Black & White.
February 28 - Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspends 11 players who had testified to cocaine involvement in the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985: Joaquín Andujar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker, Lonnie Smith, Al Holland, Lee Lacy, Lary Sorensen and Claudell Washington.
April 29 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners to become the first pitcher in major league history to reach that mark in a nine-inning game.
May 1 - Former MLB Rookie of the Year Steve Howe, playing for the class-A San Jose Bees, tests positive for cocaine and is suspended from the California League.
June 4 - Barry Bonds of the Pittsburgh Pirates launches his first career home run at Fulton County Stadium against Braves pitcher Craig McMurtry.
August 10 - Billy Martin has his number 1 retired by the New York Yankees and a plaque dedicated in his honor in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
August 14 - Pete Rose enjoys a 3-for-4 day, the last hit being the 4,256th and final hit of his career.
August 22 - Mark McGwire makes his major league debut for the Oakland A's in New York against the Yankees.
August 27 - Darryl Strawberry hits his 100th career home run helping the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 6-5.
October 12 - With the California Angels one out from reaching the World Series, Dave Henderson crushes a pitch from California's Donnie Moore into the center field stands for a 6-5 lead. The Red Sox would go on to win the game and the Championship Series.
November 25 - Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics, who hit .240 with 33 home runs and 117 RBI, wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award with 16 of 28 first place votes.
December 16 - San Diego Padres pitcher LaMarr Hoyt is sentenced to 45 days in jail following his third arrest on drug possession charges.
(Most of this text paraphrased from Wikipedia.)
Even as a 16 year old, things were still pretty black and white to me. The names above meant nothing to me other than as people involved in a game that I loved. It didn't cross my mind that things could be anything but perfect in the lives of people blessed with the opportunity to play baseball for a living. A big part of baseball's appeal will always be that all problems go away (at least in my mind) when the players take the field. Baseball lets you turn back the clock and be a kid again, no matter how old you are, if just for nine innings.
And so do baseball cards.
What's black and white and Red all over?
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