1913 – In their first official game as Yankees, New York loses to Walter Johnson and the Senators 2-1. After giving up an unearned run in the first, Johnson begins a string of shutout innings that will reach a record 56 before the St. Louis Browns score in the fourth on May 14.
1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American in the modern major leagues when the Dodgers purchase his contract from Montreal.
1961 – The new Washington team loses its first regular-season game 4-3 to the White Sox.
1962 – Dodger Stadium, the first major league arena privately financed since Yankee Stadium in 1922-23, opens in Chavez Ravine. With 52,564 fans on hand, the Dodgers inaugurate the $22 million facility with a 6-3 loss to the Reds.
1962 – The Houston Colt .45s, in the first major league game played in Texas, beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2 before 25,000 fans. Roman Mejias led Houston’s offense with two home runs.
1964 – Demolition begins on the Polo Grounds to clear the way for a housing project.
1971 – The Phillies debut in new $49.5 million Veterans Stadium by beating Montreal 4-1. Don Money connects for the park’s first home run.
1973 – Kansas City opens its new park, Royals Stadium, with a 12-1 rout of the Rangers. The game is attended by 39,464 fans braving 39-degree weather.
1976 – The Brewers trail 9-6 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning at packed County Stadium. Because of crowd noise, Yankee reliever Dave Pagan does not hear the time-out called by first baseman Chris Chambliss. Pagan pitches to Don Money, who hits a grand slam. Because of the time out, the home run is nullified. Money bats again, and hits a sacrifice fly. The final score is 9-7 and the Brewers protest the game.
1979 – J.R. Richard sets a major-league record with six wild pitches, but he strikes out 13 Dodgers and is a 2-1 winner.
1980 – In front of a crowd of 53,313, Sixto Lezcano hits a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning to give Milwaukee a 9-5 win over Boston and Dick Drago. Lezcano also opened the 1978 season with a grand slam, the first player to do it twice on Opening Day.
1981 – In his first game for Chicago, Carlton Fisk belts a three-run home run in the eighth inning to lead the White Sox to a 5-3 win over his former Red Sox teammates at Fenway Park.
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.
1989 – Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his first major league home run in Seattle’s 6-5 win over the White Sox. He and his father, a reserve outfielder on the Reds, are the first father-son duo to play in the major leagues at the same time.
1989 – Dave Stieb pitches a one-hitter against the Yankees, giving him three one hitters in his last four starts dating back to the previous September.
1990 – Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox is intentionally walked three times, tying a major league mark for a nine-inning game.
1997 – The Cubs fall to 0-8, the worst start in the club’s 122-year history, following a 1-0 loss to the Marlins at frigid Wrigley Field. Florida pitcher Alex Fernandez, making his first appearance in Chicago since he left the White Sox over the winter as a free agent, is two outs away from a no-hitter when pinch-hitter Dave Hansen legs out an infield hit off the pitcher’s glove. Fernandez settles for the one-hitter.
1998 – The Yankees draw the largest regular-season crowd ever at the new Yankee Stadium as 56,717 attend the home opener against the Oakland Athletics. Then the Yanks crush the club scoring mark by winning the 17-13 slugfest
2000 – On his father’s 50th birthday, Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the youngest player, at 30 years and 141 days, to hit 400 career home runs, beating the previous mark set by Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years and 248 days old.
2003 – By hitting his 31st career leadoff home run, Astros outfielder Craig Biggio breaks Bobby Bonds’ National League record. The major league mark of 80 belongs to Rickey Henderson.
2013 – The Boston Red Sox’s record streak of sell-outs at Fenway Park ends after 820 games as the attendance for today’s game against the Orioles is 30,862, well below the stadium’s capacity of 37,493. The streak had begun on May 15, 2003 and included 794 regular-season games and 26 postseason contests. It easily surpassed the previous record of 455, set by the Cleveland Indians between 1995 and 2001. The streak went on even though Fenway’s seating capacity was increased by 5,000 over the period.
2017 – After a wait of 108 years, a two-hour rain delay pushes back the ceremony to raise the Cubs’ 2016 World Championship banner at Wrigley Field a little bit more, but a boisterous sellout crowd is on hand to see 1B Anthony Rizzo be the first player to raise the flag and to take the World Series Trophy on the field.
