This Date In Baseball

1913 - Brooklyn's Ebbets Field hosted its first game, an exhibition. Before a crowd of 25,000, the Dodgers beat the Giants, 3-2. Casey Stengel hit an inside-the-park homer for Brooklyn.

1925 - Babe Ruth collapsed in a railroad station in Asheville, N.C. He would be hospitalized in New York and operated on for an ulcer.

1971 - In their last opening day, the Senators, behind pitcher Dick Bosman, beat the Oakland A's 8-0 before 45,000 fans at RFK Stadium.

1979 - Baltimore manager Earl Weaver got his 1,000th career victory when the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox.

1983 - The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 16-13 in the highest-scoring opening day game in 50 years. Winning pitcher Tim Lollar also drove in three runs.

1993 - The expansion Florida Marlins won their first game, 6-3 over the Los Angeles Dodgers, at Joe Robbie Stadium. The new Colorado Rockies lost to the Mets 3-0 in New York.

1998 - Andy Benes pitched seven strong innings and Matt Williams had three hits and an RBI in to lead Arizona to the first victory in franchise history, a 3-2 win over San Francisco. The Diamondbacks (1-5) had the second longest, season-opening losing streak for an expansion team in its first season.

2003 - Kansas City became the first major league team to start 5-0 after a 100-loss season.

2004 - Carlos Beltran of Kansas City and Shannon Stewart of Minnesota combined to set a record. For the first time in modern history, two players hit game-winning home runs on the same day. The Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-7, while the Twins overcame the Cleveland Indians, 7-4, in 11 innings. The Royals also were the first team since 1901 to recover from a ninth-inning deficit of four runs on opening day.

2006 - Ivan Rodriguez went 5-for-5 with a single, homer, three doubles and five RBIs, leading Detroit to a 14-3 rout over Kansas City.

Today's birthdays: Lastings Milledge 24; Jorge De La Rosa 28; Brandon Backe 31; Ross Gload 33.

1972 - For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open on schedule because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and a total of 86 games were lost before the strike was settled.

1973 - Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first major league designated hitter. With the bases loaded in the first inning, he was walked by pitcher Luis Tiant, but the Red Sox won 15-5.

1973 - At the Oakland Coliseum, Tony Oliva became the first designated hitter to homer. The Twins DH hit a two-run shot in the first inning off of Catfish Hunter to lead Minnesota to an 8-3 win.

1974 - Due to renovations at Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees' home opener took place at Shea Stadium. It was their first home game outside Yankee Stadium since 1922.

1977 - The Seattle Mariners played their first regular-season game and lost 7-0 to the California Angels at the Kingdome.

1982 - A freak storm that brought subfreezing temperatures and dumped heavy snow from the Northeast to the Midwest forced the postponement of American League openers in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee, and National League openers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

2005 - Brad Wilkerson hit for the cycle to lead Washington over Philadelphia 7-3.

1964 - Shea Stadium in New York opened for its first regular-season game. The Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3.

1969 - The Yankees spoiled the managerial debut of Ted Williams by defeating the Senators 8-4 in the opener at Washington's RFK Stadium. President Nixon and a crowd of 45,000 attended.

1969 - Dodgers relief pitcher Bill Singer was credited with the first official save. Los Angeles beat Cincinnati, 3-2. The game started with Cincinnati's Pete Rose hitting Don Drysdale's first pitch for a home run. Drysdale threw his next pitch to Bobby Tolan and Tolan hit it for a home run. After the first two pitches, Drysdale settled down and threw a shutout.

1970 - Three weeks after moving from Seattle to Milwaukee, the former Pilots played their first game as the Brewers and lost 12-0 to the visiting California Angels.

1973 - Cleveland set an attendance record for day games and opening-day games by attracting 74,420 fans. The Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1.

1977 - The expansion Toronto Blue Jays began their major league odyssey with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Al Woods, pinch hitting for Steve Bowling in the fifth inning, became the 11th pinch hitter with a home run in his first at-bat.

1979 - Ken Forsch of the Houston Astros pitched a no-hitter against Atlanta to duplicate the no-hitter tossed by his brother Bob of the Cardinals against the Phillies on April 16, 1978. They are the first brothers to pitch no-hitters.

