BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1953 On Opening Day, thanks to the three-hit pitching of Max Surkont, the former Boston Braves win their first game representing the city of Milwaukee by beating the Reds, 2-0 at Crosley Field. The contest marks the first time since Baltimore shifted to New York to become the Highlanders, later renamed the Yankees, fifty years ago that a franchise has moved to a different city.
1954 Not wanting to be associated with Communists, Cincinnati plays its first game as the Redlegs. The new moniker, which is widely accepted, will be employed for six seasons before the club reverts to the Reds, a shortened version of the Red Stockings, the team's original name from 1882-1899.
1954 Willie Mays, who missed nearly two seasons due to military service, homers in his first game back, a sixth-inning blast off Carl Erskine that will prove to be the difference in the Giants' 4-3 Opening Day victory over Brooklyn. The 22-year-old center fielder's prodigious poke at the Polo Grounds might have traveled over 600 feet if the upper left-field stands had not impeded the ball.

1954 Seven years after the team had threatened to strike over Jackie Robinson integrating baseball, North Carolina A&T graduate Tom Alston becomes the first black player to appear in a Cardinals uniform. The highly-touted first baseman, acquired from the PCL's San Diego club in exchange for veteran infielder Dick Sisler and $100,000, pops out to first base in his first major league at-bat.

1954 In the first season opener at Forbes Field in 61 years, Curt Roberts makes his major league debut, becoming the first black to play for the Pirates. In his first at-bat, the former Kansas City Monarch second baseman, signed by 72-year-old general manager Branch Rickey, triples off future Hall of Fame right-hander Robin Roberts in the first inning of the team's 4-2 victory over beat the Phillies.

1954 In a 9-8 victory over the Braves, Reds' outfielder Jim Greengrass hits four doubles, tying a 1901 Opening Day record set by Tigers first baseman Pop Dillon. Hank Aaron goes hitless in five attempts in his first major league game with the Braves in the same contest.

1954 Philadelphia A's second baseman 'Spook' Forrest Jacobs becomes the first major league rookie to collect four hits on Opening Day. In 1990, Expo second baseman Delino DeShields, going 4-for-6, becomes the second freshman to accomplish the feat on the first day of the season in the team's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

 

1954 On Opening Day at Busch Stadium off Chicago hurler Paul Milner, Wally Moon hits a home run off Paul Milner in his first major league at-bat in the Cardinals' 13-4 loss to the Cubs. The 24-year-old Redbird center fielder, the eventual National League's Rookie of the Year, also homers in the last at-bat of his freshman season.

1962 On a wintry day, the Mets play their first home game ever when only 12,000 fans show up at the Polo Grounds to see the return of National League baseball to the Big Apple. On Friday the 13th, the Pirates score the decisive run on two eighth-inning wild pitches thrown by Ray Diavault, beating the New York expansion team, 4-3.
1962 On Opening Day, Detroit's starting pitcher Frank Lary pulls a muscle legging out a seventh-inning triple in the team's 5-3 victory over New York at Tiger Stadium. 'The Yankee Killer's' career will be shortened when the righty suffers subsequent arm problems resulting from compensating for the injury.
1963 Reds' second baseman Pete Rose triples off Pirates' pitcher Bob Friend to collect his first major league hit. The future all-time hit leader, who will amass 4,256 hits during his 24-year career, had gone hitless in his first 11 major league at-bats.

1964 After beating the Reds, 6-3, in the traditional Opening Day game in Cincinnati, Houston is in first place for the first and only time as the Colt .45's. Next season, the team becomes known as the Astros, reflecting Houston's role in the nation's space program.
1969 After the Cubs, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth, rally to beat the Expos, 7-6, twenty-seven-thousand fans spontaneously swarm Wrigley Field in an early-season frenzy. The fans' reaction marks the first animated display of affection for the team since 1960 when Don Cardwell threw his no-hitter on Chicago's north side.

 

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1970 In their home opener at the Oakland Coliseum, a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee, the A's use gold-colored bases. This colorful innovation, introduced by team owner Charlie O. Finley, will quickly be banned by the MLB's Rules Committee.
1975 The Astros retire Don Wilson's number 40 posthumously in tribute to the right-hander, who was found dead of asphyxiation by carbon monoxide in the garage of his family's home in January. The 29-year-old fireballer, the author of an 18 strikeout game that tied a major league record, spent nine seasons with Houston, compiling a record of 104-92 along with an ERA of 3.15.

