IN THE NEWS: At Riverfront Stadium, umpire John McSherry calls time from behind the plate and collapses on the field with a massive heart attack and dies. The popular McSherry, a veteran of 21 seasons, had been suffering from a series of medical problems, aggravated by his weight of 328 pounds. The game, just seven pitches old between the Reds and Expos, is called, though owner Marge Schott feels otherwise: "Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me." Schott, who will later apologize, says it with flowers instead. But the Dayton Daily News will report on the 28th that the flowers she sends were given to her by television station covering the Reds.
The Athletics open the season in Las Vegas since renovations to the Oakland Coliseum are still not finished. The night game with the Blue Jays at Cashman Field, with a seating of 9,553, draws just 7,294 and the Jays take advantage of a 25-mile-an hour wind to hit three homers and win, 96. It is the first time since September 3, 1957 that major league teams have played in a minor league park.
The New York Mets spot the Cardinals six runs, then roar back for a 76 win, the biggest Opening Day comeback this century.
IN THE NEWS: At Baltimore, President Clinton tosses out the first ball and then watches Cal Ripken drive in three runs to give the Orioles a 42 win over the Royals.
The Mets announce that Bill Pulsipher will miss the 1996 season. The 22-year-old lefty experienced arm pain while throwing on March 28th, and results from an MRI indicate torn ligaments in his left arm, necessitating surgery April 17.
Cecil Fielder pulls a belated April fool's joke on the Twins when, in the 9th inning, he takes off for 2nd base with a 3-2 count on Melvin Nieves and beats the throw from catcher Greg Myers. Fielder's swipe is his first in 1,096 games in the majors. Tiger rookie RHP Clint Sodowsky allows seven hits in five innings in his debut, and the Tigers win 106.
In the opener, Milwaukee has 22 hits including homers by Greg Vaughn and Jose Valentin, to outscore the Twins, 159. Valentin and Chuck Carr have four hits apiece. Other hitting in the game includes Vaughn getting plunked in the 8th inning, and Brewers Kevin Wickander retaliating in the bottom of the inning by hitting Garret Anderson. Both benches then clear for the traditional scrum in the center of the infield.
IN THE NEWS: The College of St. Francis sets 71 records with a 71-1 four-inning defeat of Robert Morris College. The Fighting Saints score 26 runs in the 1st inning, 22 more in the 2nd, four in the 3rd and 19 in the 4th, collecting 44 hits along the way. 1st baseman Brian Mazurek hits for the cycle, while freshman SS Mike Palermo ties an NAIA record with seven hits. LF Mike Holcomb sets a NCAA mark with nine runs scored.
IN THE NEWS: Chan Ho Park becomes the first South Korean to win in the majors, pitching four scoreless innings in relief of injured starter Ramon Martinez as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 31 at Wrigley.
Padres pitching prospect Matt LaChappa, 20, suffers a massive heart attack while warming up for the Rancho Cucamunga Quakes.
Warming up in the outfield before the Indians' game with Toronto, Albert Belle heaves a ball at photographer Tony Tomsic, hitting him. Belle contends that it wasn't deliberate, even though it was his second throw near Tomsic, and even though he warned the photog not to snap his picture. The league will open an investigation in two weeks and Tomsic will file a law suit on December 12th. The Indians win the game, defeating the Blue Jays, 53.
Tiger CF Melvin Nieves bangs two doubles, a triple and a homer as the Tigers top the A's, 61. Nieves was acquired from the Padres in a spring training trade.
The Twins hand the Orioles their first loss of the year, topping the O's, 83. Cal Ripken fumbles a grounder in the 5th inning stopping his errorless streak at 74 games.
IN THE NEWS: Mark Carreon drives home six runs on two homers, one a grand slam, to lead the Giants to a 147 gaffing of the Marlins. Jeff Conine and Andre Dawson, with his 30th 4-hit game, each have four hits for the Fish. The win goes to Steve Bourgeois, who wins his first in the majors with two 1/3 scoreless innings.
IN THE NEWS: Before an estimated crowd of 50,000, the Yankees snowball the Royals, 73, behind Andy Pettitte. The final tally is seven runs, 10 hits, and two inchesof snow.
IN THE NEWS: In his major league debut, Cuban defector Osvaldo Fernandez allows just five hits and one run in eight innings as his Giants beat the Marlins, 51. Fernandez posted a fat 9.45 ERA in spring training.
IN THE NEWS: The Mariners get three homers from Dan Wilson and home runs from Russ Davis and Ken Griffey, Jr. to roll over Detroit 91. Randy Johnson, who has a no-hitter through six innings, is the winner.
The Padres defeat the Braves, 2-1, ending Greg Maddux's major league record streak of 18 consecutive road victories.
IN THE NEWS: Tom Urbanski pitches 5+ strong innings to win his 1st game of the year as the Cards top the Phils, 61. Dennis Eckersley, with his appearance in the 9th inning, ties Cy Young (8th place) with 906 appearances. The Cards offense is paced by Ray Lankford with two homers.
