1914 – Future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell, weakened by a heroic effort to help contain a winter flood in Kentucky, dies at 37 of tuberculosis in a San Antonio sanitarium.
1963 – The Mets purchase Duke Snider’s contract from the Dodgers for $40,000.
1969 – The Seattle Pilots trade minor-league outfielder Lou Piniella to the Royals for outfielder Steve Whitaker and pitcher John Gelnar. Piniella will be A.L. Rookie of the Year in Kansas City.
1970 – The Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, headed by Bud Selig, purchases the Seattle Pilots for $10,800,000. Although negotiations were conducted over a period of months, the sale was not finalized until March 13, when a federal bankruptcy referee declared the Pilots bankrupt. Brewers tickets go on sale April 2.
1980 – After failing to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement with the owners, the Executive Board of the Players’ Association votes unanimously to cancel the 92 remaining exhibition games and to strike on May 22 if a deal has not been reached by then. During spring training, the players had voted 971-1 in favor of a strike. The lone dissenter was Kansas City’s Jerry Terrell, who voted no for religious reasons.
1987 – St. Louis send Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere, and Mike Dunne to Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Star catcher Tony Pena.
1987 – Dwight Gooden avoids suspension for substance abuse by agreeing to enter a drug rehab facility
1989 – Former Yale University and National League president Bart Giamatti becomes the seventh commissioner of major league baseball
1996 – N.L. umpire John McSherry collapses and dies behind home plate seven pitches into the season opener between Cincinnati and Montreal. McSherry, who weighed close to 400 pounds, had postponed a physical until after the opener. The Reds-Expos game is postponed until the next day.
1997 – In a stunning display rarely seen on an Opening Day, the Padres notched an impressive 11 runs during the sixth inning, leading them to a decisive 12-5 victory over the Mets.
2001 – On Opening Day, in the first major league game ever played in Puerto Rico, the Blue Jays defeat the Rangers, 8-1.
2008 – The New York Yankees set a major league record by winning their 11th straight home opener.
2013 – For the first time since the New York Mets started play in 1962, both New York teams open the season at home on the same day.
2013 – For the first time in major league history, an interleague contest is played on Opening Day, as the American League’s Angels visit the National League Reds.