1984 - Detroit's Jack Morris pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox despite giving up six walks. It was the first Tigers no-hitter since Jim Bunning's in 1958.

1987 - Atlanta's Rick Mahler pitched his third opening day shutout tying an NL record.

1988 - Cincinnati Reds third baseman Chris Sabo tied an NL record with 11 assists in one game.

2000 - Fifty-seven home runs were hit in the 15 games played, setting a major league record. The previous mark of 55 was set in 17 games last Aug. 13. Thirty-six homers in the American League set a record for a league in one day, topping the previous mark of 30.

2007 - Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam off Chris Ray with two outs in the ninth inning, giving the New York Yankees a 10-7 victory over Baltimore. Rodriguez ended a game with a grand slam for the third time in his career, tying the major league mark shared by Vern Stephens (1946, 1949, 1950) and Cy Williams (1924 and twice in 1926).

Today's birthdays: Adrian Beltre 30; Ronnie Belliard 34.

1934 - The Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies played the first legal Sunday baseball game in Philadelphia. The exhibition game was made possible when the state made Sunday baseball a local option and the city approved it in a referendum ballot.

1969 - The Montreal Expos played their first regular-season game - the first international contest in major league history - and defeated the eventual world champion New York Mets, 11-10, at Shea Stadium. Expos pitcher Dan McGinn hit the expansion team's first home run.

1974 - In the opener in Atlanta, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career record by hitting his 715th home run off Los Angeles left-hander Al Downing in the fourth inning. The Braves beat the Dodgers 7-4 before a crowd of nearly 54,000.

1975 - Frank Robinson became the first black manager in major league history by making his debut as player-manager of the Cleveland Indians. He hit a home run in his first at-bat - as a designated hitter - to help beat the New York Yankees, 5-3.

1986 - Jim Presley of the Seattle Mariners hit home runs in the ninth and 10th innings for a come-from-behind 8-4 opening day victory over the California Angels.

1987 - Pitchers Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton of the Cleveland Indians teamed up to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3. Niekro recorded his 312th victory and Carlton pitched four shutout innings in relief. It was the first time in modern history that two 300-game winners pitched for the same team in the same game.

1993 - Carlos Baerga of the Cleveland Indians became the first player in major league history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The homers came in the seventh inning of a 15-5 rout of the New York Yankees.

1994 - Kurt Mercker of the Atlanta Braves pitched the season's first no-hitter, beating the Dodgers 6-0. It was the first complete game of Mercker's career.

2002 - Craig Biggio hit for the cycle and had four RBIs in Houston's 8-4 win over Colorado.

Today's birthdays: Felix Hernandez 23; Chris Iannetta 26; Brian Burres 28; Jeremy Guthrie 30.

1913 - Ebbets Field opened in Brooklyn and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Dodgers 1-0 before a crowd of 10,000. The stadium, which cost $750,000 to build, was named after Charles Ebbets, the club's principal owner.

1947 - Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for one year by commissioner Happy Chandler for “the accumulation of unpleasant incidents” detrimental to baseball.

1959 - The Baltimore Orioles, playing against the Washington Senators, became the first team in history to execute a triple play on opening day. The Senators won the game, 9-2.

1965 - The Houston Astrodome opened with an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and Astros. President Johnson attended and Gov. John Connally threw out the first ball. Mickey Mantle hit the first home run, but the Astros won 2-1 in 12 innings.

1969 - Billy Williams of Chicago hit four consecutive doubles to lead the Cubs to an 11-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1981 - Fernando Valenzuela made his first major league start a stunning success by pitching a 2-0, five-hit triumph over the Houston Astros in Los Angeles. He would go on to win his first eight games.

1985 - Chicago's Tom Seaver made his 15th opening day start to break Christy Mathewson's record. Seaver pitched 6 2-3 innings and was credited with the victory as the White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2.

1993 - The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos 11-4 for their first win and set a National League record for attendance in their home debut. The crowd of 80,227 broke the record of 78,672 set on April 18, 1958, by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2000 - In a 13-7 win over Kansas City, Minnesota's Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones and Matt LeCroy hit consecutive home runs. The Royals' Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye and Mike Sweeney repeated the feat, marking the first time in major league history that both teams hit three consecutive home runs in the same game.