Reds fans are again able to get out of town scores at Riverfront Stadium. In a cost-cutting move, owner Marge Schott had canceled the score-reporting service to save the month fee of $350.
IN THE NEWS: After a lackluster loss in the Opener, Hideo Nomo is back on form as he strikes out 17 Florida batter en route to a 31 Dodger win. Billy Ashley and Raul Mondesi homer for the Dodgers.
In Milwaukee, Michael Tucker's 3-run homer in the 5th inning -- the only hit allowed by knuckleballer Steve Sparks -- is enough to give the Royals a 32 win.
IN THE NEWS: John Smoltz loses his no-hit bid when Tony Gwynn hits a one-out fly ball in the 7th that pops out of Ryan Klesko's mitt just before he hits the fence. The hit is ruled a double. Smoltz K's 13 and allows the one hit before giving way to Mark Wohlers in the 9th as the Braves top the Padres, 40.
Minutes before the start of the 2nd game with the Astros at Cincinnati, Reds' owner Marge Schott walks on the field to apologize to Larry Vandover and the umpiring crew for her remarks following the death of John McSherry. Crew chief Harry Wendelstedt is mystified, saying, "I had no idea what she was doing out there." The Reds take the 2nd game 98 after winning the opener, 53.
Julio Franco's homer in the 11th gives the Indians a 76 win over the Red Sox. Boston is 28, and off to their worst start since 1945.
IN THE NEWS: Cecil Fielder pounds three home runs to lead the Tigers to a 138 clipping of the Blue Jays. Fielder has now hit nine homers for April.
Dan Wilson hits a grand slam and drives in all five Seattle runs to give the M's a 53 win over the Angels. Ken Griffey Jr.'s sensational catch of George Arias' line drive robs him of a 3-run homer.
IN THE NEWS: The Dodgers roll over the Giants, scoring seven runs in the 4th inning, to win 112. Starter Chan Ho Park strikes out the side in the first two innings, as Dodger pitchers K 14.
IN THE NEWS: The host Rangers show no mercy in running up the largest score in the A.L. in 41 years and trouncing the league-leading Orioles, 267. Sixteen of the runs come in the 56-minute 8th inning, their last at bat, and the largest 8th inning tally in baseball history. The inning is highlighted by Kevin Elster's grand slam off O's backup IF Manny Alexander. Manny, no Grover Cleveland Alexander, walks four including three with the bases loaded, but does manage to get an out. For O's reliever Jesse Orosco, it's a bad two days as he gives up 12 earned runs in two 1/3 innings: The two outings raise his season ERA from 1.52 to 3.40. Juan Gonzalez hits two homers and has six RBIs, while Dean Palmer (2) and Will Clark also add round-trippers. O's manager Johnson fumes when Mickey Tettleton takes 3B with Texas ahead 207: "I've seen it all, but guys tagging up from second with an 18-run lead, it's ridiculous." Texas manager Johnny Oates, who still carries a clipping from a 1983 IL game when Johnson, with a 9-run lead, had his team stealing against Oates' squad, counters, "Davey didn't have to use an infielder to pitch in that inning."
The wind is blowing out in Chicago, and Brian McRae, with a grand slam, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace hit consecutive homers in the 6th to give the Cubs a 106 win over the Giants. Losing lefty Mike Watson serves up five Cub homers and shows little respect for venerable Wrigley Field: "I hate this place. They should burn it down."
The A's have a delayed home opener in the reconstructed Oakland Coliseum, though there are no bleachers for the time being. The formerly symmetrical stadium now sports six distinct angles in the outfield, much like the old Forbes or Ebbets Field. All the fans tonight are given yellow construction helmets with the A's logo on them. The A's, 24 in their six early games in Las Vegas, lose 43 to the White Sox when Frank Thomas cracks a 2-run homer in the 8th to give Chicago reliever Matt Karchner his 3rd win.
At Anaheim, California's Mark Langston picks up a complete game win, 43 over the Tigers. Detroit's Mark Parent and the Angels' Tim Wallach both homer, but neither is over the left field fence where actor Charlie Sheen has purchased 2,615 seats for himself and three friends. Sheen, an inveterate sports memorabilia collector, was hoping for a home run in his vicinity. "I didn't want to crawl over the paying public," said Sheen after shelling out $6,500 for the seats.
IN THE NEWS: Dean Palmer's grand slam and 2-run homer lead Texas (134) to a 96 win over the Orioles and a sweep of the 3-game series. The O's Brady Anderson lead off the game with a home run, the 4th straight game he's socked a lead-off home run, and believed to be a major league record.
Rookie pitcher Tom Thobe makes two errors in the 15th inning to allow the Padres to score, then grounds out to end the game, as Atlanta loses 21.
New York's expensive free-agent, Kenny Rogers, finally debuts, throwing a no-hitter for five 1/3 innings. He leaves with a 40 lead, and New York holds on for a 95 win over the Twins.
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