This Date In Baseball

Compiled By PAUL MONTELLA
April 9

1913 — Ebbets Field opened in Brooklyn and Philadelphia defeated the Dodgers 1-0 before a crowd of 10,000. The stadium, which cost $750,000 to build, was named after Charles Ebbets, the club’s principal owner.

1947 — Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for one year by commissioner Happy Chandler for “the accumulation of unpleasant incidents” detrimental to baseball.

1959 — The Baltimore Orioles, playing against the Washington Senators, became the first team in history to execute a triple play on opening day. The Senators won the game, 9-2.

1965 — The Houston Astrodome opened with an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and Astros. President Johnson attended and Gov. John Connally threw out the first ball. Mickey Mantle hit the first home run, but the Astros won 2-1 in 12 innings.

1969 — Billy Williams of Chicago hit four consecutive doubles to lead the Cubs to an 11-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1981 — Fernando Valenzuela made his first major league start a stunning success by pitching a 2-0, five-hit triumph over the Houston Astros in Los Angeles. He would go on to win his first eight games.

1985 — Chicago’s Tom Seaver made his 15th opening day start to break Christy Mathewson’s record. Seaver pitched 6 2-3 innings and was credited with the victory as the White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.

1993 — The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos 11-4 for their first win and set a National League record for attendance in their home debut. The crowd of 80,227 broke the record of 78,672 set on April 18, 1958, by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2000 — In a 13-7 win over Kansas City, Minnesota’s Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matt LeCroy hit consecutive home runs. The Royals’ Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney repeated the feat, marking the first time in major league history that both teams hit three consecutive home runs in the same game.

2003 — Detroit became the second major league team to start successive seasons 0-7 after a 9-6 loss to Kansas City. The Tigers started 0-11 last year. The 1962-63 New York Mets started 0-9 and 0-8 in their first two seasons.

2006 — Cory Sullivan tied a major league record by hitting two triples during a seven-run fifth inning, helping Colorado rout San Diego 10-4.

Today’s birthdays: David Robertson 32; Adam Loewen 33; A.J. Ellis 36.

April 10

1913 — President Wilson threw out the first ball as the Senators edged the New York Yankees 2-1 in Washington’s home opener. Walter Johnson allowed an unearned run in the first inning, but did not yield another run for 56 consecutive innings.

1959 — Chicago’s Nellie Fox, who went 5-for-7, hit a 14th-inning opening day home run off Don Mossi to beat Detroit, 9-7. The White Sox second baseman did not homer in 623 at-bats the previous season.

1962 — The Houston Colt .45s, in the first major league game played in Texas, beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2 before 25,000. Roman Mejias led Houston’s offense with two three-run homers.

1969 — Tommy Agee of the New York Mets hit a home run into the upper deck in Shea Stadium’s left field. It was the longest home run to reach the seats in the history of the stadium.

1982 — Under icy conditions, the Cleveland Indians opened the season at Municipal Stadium with an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers before 62,443 fans. Five hundred tons of snow had to be removed from the field; the game-time temperature was 38 degrees, with a wind chill of 17.

1990 — Boston’s Wade Boggs tied a major league record for a nine-inning game by drawing three intentional walks.

2000 — Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player to hit 400 career home runs when he connected in the Reds’ 7-5 loss to Colorado. At 30 years, 141 days, Griffey beat the previous mark set by Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years, 248 days old.

2001 — The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game concluded in one hour, 55 minutes, the fastest home game in Arizona history. The Diamondbacks’ Curt Schilling earned his 16th career shutout and 66th complete game in a 2-0 victory. Schilling gave up two hits and struck out 10. Kevin Brown tossed a three-hitter and fanned eight for Los Angeles.

2003 — The Montreal Expos warmed to Puerto Rico real fast with a 10-0 rout of the New York Mets in the first of 22 Montreal home games in San Juan.

