The following are the baseball events of the year 1987 throughout the world.
Champions
Major League Baseball
Other champions
Awards and honors
MLB Statistical Leaders
Major League Baseball final standings
Events
- April 6 - Al Campanis, a former teammate of Jackie Robinson, and currently a vice-president with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 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 have not become managers or executives, Campanis states that Blacks may lack certain qualities for those jobs, drawing the ire of host Ted Koppel. Campanis was fired two days later.
- 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 11 - Mark McGwire of the Athletics broke Al Rosen's AL rookie record by hitting his 38th home run in Oakland's 8-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
- 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 overcame 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.
Movies
Births
Deaths
January-April
- 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 20 - Hank Behrman, 65, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants between 1946 and 1949
- 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 8 - 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 16 - Bob Kline, 77, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators in the 1930s, later a minor league manager
- April 27 - John Burrows, 74, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs in the 1940s
May-August
- May 1 - Bobo Holloman, 62, pitcher for the 1953 St. Louis Browns, who threw a no-hitter in his major league debut
- 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 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 only World Series championship in 1985
- 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 31 - Dick Young, 69, longtime New York sportswriter known for his hard-hitting style
September-December
- 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 10 - Pete Cote, 85, utility for the 1926 New York Giants
- November 16 - Jim Brewer, 49, 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 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 24 - Nino Espinosa, 34, pitcher for the Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays from 1974 to 1981
Notes
AL and NL Rookies of the Year Mark McGwire and Benito Santiago were two players who would be later linked to steroid use.
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