1978 In New York's Opening Day 4-2 victory over Chicago, Reggie Jackson hits a three-run homer in the first inning, his fourth consecutive round-tripper at Yankee Stadium, after going deep three times in last year's Fall Classic finale. The game becomes delayed when the crowd celebrates by showering the field with Reggie! Bars, a chocolate and peanut candy bar with a picture of the slugger swinging a bat, given to every fan entering the game.

1978 On Opening Day, Roger Maris returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since being traded to the Cardinals in 1966. After shunning many previous invitations, the prodigal son returns to help Mickey Mantle hoist the club's World Champion flag when team owner George Steinbrenner promises to install sod and lights on the baseball field at his children's school in Gainesville (FL).

 

1980 At Royals Stadium, Dan Quisenberry and Jamie Quirk become the first Q battery when Quiz enters in the seventh inning. The pitcher-catcher combo combine to face nine Tigers in Kansas City's 3-2 victory, with the 27-year-old right-handed reliever leaving the game after giving up a two-run homer to Champ Summers with two outs in the ninth.
1983 The Phillies, trailing by five runs entering the ninth inning, beat the Mets, 10-9, when Bo Diaz hits a walk-off bases-loaded home run. The Philadelphia catcher's 'ultimate grand slam,' a home run that wins a game when a team is down by three runs in the bottom of the final frame, is tossed by Neil Allen, who faces only the last batter.

1984 On the same date he got his first major league hit 21-years earlier, Pete Rose, as a member of the Expos, doubles off Phillies hurler Jerry Koosman for his 4000th hit, becoming the first player in the National League to reach the milestone. Montreal beats Philadelphia in the Friday the 13th contest at Olympic Stadium, 5-1.

1985 With his team down 7-4 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mariners' left fielder Phil Bradley erases the three-run deficit with a walk-off grand slam. The game-ending round-tripper comes off Twins' closer Ron Davis, who had given up a hit and two walks before surrendering the 'sayonara slam.'

1987 In San Diego's home opener, the Padres waste no time making up a two-run first inning deficit when the first three batters up in the bottom of the first homer off of Giant starter Roger Mason. Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn, and John Kruk all go deep to establish a major league record.

 

1990 "I chose the Moose because they are funny, neat, and friendly. The Moose would show that the Mariners enjoy playing and that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves." -AMMON SPILLER, a fifth-grader from Central Elementary School in Ferndale, WA. In front of the first sellout crowd (54,874 fans) at the Kingdome, Mariner Moose makes his debut on Opening Night, Friday the 13th, becoming the first mascot in franchise history. The team chooses the suggestion summited by Ammon Spiller, a fifth-grader from Ferndale, WA, from over 2,500 entries submitted by children 14 and under across the Pacific Northwest.

1993 Lee Smith passes Jeff Reardon to become the all-time major league saves leader when the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 9-7. The right-hander reliever tosses a scoreless ninth inning at Chavez Ravine to record his 358th career save.

1997 Wally the Green Monster, the Red Sox official mascot, makes his debut, emerging from the legendary left-field wall to everyone's surprise on Opening Day. The green furry creature, who is not warmly received at first by the Fenway Faithful, becomes more endearing to the fans when the former player and current broadcaster Jerry Remy begins to create stories about the costumed character, sharing them during televised NESN games.

1998 Before tonight's game against the Angels, a 500-pound concrete and steel beam falls into the empty loge boxes between third base and left field at Yankee Stadium. The mishap causes the postponement of the next two games scheduled for the Bronx ballpark, with the team scheduling one of the games across the river at Shea Stadium.
1999 At the Kingdome, Rangers' starter Mike Morgan beats the Mariners for the first time since 1980 when he hurled for the A's. The interval of 19 years, eight months, and nine days is the longest span a hurler has gone between victories over one team.

 

2002 After striking out three batters on nine pitches in the top of the ninth inning, Cardinal closer Jason Isringhausen gets the win when the Redbirds score a run in the bottom of the frame for a 2-1 walk-off victory over Houston. During his immaculate inning, the right-handed reliever's victims include Daryle Ward, Jose Vizcaino, and Julio Lugo, who all go down swinging.

2004 At SBC Park, Barry Bonds hits his 661st career homer off Brewers hurler Ben Ford to move up to third on the all-time home run career list, passing his godfather, Willie Mays, and leaving the 39-year-old Giant left fielder 53 behind Babe Ruth (714) and needs 94 to tie Hank Aaron (755). The historic 468-foot seventh inning blast is fished out of McCovey Cove by Larry Ellison, a Giants fan who also caught No. 660 last night in a kayak and gave it to a grateful Bonds but the Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator keeps the wet souvenir this time.

