1911 – The idea of selecting a Most Valuable Player is introduced. Hugh Chalmers, the automaker, offers a new car to the player in each league chosen M.V.P. by a committee of baseball writers.
1974 – In his first swing of the season, Hank Aaron hits a three-run home run off Jack Billingham as the Braves lose to the Reds, 7-6. It is home run 714 for Aaron, tying him with Babe Ruth’s career total.
1988 – The Mets set an Opening Day record with six home runs in a 10-6 win over the Expos. Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds each connect twice for New York, with Strawberry’s second blast (estimated at 525 feet) believed to be the longest ever hit at Olympic Stadium.
1989 – Forty-five-year-old Tommy John starts for the Yankees on Opening Day and sets a modern major league record by appearing in his 26th season (a mark Nolan Ryan later surpasses). John also wins his 287th game, 4-2 over the Twins.
1989 – Barbara Bush, wife of the 41st president of the United States becomes the first First Lady to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a major league game on Opening Day at Arlington Stadium before Texas’ 4-0 victory over Detroit.
1993 – At Camden Yards, Bill Clinton becomes the first U.S. President to throw the first pitch of the season from the pitcher’s mound.
1994 – Cubs outfielder Karl Rhodes, who hit three home runs in all of 1993, wallops three home runs off Mets starter Dwight Gooden on Opening Day at Wrigley Field. New York holds on for the 12-8 win, however.
1994 – Cleveland Indians inaugurate Jacobs Field with a 4-3 victory
1997 – Turner Field opens and the Braves christen it with a 5-4 come-from-behind win against the Cubs.
1998 – Mark McGwire hits a home run in his fourth consecutive game to start the season to tie the mark set by Willie Mays in 1971. McGwire’s homer, which ties another league mark as his seventh in a six-game stretch (dating back to 1997), helps lead the Cardinals past the Padres, 8-6.
1999 – Opening Day starts in Mexico, making it the first time baseball’s first pitch comes outside the U.S. or Canada when the Rockies defeat the Padres, 8-2.
2000 – Darren Lewis starts in right field for Boston, becoming the 13th different Red Sox player to start in that position on Opening Day over the past thirteen years.
2001 – Hideo Nomo pitches a no hitter against the Orioles in his Red Sox debut.
2001 – For the first time since June 7, 1995, the Indians do not have a sellout crowd at Jacobs Field, breaking their streak of 455 consecutive sellouts.
2003 – Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hits his 500th career home run.
2005 – On Opening Day, the Baltimore Orioles feature’ Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, the first pair of teammates to have at least 500 career home runs apiece.
2012 – The Miami Marlins inaugurate a new name and a new ballpark, Marlins Park, by losing to the St. Louis Cardinals.
2016 – Trevor Story becomes the first player to hit two homers in his debut on Opening Day
