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
*Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league): Frances Crockett, Charlotte Orioles, Southern League
*Gold Glove Award
** Don Mattingly (1B) (AL)
**Lou Whitaker (2B) (AL)
**George Brett (3B) (AL)
** Alfredo Griffin (SS) (AL)
** Dwight Evans (OF) (AL)
**Dave Winfield and Gary Pettis (OF) (AL)
**Dwayne Murphy (OF) (AL)
** Lance Parrish (C) (AL)
**Ron Guidry (P) (AL)

MLB statistical leaders

¹ Major League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

Major league baseball final standings

Events

January–April

*January 7 – Outfielder Lou Brock and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with Wilhelm becoming the first relief pitcher ever selected. Second baseman Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's percentage to the necessary 75%.
*March 6 – Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
*March 18 – Commissioner Peter Ueberroth officially reinstates Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The two had been banned from working within Major League Baseball by Ueberroth's predecessor, Bowie Kuhn due to their associations with gambling casinos.
*March 28 – The April 1 issue of ''Sports Illustrated'' comes out, including George Plimpton's hoax article on Sidd Finch.
*April 11 – Gorman Thomas hits three home runs and drives in six runs to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 14–6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
*April 28 – Only hours after being swept by the Chicago White Sox in a three-game series at Comiskey Park, the New York Yankees fire Yogi Berra as manager 16 games into the season. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner does not fire Berra personally, but instead dispatches general manager Clyde King to deliver the news for him. Berra is replaced by Billy Martin, whom he replaced as manager after the season. It is the fourth of Martin's five stints as Yankee skipper. Berra vows after the slight to never again set foot in Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owns the team.

Draft

May–June

*May 13 – Against the Philadelphia Phillies at Riverfront Stadium, Tony Pérez of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the oldest player to hit a grand slam. The shot comes in the sixth inning off Dave Rucker with Dave Concepción, Ron Oester and Dave Van Gorder on base and breaks a 3–3 tie; the Reds win by that 7–3 score. Pérez, who will celebrate his 43rd birthday the next day, breaks Honus Wagner's 70-year record as the oldest player to hit a grand slam; Wagner had done so on July 29, , at 41 years, 5 months. Perez' record will be broken 20 years later by 46-year old Julio Franco of the Atlanta Braves.
*May 20 – 44-year old player-manager Pete Rose hits his first home run since 1982 in a 6–1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Ironically, Rose would later hit his final career home run, also against the Cubs, on in a 7–5 win on September 6.
*June 6 – In a key game for the American League East, Toronto Blue Jays' pitcher Jimmy Key had a no-hitter broken up in the 9th inning by Detroit Tigers' Tom Brookens. But the Blue Jays regroup and in the 12th inning, Buck Martinez break up a scoreless tie with a game-winning home run to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 win over The Tigers.
*June 11 – In a 26-7 romp over the New York Mets, Von Hayes of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs in the first inning of a game. Hayes leads off the bottom of the first with a homer, then hits a grand slam later in the frame. They are the only two home runs hit in the high-scoring affair.
*June 13 - Earl Weaver comes out of retirement to replace Joe Altobelli as the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles.
*June 16 - The Earl Weaver Baltimore Orioles revival show rolls on as Wayne Gross hit 2 solo home runs, part of the five home runs the Orioles hit that day as they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-1.

July–August

*July 1 – After almost two full years as interim CEO/president of the Cincinnati Reds, Bob Howsam retires. One of the principal architects of the 1970s' " Big Red Machine," Howsam, 67, has helped revitalize the franchise after three losing seasons. With Pete Rose in command as player-manager, veteran former free-agent Dave Parker returning to All-Star and MVP-candidate form, and young players like Eric Davis maturing into stardom, the 1985 Reds will win 89 games—after three terrible seasons during which they averaged only 68 victories.
*July 2 – Pitcher Joe Niekro of the Houston Astros wins his 200th career game, 3–2 over the San Diego Padres. Joe and Phil Niekro join Jim Perry and Gaylord Perry as the only pitching brother combinations to each win at least 200 games.
*July 4–5 – In a game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 16–13 in a 19-inning contest that features Keith Hernandez hitting for the cycle, Mets manager Davey Johnson being ejected, and the Braves coming back to tie the game twice in extra innings, most notably in the bottom of the 18th. Pitcher Rick Camp, a career .074 hitter batting only because the Braves have no position players left, hits a solo home run in the 18th to re-tie the game at 11-11. At the end of the game, even though the date/time is July 5, 3:15 am, the Braves go ahead and shoot off their scheduled Fourth of July post-game fireworks for the fans who endure to the end. Camp struck out to end the game.
*July 11 – The Houston Astros' Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts, fanning Danny Heep in the sixth inning of Houston's 4–3 win over the New York Mets.
*July 15 – Dave Parker wins the first annual All-Star Home Run Derby.
*July 16 – The National League beats the American League 6–1 at Minnesota's Metrodome for its 13th win in the last 14 All-Star Games. The San Diego Padres' LaMarr Hoyt allows one unearned run in three innings and is named MVP.
*July 20 – Darryl Strawberry collects seven RBIs in the New York Mets' 16–4 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium

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