2014 — The longest home sellout streak in major pro sports history ended at 820 games for the Boston Red Sox. The official attendance for the night game against the Baltimore Orioles was 30,862. The capacity for night games at Fenway Park is 37,493. The streak began in May 2003 and includes the postseason. The string broke the record of 814 set by the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers from 1977-95. Boston’s streak of 794 regular-season sellouts also is the longest in major pro sports history. The previous mark in Major League Baseball history was 455 set by the Cleveland Indians from 1995-2001.

2016 — Rookie Trevor Story capped his amazing first week in the majors by hitting his seventh home run, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 6-3. Story’s homer was one of five solo shots by the Rockies and has driven in 12 runs through six games.

Today’s birthdays: Corey Kluber 31; Andre Ethier 35.

April 11

1907 — New York catcher Roger Bresnahan appeared wearing shin guards for the first time in a major league game.

1912 — Rube Marquard of the New York Giants began a 19-game winning streak with an 18-3 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1961 — The Los Angeles Angels won their first major league game with a 7-2 victory over the Orioles at Baltimore. Ted Kluszewski had a pair of homers for the Angels.

1962 — The New York Mets played their first game and lost 11-4 to the Cardinals in St. Louis. Stan Musial of the cardinals had three hits and tied Mel Ott’s National League career record with his 1,859th run scored. The Mets would lost their first nine games on the way to a 40-120 record.

1969 — The Seattle Pilots played their first game, with Gary Bell shutting out the White Sox 7-0 at Sicks Stadium.

1985 — Seattle’s Gorman Thomas hit three homers and drove in six runs to lead the Mariners to a 14-6 victory over the Oakland A’s.

1990 — Mark Langston made his Angels debut by combining with Mike Witt on a no-hitter as California beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0.

1996 — Greg Maddux’s major league record of road victories ended at 18 in a row with a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. He had been 18-0 with an 0.99 ERA in 20 regular-season road starts since losing at Montreal on June 27, 1994.

2001 — Atlanta’s Greg Maddux was almost flawless for seven innings, combining with a pair of relievers to pitch a one-hitter in a 2-0 win over the New York Mets. The Mets wound up with only one runner against Maddux, Mike Remlinger and John Rocker. Todd Zeile lined a single about a foot beyond second baseman Quilvio Veras’ glove with one out in the second.

2008 — Missouri’s Jacob Priday set a Big 12 Conference record, hitting four home runs against Texas in a 31-12 rout. The senior went 5-for-5, drove in nine runs and scored six times.

2011 — Sam Fuld had four extra-base hits and drove in three runs to help Tampa Bay bust out of an early season slump with a 16-5 win over the Boston Red Sox. Fuld, needing a single to complete the cycle, doubled into the left-field corner in his last at-bat in the ninth. Fuld hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Rays a 6-0 lead. Fuld doubled in the fourth and tripled in the sixth.

Today’s birthdays: Pete Kozma 28; Charlie Furbush 30; Alejandro De Aza 32; Andres Blanco 32; Mark Teixeira 36.

April 12

1906 — Johnny Bates of Boston became the first modern player to hit a home run in his first major league at bat. Irv Young allowed one hit as Boston beat Brooklyn 2-0.

1912 — The Chicago Cubs’ Tinker-Evers-Chance double play combination played its final major league game together.

1955 — In their first game in Kansas City, the transplanted Athletics defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-2 at Municipal Stadium. The standing-room crowd of 32,147 was the largest paid crowd for any event in Kansas City.

1965 — The first National League home run in the Houston Astrodome was hit by Richie Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies off Bob Bruce in a 2-0 victory over the Astros.

1966 — A crowd of 50,671 welcomed the Braves to Atlanta, but Willie Stargell spoiled the occasion with a two-run homer in the 13th inning to give the Pirates a 3-2 victory.

1980 — In an awesome display of power, Cecil Cooper and Don Money each hit grand slams in the second inning of Milwaukee’s 18-1 rout of the Boston Red Sox.

1992 — Boston’s Matt Young pitched eight no-hit innings at Cleveland but lost 2-1. In the second game, the Indians managed only two hits off Roger Clemens to set a major league record for fewest hits (2) in a doubleheader.

