2002
» Tony Mongelluzzo of the Savannah Sand Gnats (South Atlantic League) hits four homers before drawing a walk in his fifth plate appearance.

USC first baseman Bill Peavey homers twice against the Washington State Cougars. His second homer clears the RF fence at the Cougars' field and bounces on to the university's adjacent nine–hole golf course. When the equipment manager goes to retrieve the ball, he is directed to the center hole of the practice green, where the baseball had rolled in and stuck.

2001
» Toronto's Carlos Delgado hits three home runs in a game for the 2nd time this season as Toronto defeats KC, 12-4. On two of the dingers, Delgado combines with Raul Mondesi to go back-to-back, the first time in a year that teammates have twice gone back-to-back in the same game.

Dodgers' GM Kevin Malone resigns. The final straw that did in the controversial GM was a verbal altercation with a fan during a Dodger game. The team was 178-176 in his 2+ years as GM. Assistant GM Dave Wallace will serve on an interim basis.

A new musical, "The Curse of the Bambino," opens in Boston. Written by David Kruh with music and lyrics by Stephen Bergman, the comedy is staged as a Greek tragedy complete with a Greek chorus composed of four fans.

2000
» The Reds defeat the Giants, 11-1, as Pokey Reese gets five hits, including a double. Ken Griffey Jr. hits a pair of home runs for Cincinnati.

The Marlins defeat the Pirates, 3-2 in 14 innings, with P Vic Darensbourg getting the win in relief. It is Darensbourg's 1st major league win, ending the longest streak of winless appearances at the start of a career at 123. His career record in the majors before today was 0-8.

The Indians defeat the A's, 9-5. John Jaha strikes out five times for Oakland to tie a major league mark, last done by Jim Thome on April 9.

The Blue Jays come back to beat the Angels, 12-11. Anaheim, down 11-2, scores eight runs in the 6th inning.

1999
» The Rockies–Expos game in Denver is canceled after 15 people are killed in a massacre at Columbine High School near Denver. Tomorrow's game will also be canceled and the team will subsequently wear a sleeve patch in memory of tragedy.

Giants star Barry Bonds undergoes surgery on his right arm, which will cause him to be out of action for at least 10 weeks.

Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott agrees to sell her controlling interest in the Reds to a group headed by Carl H. Lindner, ending her 14–year tenure. The group will pay a total of $67 million.

The Nolan Ryan Museum opens in Alvin, Texas.

1998
» In the Mariners 8–7 win over the Royals, Alex Rodriguez again paces Seattle with two doubles and a homer. the young star ties Earl Sheehy's 1926 American League record of eight extra base hits in three straight games: Alex had a triple and home run on the 18th, two doubles and a triple on the 19th.

1995
» The Pirates release Tim Wakefield, 8–1 in 1993 and the National League Rookie pitcher of the Year. The knuckleballer started the 1994 opener, but spent most of the season in Buffalo (International League) going 5–15, and was shelled in his only start this spring. Wakefield will be picked up by the Red Sox.

Jeff Reardon, 39, announces his retirement. He is 2nd on the all-time list for saves (367).

Dodgers president Peter O'Malley donates the Brooklyn Dodgers' 1955 World Championship banner to the borough in which it was won, saying, "The flag belongs in Brooklyn."

1992
» Greg Maddux beats the Phillies again, this time at Wrigley, 8–3. He also clouts a long home run onto Waveland Avenue.

1990
» Less than a year after being banished from baseball for his illegal gambling activities, all-time hit king Pete Rose pleads guilty to two felony counts of filing false income tax returns. On July 19th, he will be sentenced to five months in prison and fined $50,000.

Seattle's Brian Holman has a perfect no-hitter for 82/3 innings but loses it on his first pitch to the A's Ken Phelps. Phelps hits a home run, but then Holman fans Rickey Henderson for a 6–1 win.

