1970 – Willie Mays, a month shy of his 40th birthday, homers in a 4-0 Opening Day Giants win over the Padres. Mays will go on to hit homers in each of the Giants’ first four games of the season, a major league record.
1972 – For the first time in history, the major league season fails to open due to a general player strike. The strike, announced April 1, will erase 86 games from the major league schedule.
1973 – Yankee Ron Blomberg, facing Boston’s Luis Tiant, becomes the first official designated hitter in the major leagues. Blomberg walks with the bases loaded his first time up and winds up 1-for-3 in a 15-5 loss to the Red Sox.
1977 – The Seattle Mariners make their debut, losing to Frank Tanana and the Angels 7-0.
1982 – The largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in Minnesota, 52,279, turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie Gary Gaetti has four hits with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins, 11-7.
1989 – In his first start of the season, Orel Hershiser gives up a run in the first inning of a 4-3 loss to the Reds to end his major league-record consecutive scoreless inning streak at 59.
1992 – Rick Sutcliffe throws the first pitch at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 3:20 p.m. The pitch, to Cleveland’s Kenny Lofton is a ball, but Lofton ultimately flies out and the O’s win the inaugural game at the park.
1996 – Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first pitcher born in South Korea to win a major league game.
2001 – On Opening Day at Veterans Stadium, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning’s number 14 jersey is retired.
2006 – Using his newly-perfected knuckleball, Texas P R.A. Dickey ties a post-1900 major league record by surrendering six homers to the Tigers in a 10 – 6 Detroit victory.
2014 – Texas P Yu Darvish becomes the fastest starting pitcher to reach 500 strikeouts when he fans David DeJesus and Wil Myers in the 1st inning of a 3- 0 win against the Rays in his first start of the season. It took Yu only 401 2/3 innings to reach the total,