1994 — Scott Cooper hit for the cycle and drove in five runs to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 22-11 rout of the Kansas City Royals.

2003 — The Detroit Tigers won for the first time this season, getting a three-run homer from Shane Halter to beat the White Sox 4-3. The Tigers (1-9), the only team since 1900 to start back-to-back seasons with nine straight losses, started 0-11 last season.

2011 — Dan Haren pitched a one-hitter, allowing only Shin-Soo Choo’s clean single in the fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 2-0. Haren struck out eight and walked two in his third major league shutout. Choo’s single to center field came with one out in the fourth.

Today’s birthdays: Edgar Olmos 27; Brad Brach 31; Adonis Garcia 32; Justin Ruggiano 35; Hisashi Iwakuma 36.

April 13

1914 — The first Federal League game was played in Baltimore and the Terrapins defeated Buffalo, 3-2, behind Jack Quinn. A crowd estimated at 27,000 stood 15 rows deep in the outfield to witness the return of big league baseball to Baltimore.

1933 — Sammy West of St. Louis went 6-for-6 in an 11-inning win over the Chicago White Sox. He had five singles and a double off Ted Lyons.

1953 — For the first time in half a century, a new city was represented in the American or National leagues. The Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee and opened in Cincinnati, where Max Surkont set down the Reds, 2-0.

1954 — Henry Aaron made his major league debut in left field for the Milwaukee Braves and went 0-for-5 in a 9-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati’s Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first major league game.

1963 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds tripled off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend for his first major league hit.

1972 — The first player strike in baseball history ended.

1984 — Pete Rose got his 4,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia pitcher Jerry Koosman. The hit came exactly 21 years after his first hit.

1987 — The San Diego Padres set a major league record when the first three batters in the bottom of the first inning hit homers off San Francisco starter Roger Mason in their home opener. The Padres, trailing 2-0, got homers from Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk.

1993 — Lee Smith became the all-time saves leader as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-7. Smith got his 358th save, surpassing Jeff Reardon of the Cincinnati Reds.

1999 — Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez drove in nine runs in the Rangers’ 15-6 victory at Seattle. Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the first, a two-run single in the second and his first career grand slam in the third as Texas took a 13-0 lead.

2004 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball’s career list.

2006 — Cody Ross hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to help Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh 13-5.

2008 — Joe Crede and Paul Konerko each hit grand slams for the White Sox against the Tigers, the third time Chicago has had multiple grand slams in the same game in its history.

2009 — Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle as Los Angeles beat Randy Johnson and San Francisco 11-1.

2009 — Jody Gerut christened the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, with a leadoff homer in San Diego’s 6-5 win over New York. Gerut’s shot off Mike Pelfrey marked the first time in history that the first batter homered in a regular-season opener at a major league ballpark.

2011 — A federal jury convicted Barry Bonds of a single charge of obstruction of justice, but failed to reach a verdict on the three counts at the heart of allegations that he knowingly used steroids and human growth hormone and lied to a grand jury about it.

2012 — Aaron Harang set a Dodgers record with nine consecutive strikeouts, one short of the major league mark, and Los Angeles beat San Diego 9-8 on four straight walks in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Padres struck out 18 times, tying the most by a Dodgers pitching staff for a nine-inning game. Still, Los Angeles blew an 8-3 lead. San Diego’s Chase Headley hit a tying, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Kenley Jansen.

2014 — Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Raul Ibanez hit consecutive home runs off Bartolo Colon in the first inning, setting the tone for the Los Angeles Angels’ 14-2 rout of the New York Mets.

Today’s birthday: Lorenzo Cain 31; Hunter Pence 34; Steve Pearce 34.

April 14

1910 — William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington.

1910 — Chicago’s Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns.

1915 — In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A’s blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit — a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth.

1917 — Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.

1925 — The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game.

1967 — Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Yankees’ only hit in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox.

1969 — The first major league game outside the United States was played in Montreal’s Jarry Park with the Expos defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.

1999 — John Franco struck out the side in the ninth inning of the New York Met’s 4-1 win over the Florida Marlins, becoming only the second pitcher to reach 400 career saves.