1988
» The Orioles set a major-league record for consecutive losses at the start of a season, falling to 0-14 with an 8–6 loss to the Brewers. The 1904 Senators and 1920 Tigers each lost their first 13 games of the season. It's not over yet for the O's.

Claudell Washington hits the 10,000th home run in Yankees history and Jack Clark hits his first American League home run in the top of the 10th inning to give New York a 7–6 win over Minnesota. The Yankees are the first ML club to hit 10,000 homers.

1986
» San Francisco's Vida Blue wins his 200th career game, combining with Jeff Robinson to shut out the Padres 4–0.

At Wrigley, the Pirates and Cubs go 13 innings and end 8–8 as darkness calls the game. It will be finished August 11.

1985
» The Phillies and Pirates swap relief pitchers, Al Holland going to Pittsburgh, Kent Tekulve to Philadelphia.

1983
» George Brett belts three home runs, the last a 2-run shot in the top of the 9th inning, and drives in seven runs to lead the Royals to an 8–7 win over Detroit.

1982
» By defeating the Reds, 4–2 for its 12th victory in a row, The Braves tie the modern major-league record for consecutive wins at the start of a season. Steve Bedrosian pitches 41/3 innings of relief to earn his first ML win.

1980
» In a 6–1 win over California, Oakland's Rickey Henderson steals home.

1976
» Detroit C Milt May, acquired in December 1975, breaks his ankle when he crashes into the wall behind home plate chasing a foul. He is out of action for the 1976 season.

1975
» In Cincinnati, Pete Rose belts a 2-run homer with two outs in the 9th to give the Reds a 5–3 win over the Astros. The Astros come back to edge the Reds in game 2, 7–6.

1974
» At Riverfront Stadium, the Big Red Machine rolls over the Padres, 11–0. The Reds will win the opener tomorrow over the Giants 10–1, before losing the nitecap.

1970
» Willie Stargell belts a tremendous home run, off Jim Bouton, over the RF roof at Forbes Field to lead the Pirates to a 3–1 win over Houston.

1969
» It's a good thing he can pitch, as Red Sox hurler Ray Jarvis strikes out five times against Cleveland, but wins, 9–4.

1966
» Hank Aaron clouts homers 399 and 400 to lead the Braves to a victory, 8–1, over the Phillies. The first shot is off starter Ray Culp in the 1st inning, and number 400 comes in the 9th inning, off Bo Belinsky.

1964
» Yankee rookie Bob Meyer makes his ML debut at Fenway Park, in a 4–0 loss to the Red Sox. Meyer is the last Yankee rookie pitcher this century to open in Boston. Ralph Terry made his debut

1960
» Light hitting Roy McMillan has two home runs, three singles, and drives in five runs as the Reds top the Braves, 10–5, in 10 innings.

1954
» Philadelphia's Alex Kellner allows only a Wayne Terwilliger 8th-inning single in defeating Washington 7–0.

1951
» The A's win their first game at Fenway since September 12, 1948, beating the Sox, 6–3. Making it sweeter is besting Mel Parnell, winner of 10 straight over Philadelphia. The A's break a 3-3 tie in the 8th with three runs to make Alex Kellner the winner, just the 3rd lefty since 1948 to go the distance in Fenway.

1949
» Phils 3B Willie Jones hits 4 consecutive doubles, tying a NL mark with Dick Bartell (1933) and Ernie Lombardi (1935).

1948
» George Vico of the Tigers hits the first pitch thrown to him in the ML for a HR. Chicago's Joe Haynes is the pitcher.

1947
» At St. Louis, Bill Nicholson clubs two homers, including a slam, and drives in six runs to lead the Cubs, 7–4, over the Cards. Swish's first RBI comes in the first inning when he's hit by a Howie Pollet pitch with the bases loaded. His slam in the 5th finishes Pollet's pitching. Johnny Schmitz is the winner.

Pitching for Portland (PCL), former Tiger ace Tommy Bridges pitches a no-hitter against SF, winning 2–0.

