1990 in baseball

Events

• January 9 - Jim Palmer, a three-time American League Cy Young Award winner, and Joe Morgan, a two-time National League MVP, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their first years of eligibility.
• July 10 - Six American League pitchers combine for a two-hitter and a 2?0 victory over the National League in a rain-delayed All Star game at Wrigley Field. Texas Rangers second baseman Julio Franco drives in both runs in the 7th inning and is named MVP.
• September 3 - Reliever Bobby Thigpen set a major league record with his 47th save in a 4-2 Chicago White Sox victory over Kansas City. Thigpen broke the record set by Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees in 1986.
• September 22 - Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs stole his 300th base in an 11-5 loss to the New York Mets, becoming only the second player in major league history with 300 home runs, 300 steals and 2,000 hits. Willie Mays was the other.
• October 20 - The talk of an Oakland Athletics dynasty is proven premature, as the Cincinnati Reds beats Oakland 2?1 to complete one of the most stunning sweeps in World Series history. Series MVP José Rijo (2-0, 0.59 ERA) retires the last 20 batters he faces to give the Reds their first World Championship since 1976. Not joining the celebration at the end is Eric Davis, who ruptures his kidney diving for a ball during the game and is taken to the hospital. It will take Davis several years to fully recover.
• December 6 - At Leland's auction house in New York City, Shoeless Joe Jackson's signature is sold for $23,100, the most money ever paid for a 19th or 20th century signature. Jackson, who could not read or write, copied the signature from one written out by his wife. The signature, which was resold within hours, was cut from an unknown document.
• December 18 - The National League announces the six finalist cities for the two expansion clubs that will join the league in 1993: Buffalo, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Washington, DC.