This Date In Baseball

 

Compiled By PAUL MONTELLA
By The Associated Press
April 8
1969 – The Montreal Expos played their first regular-season game – the first international contest in major league history – and defeated the eventual world champion New York Mets, 11-10, at Shea Stadium. Expos pitcher Dan McGinn hit the expansion team’s first home run.
1974 – In the opener in Atlanta, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career record by hitting his 715th home run off Los Angeles left-hander Al Downing in the fourth inning. The Braves beat the Dodgers 7-4 before a crowd of nearly 54,000.
1975 – Frank Robinson became the first black manager in major league history by making his debut as player-manager of the Cleveland Indians. He hit a home run in his first at-bat – as a designated hitter – to help beat the New York Yankees, 5-3.
1986 – Jim Presley of the Seattle Mariners hit home runs in the ninth and 10th innings for a come-from-behind 8-4 opening day victory over the California Angels.
1987 – Pitchers Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton of the Cleveland Indians teamed up to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3. Niekro recorded his 312th victory and Carlton pitched four shutout innings in relief. It was the first time in modern history that two 300-game winners pitched for the same team in the same game.
1993 – Carlos Baerga of the Cleveland Indians became the first player in major league history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The homers came in the seventh inning of a 15-5 rout of the New York Yankees.
1994 – Kurt Mercker of the Atlanta Braves pitched the season’s first no-hitter, beating the Dodgers 6-0. It was the first complete game of Mercker’s career.
2002 – Craig Biggio hit for the cycle and had four RBIs in Houston’s 8-4 win over Colorado.
Today’s birthdays: Felix Hernandez 21; Chris Iannetta 24; Jeremy Guthrie 28.
April 9
1913 – Ebbets Field opened in Brooklyn and the Philadelphia Phillies 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.
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 the previous 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 birthday: Adam Lowen 23.
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.
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 home runs.
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.
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.
Today’s birthday: Andre Ethier 25.
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.
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.
Today’s birthdays: Alejandro De Aza 23; Mark Teixeira 27; Josh Hancock 29; Kelvim Escobar 31; Trot Nixon 33; Jason Varitek 35.
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 Tinker-Evers-Chance double play combination plays 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.
Today’s birthday: Paul Lo Duca 35.
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 career 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.
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.
2005 – Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield got into a brief scuffle with a fan along the right-field fence at Fenway Park during New York’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
Today’s birthdays: Kyle Farnsworth 31; Greg Zaun 36; Brad Ausmus 38; Greg Maddux 41.