IN THE NEWS: The Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, headed by Bud Selig, purchases the Seattle Pilots for $10,800,000. Although negotiations were conducted over a period of months, it was not until March 13 when a federal bankruptcy referee declared the Pilots bankrupt. Brewers tickets go on sale tomorrow.
IN THE NEWS: ML Baseball returns to Wisconsin as the Brewers play their first game in Milwaukee, losing to California 120 before a crowd of 37,237.
OF Brant Alyea has seven RBIsa major-league record for opening dayon two homers and two singles, to back Jim Perry as the Twins win their opener, 120, against the White Sox. Alyea will have 21 RBI in his first 12 games; in Perry's first four starts Alyea will drive in 19 runs.
At Yankee Stadium, Mel Stottlemyre makes his 4th straight Opening Day start, joining Lefty Gomez and Jack Chesbro as the only Yankee hurlers to do so. The Red Sox counter with newly acquired Gary Peters, who allowed no earned runs in 32 spring training innings. Boston jumps out to a 40 lead in five innings, but the Yanks score three in the 6th to chase Peters. But that's all the scoring as Boston wins, 43.
At LA, Gary Nolan of the Reds defeat the Dodgers, 40, on a 2-hitter. Both hits are by Willie Crawford, in the 4th and 9th.
IN THE NEWS: The Phillies acquire minor league 1B Willie Montanez as partial compensation for their loss in the October 7, 1969 deal in which Curt Flood refused to report.
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs are down 10 with two out in 9th to Montreal when Ron Santo singles and Johnny Callison homers for the 21 win. The Cubs will lose tomorrow then win 11 straight to take over 1st place. During the streak, however, they will suffer the loss of Randy Hundley when he is rammed at home by the Cards Carl Taylor. Hundley will tear his knee and will be out month, then two more, until July 10, with surgery.
IN THE NEWS: San Francisco beats Cincinnati, 21, dropping the Reds one-half game out of first place. This will be the only day all season out of first for the Reds, who will set an NL record of 178 days leading the league.
IN THE NEWS: Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club's home opener, but the Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation. The Athletics win today, 21, over the Brewers. Reggie Jackson's 2-run single and the 3-hit pitching of Hunter and Segui is enough to beat Marty Pattin.
IN THE NEWS: Reds' ace Jim Maloney suffers a severed Achilles tendon in his left leg while running the bases against the Dodgers in the 3rd inning. He is replaced by 19-year-old rookie Don Gullett, who earns his first ML victory, 122, with five innings of shutout ball. Lee May collects four hits including a grand slam. Maloney, 29, will never win another game in the majors.
IN THE NEWS: Down 54 to the Giants in the bottom of the 9th, the Reds tie when Hal McRae socks a pinch homer. Tony Perez ends the game with a 3-run homer in the same inning. Johnny Bench, Lee May, and Pete Rose also homer for Cincy.
IN THE NEWS: The Mets Nolan Ryan gives up a leadoff single to Denny Doyle, then shuts out the Phillies without another hit. Ryan fans 15 in the 70 triumph. For the light-hitting Doyle, it is the first of three one-hitters in which he has the lone hit.
The Reds score seven runs in the 4th but the Giants roar back to win, 169, at Crosley Field. Ron Hunt has a grand slam for SF and Jim Johnson is the winner in his only ML decision.
IN THE NEWS: A first-inning double by Ken Henderson is the only hit off Wayne Simpson as the Reds beat the Giants, 60. This is Simpson's 2nd shutout in three starts.
IN THE NEWS: Willie Stargell belts a tremendous home run, off Jim Bouton, over the RF roof at Forbes Field to lead the Pirates to a 31 win over Houston.
IN THE NEWS: The Reds clout seven home runs by six different batters (Carbo (2), Bench, Rose, Concepcion, Perez, and Tolan) while the Braves counter with three home runs of their own (Carty, Cepeda, Millan) in a night game slugfest won by Cincinnati, 138. The 10 home runs, the six different batters for one team and nine different batters for two teams, all tie or set NL records.
IN THE NEWS: Tom Seaver strikes out 19 Padres, including the last 10 in succession in winning 21 for the Mets. Mike Corkin takes the loss. In this century, no one has ever struck out 10 in a row, a ML record. Counting the ten whiffs yesterday, the Pads have struck out 29 times in two games, a NL record that will be topped in 1998 when the Astros miss 31 times in two days. Jerry Grote adds one foul fly catch to his 19 putouts via K's.
The Yankees and Senators battle for 18 innings before the Nats win, 21. The winning run scores on a walk to Ed Stroud, a single by Hank Allen, and a sac fly by Mike Epstein. The run, off Ron Klimkowski, makes a winner of Joe Grzenda.
IN THE NEWS: Tiger P Earl Wilson fans for the 3rd out in the 7th inning against the Twins. On the 3rd strike by Jim Kaat, Twins C Paul Ratliff traps the ball in the dirt, and must either throw to 1B or tag the batter. Instead he rolls the ball back to the mound, ignoring the fact that ump John Rice has not signaled a K. As the Twins head for their dugout, Wilson begins running the bases and is around 3B when OF Brant Alyea retrieves the ball and throws to SS Leo Cardenas, who is standing by home. Wilson turns back to 3B but Cardenas and Alyea run him down for a 7-6-7 out on a 3rd strike. Wilson pulls a hamstring on the play and leaves, trailing, 21, and Detroit ties it up 33 in the 9th. But Harmon Killebrew singles home Tony Oliva in the bottom of the 9th for the win.
IN THE NEWS: Don Buford hits a 3-run homer to give Baltimore a 109 victory over Kansas City. The Orioles take over first place and will not relinquish that position for the rest of the season.
Willie McCovey and Dick Dietz each hit grand slams as the Giants beat the Expos 111 in the first game of a doubleheader. This is a first in Giants history. McCovey adds another homer to back McCormick's win. The Expos take the 2nd game, 32. Bobby Wine chips in by catching Willie Mays with the hidden ball trick (as noted by Bill Deane).
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs score an unearned run and beat Pittsburgh, 10, for their 11th straight win, their longest streak since 1945. Decker, with relief help in the 9th, is the winner. The Bucs will win tomorrow to stop the streak.
IN THE NEWS: Baltimore's Paul Blair collects three homers and six RBIs in an 182 rout of the White Sox. Elrod Hendricks and Boog Powell also homer, each with two men on to back Jim Palmer.
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