1946
» Bucky Walters, in a tight pitching duel with the Pirates Rip Sewell, steals home in the 6th, but Sewell wins the squeaker 2-1 before 28,000 in Pittsburgh.

1945
» In the delayed presidential opener in Washington, tribute is paid to the late FDR before Speaker Sam Rayburn tosses out the first ball. The Yankees win their 4th straight, pounding three pitchers for a 6–3 win.

Mickey Grasso, future ML catcher, escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp. He was captured in February 1942.

1944
» The major league career of Mike Kosman ends after a 30-yard dash. Sent in to pinch-run for Steve Mesner at 3rd base for the Cubs, Kosman is thrown out at the plate and never appears in another box score.

1943
» The season starts, 2 weeks later than customary. Stalwarts such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Enos Slaughter and Johnny Mize are gone, among some 60 players who could have been classified as regulars in the 1942 season.

Braves manager Casey Stengel is struck by a taxi, fractures a leg, and will miss much of the season. The cabdriver is nominated Sportsman of the Year in Boston by a local newspaper, weary of Stengel's humor in the face of the Braves' pitiful record.

1941
» The Dodgers start to wear liners in their caps as a cautious response to the numerous beanball wars of 1940 that hospitalized Joe Medwick, Billy Jurges, and others. The liners are thin enough to be hardly noticeable, but most ML players disdain the protection.

A syndicate of 12 Bostonians buys 73 percent of the Braves, formerly the Bees, for $350,000 from the Charles F. Adams estate.

1939
» A minor league attendance record is set at Jersey City as 45,112 see the Giants farm team play Newark (International League).

The Red Sox show off their prize rookie Ted Williams before 30,278 in the opener in New York, delayed two days because of rain. After striking out twice, Williams collects a double off Red Ruffing, who wins 2–0. Gehrig makes an error, goes hitless, and lines into two double plays in the only game featuring the two great sluggers. Other notables in what will become a historic box score include Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Red Rolfe, and losing pitcher Lefty Grove. The Yanks score their first run on a homer by Dickey and their 2nd tally on an error by Jimmy Foxx. Boston has baserunners in each inning, but Ruffing tosses just the 2nd opening day shut out in Yankee history. Four umpires work the game including 3B ump George Pipgras, the starting pitcher for the Yankees in the 1929 Opener; his opponent for the Red Sox that day was Red Ruffing.

1938
» Bob Feller pitches the first of 12 career one-hitters, beating the Browns 9-0.

1937
» Gee Walker of the Tigers becomes the only player to hit for the cycle on Opening Day when he performs the feat against the Cleveland Indians, hitting in reverse order for a HR, triple, double, and single. Detroit wins 4-3.

1936
» Pittsburgh's Gus Suhr belts a two-out homer in the 9th with two on off Roy Henshaw to give the Bucs a dramatic win over the Cubs, 9–8. Bill Swift picks up the win.

1933
» White Sox OF Al Simmons makes an unassisted double play against the Browns.

Umpire Charlie Pfirman officiates in his 1,700th consecutive NL game, as Carl Hubbell pitches the Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Braves.

1932
» The Yankees draw the largest paid attendance, 55,452, for any home opener. Babe Ruth homers, as Lefty Gomez beats Lefty Grove, and the Yankees defeat the Athletics 8-3.

1928
» Detroit OF Paul Easterling hits his 3rd HR in 3 days, and that's the last he hits for the year.

1926
» The Yankees batter Washington 18-5. Among their 22 hits are a HR, 2 doubles, and 2 singles by Ruth, who scores 5 and drives in 8.

1923
» The Cubs win 12-11 over the Pirates on Gabby Hartnett's 9th-inning HR. There are 8 HRs in the game, 6 by the Cubs, who had hit 4 the day before. The Cubs will hit 90 for the year, more than double their team total of 42 last year.

