1913 – In an exhibition game, 25,000 fans watch the Brooklyn Superbas play their first game in Ebbets Field. Brooklyn beats the Yankees, 3 – 2, with Dodgers outfielder Casey Stengel hitting the park’s first home run, an inside-the-parker.
1925 – The Yankees whip the Dodgers in an exhibition, 16-9, but the headlines are about the Babe. Ruth collapses in the railroad station in Asheville, North Carolina, and winds up in a New York hospital. He’ll undergo an operation for an ulcer on April 17 and will be in bed until May 26.
1934 – WSAL hires Red Barber to broadcast Cincinnati Reds games.
1966 – Pitcher Don Larsen, who is the last active major leaguer who played for the St. Louis Browns, is released by the Orioles. As a rookie in 1953, Larsen posted a 7-12 record for the hapless franchise which lost 100 games in its final season in St. Louis.
1972 – The Mets trade outfielder Ken Singleton, first baseman Mike Jorgensen, and infielder Tim Foli to the Expos for outfielder Rusty Staub.
1977 – The New York Yankees acquire shortstop Bucky Dent from the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Oscar Gamble, pitchers LaMarr Hoyt and Bob Polinsky and an estimated $200,000.
1979 – Baltimore manager Earl Weaver wins his 1,000th game as a skipper.
1982 – Jim Kaat, 43, pitches one inning for the Cardinals in a season-opening 14-3 rout of the Astros, setting a well-earned but short-lived major league record for pitchers by playing in his 24th consecutive season. Nolan Ryan and Tommy John will later surpass Kaat in the longevity department.
1983 – In his first appearance with the Mets since 1977, Tom Seaver combines with Doug Sisk to shut out the Phillies 2-0 on five hits. It is Seaver’s 14th Opening Day assignment, tying Walter Johnson’s record with Washington.
1993 – The first new National League teams since 1969 both play their first games. The Rockies are blanked 3-0 by the Mets at Shea Stadium. The Marlins are 6-3 winners over the Dodgers at Joe Robbie Stadium.
1995 – The New York Yankees acquire closer John Wetteland from the Montreal Expos for Fernando Seguignol and cash, as the Expos are in full fire sale mode following the settlement of the strike. Wetteland will help the Yankees to the World Championship in 1996.
1997 – Just one day after the stadium’s first game, Turner Field holds its first slumber party. Rain showers force Saturday night’s Cubs-Braves game to be suspended in the seventh inning late Saturday night, but because of the change to daylight savings time and a day game on Sunday, several players decide to spend the night in the clubhouse at the brand-new stadium. The Braves win the completion of the suspended game, 11-5, and then win the regularly scheduled game, 4-0.
1998 – The Arizona Diamondbacks get in the victory column for the first time with a 3-2 win over the Giants, ending the second-worst start ever (0-5) by an expansion team.
2003: The Kansas City Royals become the first major league team to begin the season 5-0 after losing 100 games the previous year.
2005 – The Washington Nationals franchise, formerly the Montreal Expos, lose their inaugural season opener bowing to the Philadelphia Phillies, 8 – 4.
2012 – The Indians and Blue Jays set a record by playing 16 innings on Opening Day with Toronto winning the game, 7 – 4.
2018 – Minor League Baseball opens its season today, and one of its highest-profile players steals the show. In his first game for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the AA Eastern League, re-converted football star Tim Tebow hits a three-run homer on the first pitch he sees in the 1st inning.
2021 – 38,238 paying spectators make their way to Globe Life Field for the Rangers’ home opener, a 6 – 2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, it is the first time fans are allowed to a regular season game since the ballpark opened a year ago, and the first sporting event to be held without attendance restrictions anywhere in the U.S. since the start of the health crisis. Not everyone thinks that allowing such a public gathering is a great idea, however, given that vaccination is still far from universal, and infection rates remain high.
