1958 – The Dodgers erect a 42-foot screen in left field at the Los Angeles Coliseum to cut down on home runs. Left field is only 250 feet down the line.
1969 – Bill Singer of the Dodgers is credited with the first official save as Los Angeles defeats Cincinnati, 3-2.
1970 – Major league baseball returns to Wisconsin as the Brewers play their first game in Milwaukee, losing to California 12-0 before a crowd of 37,237.
1971 – The dismissal of Curt Flood’s suit against baseball is upheld by a three-judge U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
1973 – Cleveland sets day-game and opening-game records as 74,420 fans watch the Indians beat the Tigers, 2-1.
1977 – Al Woods hits a pinch home run in his first major league at bat as the Toronto Blue Jays are 9-5 winners in their Exhibition Stadium debut against the White Sox.
1978 – The U.S. Court of Appeals upholds an earlier court decision in support of Commissioner Kuhn’s voiding of attempted player sales by A’s owner Charlie Finley in June 1976. Finley’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court will be rejected on October 2nd.
1979 – In the earliest no-hitter in major league history, Ken Forsch of the Astros shuts downs the Braves, 6-0. Ken and Bob Forsch, who hurled a no-hitter in 1978, are the first brothers to pitch no-hit games.
1969 – Ted Williams makes his managerial debut for the Washington Senators. Williams loses his first game to the New York Yankees, 8 – 4, on Opening Day at RFK Stadium. Williams will manage the Senators for three seasons, before moving with the team to Texas in 1972.
1983 – Major League Baseball, ABC, and NBC agree to terms of a six-year television package worth $1.2 billion. The two networks will continue to alternate coverage of the playoffs, World Series, and All-Star Game through the 1989 season with each of the 26 clubs receiving $7 million per year in return. The last package gave each club $1.9 million per.
1984 – Tigers right-hander Jack Morris no-hits the White Sox 4-0 at Comiskey Park, walking six and striking out eight.
1986 – On Opening Day at Tiger Stadium, Boston’s Dwight Evans achieves a major league first by hitting a home run off Jack Morris on the first pitch of the entire season. Detroit’s Kirk Gibson later hits two home runs of his own to lead the Tigers to a 6-5 victory.
1987 – Atlanta’s Rick Mahler ties the N.L. record with his third Opening Day shutout. He beat the Phils 6-0 on three hits.
1996 – N.L. umpire Eric Gregg is given a leave of absence following a Sunday night meeting between A.L. president Gene Budig, N.L. president Len Coleman, and umpires union head Richie Phillips. Gregg, listed at 325 pounds but visibly heavier, makes the decision in the wake of John McSherry’s sudden death during a game.
1998 – On the same day that major league baseball returned to Wisconsin 28 years earlier, National League baseball returned to Milwaukee for the first time in 32 years. It’s a complicated story with a happy ending: The Milwaukee Braves were an N.L. team that moved to Atlanta in 1966 the Seattle Pilots, who formed as an A.L. West expansion team in 1969, moved to Milwaukee and played their first game as the Brewers on April 7, 1970. Five years after their team owner became commissioner of baseball, the Brewers became an N.L. club. And on this day they were 6-4 winners over the Expos in their home opener.
2000 – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays retire uniform number 12 in honor of Wade Boggs.
2015 – For the second straight night, the Rockies hit six doubles to tie a major league record that had stood for 103 years with 12 in their first two games.