1916
» The Cubs play their first game in the newly built Federal League park that will soon have its name changed to Wrigley Field. The stadium, minus the upper deck added later, seats 14,000, but 20,000 fans are on hand. Greeting fans on the Addison Street side is JOA, a bear cub owned by Cub's (partial) owner J. Ogden Armour. Everyone goes home happy as Vic Saier's 11th inning sac fly gives the Cubs 7–6 a win over the Reds.

Washington 3B Eddie Foster hits his only homer of the year, and the last he will hit. He ends his career in 1923 with six homers in 3,278 at bats.

Boston's Babe Ruth is 0-for-4 at the plate but whips the A's, 7–1, on five hits.

1914
» The 25-player limit is suspended in the AL and NL. With uncertainty over who has signed with what teams, it is almost impossible to know how many players may be on the roster at any one time.

1913
» In the Tigers 6–5 win against host Cleveland, Ty Cobb steals home in the first inning. Vean Gregg is on the mound.

1912
» The Boston Red Sox open in the new Fenway Park with a 7–6, 11-inning win over the New York Yankees before 27,000 in the lidlifter of two games. Spitballer Bucky O'Brien and Sea Lion Hall top Jumbo Jim Vaughn, handing the Yankees their 6th straight loss.

After hitting the game-winning home run in the 11th inning to beat the Reds, 5–4, Cubs OF Jimmy Sheckard forgets and heads for the clubhouse after touching 2B. Teammates yell to him to complete the circuit, which he does. The manager of the Reds is Hank O'Day, who was the umpire that day in 1908 when Fred Merkle failed to touch 2B.

Detroit opens remodeled Navin Park and beats Cleveland 6–5 in 11 innings before 24,384. George Mullin wins his own game with a RBI single. Detroit opens with two double steals in the 1st inning, including Ty Cobb's swipe of home when Sam Crawford takes 2B. Cobb has two singles and two steals today.

In New York, Jeff Tesreau takes over for Rube Marquard in the 9th inning, with the Giants leading 2–1. An error lets in two Brooklyn runners, but New York scores two in the bottom of the 9th for a 4–3 win. Since Marquard faced three batters in the 9th, the victory is awarded to Tesreau.

In St. Louis, the Browns George Baumgardner and White Sox hurler James Scott battle to a 15-inning scoreless tie.

1910
» Cleveland's Addie Joss pitches his 2nd no-hitter 1–0 over Chicago. Joss's 10 assists help prevent any infield spoilers. Terry Turner's 6th inning double off Doc White scores the Naps only run.

At the Polo Grounds, Hooks Wiltse tosses a 3-hit shutout over the Doves in the Giants' home opener. New York tops Boston, 4–0.

1909
» The National Commission learns that an effort to bribe umpires Bill Klem and James Johnstone was made before the Giants-Cubs playoff game in 1908. The identity of the alleged briber is not disclosed, but all clubs are notified of the results of the investigation. Klem reveals that the alleged briber was Dr. James Creamer. Creamer, who served as the Giants' team physician last season, will be barred for life from all major league ball parks.

1908
» "The Father of Baseball," Henry Chadwick, the leading reporter, commentator, scorer, and indefatigable promoter of the game, dies in Brooklyn at age 85.

1906
» At the Polo Grounds, the Giants win their home opener, 8-2 over the Brooklyn Superbas. Red Ames is the winner for the defending world champions.

1905
» Due to the late Easter this year, games are played on Good Friday for the first time.

1903
» Since yesterday was Sunday, today is both Opening Day and Patriot's Day in Boston. The Pilgrims play an a.m. game before 8,376 fans beating the A's Rube Waddell, 9–4. The Athletics take the afternoon contest, 10–7, watched by 27,658, behind Eddie Plank and Chief Bender. Cy Young and Long Tom Hughes pitch for Boston.

1902
» In an exhibition match in Chicago, the Milwaukee Brewers top the White Stockings, 3-2. Chuck Comiskey scheduled the tune-up with the American Association squad after the Brewers took three straight from the Cincinnati Reds.

1901
» The Reds open at home with a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh. Sam Leever wins over Noodles Hahn.