The1990 Major League Baseball season saw theCincinnati Reds upset the heavily favoredOakland Athletics in the World Series, for their first title since 1976.
This was the first season of four-year deals withCBS andESPN. CBS was awarded the rights to broadcast Saturday afternoon games, the All-Star game, and the entire postseason. ESPN's games includedSunday Night Baseball,Wednesday Night Baseball, and doubleheaders on Tuesdays and Fridays.
February – The1990 Major League Baseball lockout begins. It lasts 32 days, and as a result virtually wipes out all ofspring training and also pushes Opening Day back a week to April 9. In addition, the 1990 season has to be extended by three days in order to accommodate the normal 162-game schedule. The same outcome would also occur for the2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout, which had the2022 season pushed back a week to April 7 and extended by three days to October 5.
April 14 –CBS begins broadcasting Major League Baseball games.
May 22 –Andre Dawson of theChicago Cubs is intentionally walked byCincinnati Reds' pitching five times. He is the first player to do so in Major League history.
June 6 – The highest-profile managerial firing of 1990 season happens when theNew York Yankees fireBucky Dent before a game against theirrivals atFenway Park, where he hit his famous three-run home run in aone-game playoff game in 1978, making Fenway Park the scene of his greatest moment as a player and worst moment as manager.
July 11 – TheChicago White Sox host Major League Baseball's first-everTurn Back the Clock Day game against theMilwaukee Brewers. The White Sox wear slightly modified versions of the uniforms worn in 1917, the year of their most recentWorld Series at the time. The promotion is aimed at celebratingComiskey Park's final season. Ballpark ushers and grounds crew wear uniforms from the time period and some use megaphones to announce lineups. Also, ticket prices for the contest were as low as $.50. The White Sox fall 12–9 to the Brewers in 13 innings.
July 12 –Barry Bonds hits his 100th career home run.
September 22 –Andre Dawson of theChicago Cubs steals his 300th base in an 11–5 loss to theNew York Mets, becoming only the second player in major league history with 300 home runs, 300 steals, and 2,000 hits.Willie Mays is the first, though they will later be joined byBarry Bonds.
September 25 – TheOakland Athletics secure their third straightAmerican League West championship with a 5–0 shutout of theRoyals inKansas City. The A's would finish with the best record in baseball at 103–59, the third consecutive year they have done so.
October 3 – On the final day of the regular season, theBoston Red Sox clinch their thirdAmerican League East title in five years with a 3–1 defeat of theChicago White Sox.Tom Brunansky seals the win for the Red Sox with a sliding catch in the right field corner with the tying runs on base for the White Sox.
October 20 – The talk of anOakland Athletics dynasty is proven premature, as theCincinnati Reds beat Oakland 2–1 to complete one of the most stunning sweeps in World Series history. Series MVPJosé Rijo (2–0, 0.59 ERA) retires the last 20 batters he faces to give the Reds their first World Championship since1976. Not joining the celebration at the end isEric 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 Herman Darvick Autograph Auctions 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 is resold within hours, was cut from a legal document.