2005 A nearby pedestrian saves eight-year-old Patrick McCarthy from getting run down by a truck when the boy starts to run into Boston's Newbury Street traffic. The hero, who prevents the tragic accident by putting out his arm and saying `Whoa, watch out, buddy,' turns out to be the boy's favorite player, Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez.
2007 The Red Sox purchase right-hander Russ Meyer (1-6, 6.21) from the Reds. The 'Mad Monk' will appear in only two games for Boston, posting a 5.40 ERA in five innings of work that includes a start.
2008 At the new Yankee Stadium, workers dig up a tattered David Ortiz jersey buried in the concrete by a Red Sox fan working on the construction site who had hoped to put a hex on the Bronx Bombers. The ballpark's first 'souvenir' fetches a $175,100 bid in an auction to benefit the Jimmy Fund, a charity that raises money for cancer patients and their families at the Dana-Farber Institute.
2008 Reds hurler Johnny Cueto walks his first batter of the season, ending a string of 22 strikeouts without issuing a base-on-balls. The rookie right-hander is the only post-1900 pitcher to fan as many 18 batters without throwing a ball four in his first two starts.

2009 Nick Swisher, who throws 22 pitches, allowing just one hit and one walk before retiring the next three consecutive batters, including a swinging strikeout of Gabe Kapler, becomes the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Wade Boggs took the mound in 1997. During the 15-5 rout by the Rays at Tampa's Tropicana Field, the fun-loving first baseman volunteered to pitch the eighth inning to help save the bullpen after starter Chien-Ming Wang lasts only one inning.
2009 In a somber pregame meeting, Philadelphia president David Montgomery informs the players that Harry Kalas, who arrived at Nationals Park with the players on the team bus, collapsed in the broadcast booth and died shortly after being taken to a nearby hospital. In tribute to the 73-year-old Hall of Fame voice of the Phillies, Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, and Scott Eyre, before their 9-8 victory over Washington, light up a cigarette and pass it around in honor of the broadcaster, whose smoking habit was legendary.

2009 LA's second baseman Orlando Hudson completes his cycle in the Chavez opener with a sixth-inning triple down the right-field line in the team's 11-1 rout of the Giants. The 31-year-old Darlington (SC) native, playing his first home game since signing with the team as a free agent, becomes the first Dodger to hit for the cycle at Dodger Stadium and the first franchise player to accomplish the feat in a nine-inning game since Gil Hodges did it in 1949.

 

2010 The creation of a 'Bring Back Orbit' Facebook group hopes of convincing the Astros to reinstate the mascot, replaced by Junction Jack in 2000 when the team's move from the Astrodome to Enron Field. The social media effort pays off when the franchise announces the lovable lime-green outer-space creature's return for 2013, their first season in the American League.
2011 Chipper Jones spoils Florida's bid for a shutout when he homers in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Braves' 5-1 loss at Turner Field. The Atlanta third baseman joins Eddie Murray (1,917) and Mickey Mantle (1,509) in becoming only the third switch hitter in major league history to compile 1,500 RBIs.

2012 Josh Thole's bizarre base running blunder leads to a very odd double play in the second inning of the Mets' 5-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park. After successfully reaching second base on R.A. Dickey's sacrifice bunt, the 25-year-old Mets' catcher shocks everyone, including the Philadelphia defense, by trying to return to first base, where he is tagged out to complete the unusual 3-1-6-4 twin killing.
2012 After surrendering a leadoff single to Cameron Maybin to start the game, Aaron Harang strikes out the next nine consecutive Padres in L.A.'s 9-8 victory at Dodger Stadium. The 34 year-old right-hander's performance is one more than Johnny Podres' franchise mark of 8 but falls one short of the major league record held by Tom Seaver, who fanned ten straight Friars for the Mets in 1970.

2015 Jon Lester finally attempts a pickoff at first base, ending a streak covering 66 appearances. The Cubs southpaw, who signed a six-year free-agent deal worth $155 million to start for Chicago this season, last threw over to first base on April 30, 2013, while pitching for the Red Sox.
2019 Chris Davis ends his recording-setting streak of consecutive at-bats without a hit with a two-run single in the first inning of the Orioles' 9-5 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Baltimore first baseman's safety snaps the major league record at 54 straight hitless at-bats by a position player, easily extending the previous mark of 46 set by utilityman Eugenio Vélez, who established the dubious distinction over two seasons while playing with the Giants (0-for-9) and Dodgers (0-for-37), respectively in 2010 and 2011.

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On April 13 in Baseball History...

