1990 Baseball Season Highlights

The 1990 baseball season was the year of the no-hitter -- a record nine were fired, including Nolan Ryan's sixth. Below are some of the highlights from the 1990 baseball season:
  • For the 13th straight season, Detroit fields a keystone combo of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker.

Alan Trammell
©SportPic
Alan Trammell batted .304 with 14 home
runs and 89 RBI in the 1990 season.
See more baseball seasons pictures.

  • Oakland cops its third straight flag in the American League.

  • Cincinnati takes its first National League pennant since 1976.

  • The A's sweep Boston in ALCS, just like they did in 1988.

  • Boston manages just one run in each ALCS game.

  • Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh in six games in NLCS, thanks to several outstanding defensive plays in the outfield.

  • The Reds shock the baseball world by sweeping the mighty A's in the 1990 World Series, as Oakland's offensive stars muster just eight runs.

  • Reds pitcher Jose Rijo wins two 1990 World Series games, yielding one run in two starts; Rijo takes the Series MVP Award.

  • Cincinnati's Billy Hatcher hits an all-time Series record .750 (9-for-12), as he collects seven hits in his first seven at-bats.

  • Cincinnati's Chris Sabo hits .563 with two homers and five RBI in the 1990 Series and is brilliant defensively at third base.

  • Spring training doesn't begin until late March, as the owners lock out the players until the two sides reach a collective bargaining agreement.

  • Detroit's Cecil Fielder leads the American League in homers (51), RBI (132), slugging (.592), total bases (339), and strikeouts (182).

  • Fielder is the first major league player to hit 50 homers since 1977 (George Foster), and the first American Leaguer to do it since 1961 (Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle).

  • Rickey Henderson leads the American League in runs (118), stolen bases (65), and OBP (.440).

  • Henderson steals his 893rd base, breaking Ty Cobb's American League record.

  • George Brett leads the American League in batting (.329) and ties in doubles (45).

  • Brett becomes the first player in major league history to win BA titles in three different decades.

  • Oakland's Bob Welch tops the American League in wins (27) and win pct (.818).

  • Welch's 27 wins are the most in the major league since 1972 and the most in the American League since 1968.

  • Roger Clemens goes 21-6 for Boston and leads the American League in ERA (1.93) and shutouts (four).

  • Texas's Nolan Ryan, still throwing hard at age 43, leads his loop in Ks (232) for the 11th time.

  • Ryan wins his 300th game.

  • White Sox Bobby Thigpen breaks the major league save record with 57 saves.

  • Dennis Eckersley saves 48 games, posts a 0.61 ERA, and walks four batters in 73-1/3 innings.

  • Ryne Sandberg leads the National League in home runs (40), runs (116), and total bases (344).

  • Willie McGee, traded from St. Louis to Oakland in August, still wins the National League BA title (.335).

  • McGee becomes the first major league player to win a BA title without being in the league at the time he won it.

  • Vince Coleman wins his sixth straight steals crown (77).

  • Pittsburgh's Doug Drabek leads the National League in wins (22) and win pct. (.786).

  • On August 17, Carlton Fisk hits his 329th homer as a catcher -- a new major league record.

  • Pittsburgh's Barry Bonds becomes the first player to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 RBI, and 50 stolen bases.
Find more highlights from the 1990 baseball season on the next page.

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