2003 - Detroit became the second major league team to start successive seasons 0-7 after a 9-6 loss to Kansas City. The Tigers started 0-11 last year. The 1962-63 New York Mets started 0-9 and 0-8 in their first two seasons.

2006 - Cory Sullivan tied a major league record by hitting two triples during a seven-run fifth inning, helping Colorado rout San Diego 10-4.

Today's birthday: Dennis Sarfate 28.

1913 - President Wilson threw out the first ball as the Senators edged the New York Yankees 2-1 in Washington's home opener. Walter Johnson allowed an unearned run in the first inning, but did not yield another run for 56 consecutive innings.

1959 - Chicago's Nellie Fox, who went 5-for-7, hit a 14th-inning opening day home run off Don Mossi to beat Detroit, 9-7. The White Sox second baseman did not homer in 623 at-bats the previous season.

1962 - The Houston Colt .45s, in the first major league game played in Texas, beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2 before 25,000. Roman Mejias led Houston's offense with two three-run homers.

1969 - Tommy Agee of the New York Mets hit a home run into the upper deck in Shea Stadium's left field. It was the longest home run to reach the seats in the history of the stadium.

1982 - Under icy conditions, the Cleveland Indians opened the season at Municipal Stadium with an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers before 62,443 fans. Five hundred tons of snow had to be removed from the field; the game-time temperature was 38 degrees, with a wind chill of 17.

1990 - Boston's Wade Boggs tied a major league record for a nine-inning game by drawing three intentional walks.

2000 - Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player to hit 400 career home runs when he connected in the Reds' 7-5 loss to Colorado. At 30 years, 141 days, Griffey beat the previous mark set by Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years, 248 days old.

2001 - The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game concluded in 1 hour, 55 minutes, the fastest home game in Arizona history. The Diamondbacks' Curt Schilling earned his 16th career shutout and 66th complete game in the 2-0 victory. Schilling gave up two hits and struck out 10. Kevin Brown tossed a three-hitter and fanned eight for Los Angeles.

2003 - The Montreal Expos warmed to Puerto Rico real fast with a 10-0 rout of the New York Mets in the first of Montreal's 22 home games in San Juan.

Today's birthday: Andre Ethier 27.

1907 - New York catcher Roger Bresnahan appeared wearing shin guards for the first time in a major league game.

1912 - Rube Marquard of the New York Giants began a 19-game winning streak with an 18-3 triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1961 - The Los Angeles Angels won their first major league game with a 7-2 victory over the Orioles at Baltimore. Ted Kluszewski had a pair of homers for the Angels.

1962 - The New York Mets played their first game and lost 11-4 to the Cardinals in St. Louis.

1969 - The Seattle Pilots played their first game, with Gary Bell shutting out the White Sox 7-0 at Sicks Stadium.

1985 - Seattle's Gorman Thomas hit three homers and drove in six runs to lead the Mariners to a 14-6 victory over the Oakland A's.

1990 - Mark Langston made his Angels debut by combining with Mike Witt on a no-hitter as California beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0.

1996 - Greg Maddux's major league record of road victories ended at 18 in a row with a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. He had been 18-0 with an 0.99 ERA in 20 regular-season road starts since losing at Montreal on June 27, 1994.

2001 - Atlanta's Greg Maddux was almost flawless for seven innings, combining with a pair of relievers to pitch a one-hitter in a 2-0 win over the New York Mets. The Mets wound up with only one runner against Maddux, Mike Remlinger and John Rocker. Todd Zeile lined a single about a foot beyond second baseman Quilvio Veras' glove with one out in the second.

2007 - Felix Hernandez pitched a one-hitter and struck out six, helping Seattle beat Boston 3-0.

2008 - Missouri's Jacob Priday set a Big 12 Conference record, hitting four home runs against Texas in a 31-12 rout. The senior went 5-for-5, drove in nine runs and scored six times.

Today's birthdays: Mark Teixeira 29; Kelvim Escobar 33; Jason Varitek 37.