1999 — Jose Canseco became the 28th player in major league history to reach the 400 home run plateau. He hit a 386-foot shot in the third inning of Tampa Bay’s 7-6 loss to Toronto.

2001 — The Cincinnati Reds set a modern National League record by scoring in their 175th consecutive game by shutting out the New York Mets 1-0.

2010 — Jorge Cantu homered, making him the first player in major league history to have at least one hit and one RBI in each of his team’s first nine games, and the Florida Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3.

2014 — Neil Walker and Gaby Sanchez hit back-to-back homers twice, and the Pirates and and Reds combined for 10 homers in only six innings before rain forced a suspension. Pittsburgh had three sets of back-to-back homers, only the third time that’s happened in major league history. The NL Central rivals completed the game the next day. Andrew McCutchen doubled and came around on Russell Martin’s single in the seventh inning, giving the Pirates an 8-7 win.

Today’s birthdays: Brandon Finnegan 24; Cory Gearrin 31.

April 15

1909 — Leon Ames of the New York Giants pitched a no-hitter for 9 1-3 innings on opening day, but lost 3-0 to Brooklyn in 13 innings.

1915 — Rube Marquard of the New York Giants no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers, winning 2-0.

1947 — Jackie Robinson played his first major league game, for the Dodgers. He went 0-for-3, but scored the deciding run in a 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves in Brooklyn. He was the first black to appear in the majors since 1884.

1957 — President Eisenhower officially opened the 1956 season by tossing out the first ball at Griffith Stadium in Washington D.C. The ball was the 10 millionth Spalding baseball to be used in major league play.

1958 — Major league baseball came to California as the transplanted Giants and Dodgers played the first game on the Pacific Coast. Playing in Seals Stadium in San Francisco, Ruben Gomez blanked Los Angeles 8-0.

1968 — Houston and the New York Mets played 24 innings in a night game in the Astrodome before the Astros won 1-0. The game lasted more than six hours.

1976 — New York opened the refurbished Yankee Stadium with an 11-4 rout of the Minnesota Twins.

1987 — Juan Nieves threw the first no-hitter in Brewers history as Milwaukee beat Baltimore 7-0.

1993 — Sparky Anderson earned his 2,000th victory as a manager as the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2.

1993 — Andre Dawson became the 25th player to hit 400 home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.

1998 — The first-ever AL-NL doubleheader is held in New York’s Shea Stadium as the New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels 6-3 and the New York Mets edge the Chicago Cubs 2-1. The Yankees draw a crowd of 40,743, a dramatic contrast to the gathering of 16,012 who show up for the Mets game at night.

2000 — Cal Ripken became the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits when he lined a clean single to center off Twins reliever Hector Carrasco. He reached the milestone with his third hit in a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins and became the seventh player in major league history to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.

2006 — Eric Chavez, Frank Thomas, and Milton Bradley all homered on consecutive pitches in Oakland’s 5-4 victory over Texas.

2008 — Jose Lopez became the 12th player in major league history to hit three sacrifice flies in a game, and the Seattle Mariners tied the team record for five sac flies in an 11-6 victory over Kansas City.

2009 — Ian Kinsler of Texas became the fourth player in team history to hit for the cycle, and was 6-for-6 in Texas’ 19-6 win over Baltimore.

2010 — Florida’s Jorge Cantu extended his major league season-opening record to 10 games with a hit in a 10-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

2011 — Texas tied an AL record by turning six double plays and the Rangers picked up where they left off last October, beating the New York Yankees 5-3. This was the 15th time an AL team made six DPs in a game. The major league mark for double plays in a game is seven by San Francisco in 1969.

2011 — Brennan Boesch hit a go-ahead two-run double with the bases loaded in the 10th inning and Detroit rallied to beat Oakland 8-4 for manager Jim Leyland’s 1,500th career win. Leyland became the 19th major league manager to reach 1,500 wins, doing so on his first attempt.

Today’s birthdays: Adeiny Hechavarria 28; Chris Tillman 29.

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