• • 1914 - The first Federal League game was played in Baltimore and the Terrapins defeated Buffalo 3-2 behind Jack Quinn. A crowd estimated at 27,000 stood 15 rows deep in the outfield to witness the return of big league baseball to Baltimore.
  • 1926 - Walter Johnson takes on A's knuckleballer Eddie Rommel in baseball's greatest Opening-Day pitchers' duel, a 15-inning battle won by the Senators 1-0. Johnson gives up six walks and fans 12.
  • 1946 - Eddie Klepp, a white pitcher signed by the defending Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, is barred from the field in Birmingham, Alabama.
  • 
  • 1953 - In Cincinnati, more than 30,000 see the Milwaukee Braves win their first game 2-0 behind Max Surkont.
  • 1954 - Hank Aaron made his major league debut in left field for the Milwaukee Braves and went 0-for-5 in a 9-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati's Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first game of the 1954 season.
    
  • 1954 - The A.L.'s new Baltimore Orioles open in Detroit and lose 3-0.
  • 1962 - Just 12,447 Mets fans welcome the return of N.L. baseball to New York. Sherman Jones drops a 4-3 decision to the Pirates at the Polo Grounds.
  • 1962 - Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run to set a new N.L. record. The Cardinals beat the Cubs 8-5 in 15 innings.
    
  • 1963 - After eleven hitless at bats, Cincinnati second baseman Pete Rose records his first major league hit, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. Friend is called for four balks in the game.
  • 1970 - Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club's home opener. The Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation.
  • 1972 - The end of the baseball strike is announced, with an abbreviated schedule to start two days later.
  • 1978 - The Yankees defeat the White Sox 4-2 in their home opener on Reggie Candy Bar Day. Jackson slugs a three-run home run in the first inning, and the field is showered with candy bars, which were given out free to the fans at the game.
  • 1984 - Pete Rose lashes a double off Jerry Koosman in a 5-1 Expos victory over the Phillies to join Ty Cobb as the only player to reach 4,000 career hits.
  • 1987 - San Diego sets a major league record when its first three batters of the game (Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn, and John Kruk) all homer off Roger Mason, but the Giants come back to win 13-6.
  • 1988 - Oakland's Rick Honeycutt becomes the second pitcher in as many days to tie the A.L.'s 28-year-old balk record by committing four balks in four innings while saving a 12-7 win over Seattle. A major league record 924 balks will be called this season after umpires are instructed to interpret the complete stop rule more strictly.
  • 1993 - Lee Smith became the all-time saves leader as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-7. Smith got his 358th save, passing Jeff Reardon of the Cincinnati Reds.
  • 1998 - Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his 300th career home run to become the second youngest player to reach the milestone. Griffey's 300th, a two-run shot to right off Jose Mesa in the seventh, is his second homer of the game and sixth of the season. At 28 years, 143 days old, Griffey is second only to Jimmie Foxx, who hit his 300th at 27 years, 328 days. Foxx hit 534 homers during his Hall of Fame career.

Baseball Birthdays on April 13...

• • 1863 - Sweeney, Charlie
  • 1866 - Long, Herman
  • 1870 - Lizotte, Abel
  • 1875 - Elberfeld, Kid
  • 1875 - Cregan, Pete
  • 1879 - Stahl, Jake
  • 1881 - O'Rourke, Patsy
  • 1883 - Simon, Mike
  • 1884 - Ketter, Phil
  • 1885 - Killefer, Red
  • 1885 - Gregg, Vean
  • 1889 - Hendrix, Claude
  • 1890 - Shears, George
  • 1890 - Platte, Al
  • 1891 - Meara, Charlie
  • 1892 - Martin, Pat
  • 1893 - Walker, Roy
  • 1894 - Pillion, Squiz
  • 1900 - Clarke, Rufe
  • 1902 - Cantwell, Ben
  • 1903 - Jones, Ken
  • 1905 - Wysong, Biff
  • 1906 - Lawson, Roxie
  • 1911 - Upchurch, Woody
  • 1913 - Mooty, Jake
  • 1915 - Grimes, Oscar
  • 1917 - Schelle, Jim
  • 1941 - Stephenson, John
  • 1942 - Brown, Ike
  • 1959 - Amelung, Ed
  • 1962 - Bittiger, Jeff
  • 1963 - Leiter, Mark
  • 1964 - Strange, Doug
  • 1965 - DeWillis, Jeff
  • 1966 - Chamberlain, Wes
  • 1970 - Rincon, Ricardo

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Posting Early Another Way Too Early Appointment​

 

4/14
OTD
BIRTHDAYS
1917 Marvin Miller baseball executive (Major League Baseball Players Association 1966-1982), born in NYC, New York (d. 2012)
1941 Pete Rose player and manager (Cincinnati Reds), born in Cincinnati, Ohio

1966 David Justice (Atlanta Braves), born in Cincinnati, Ohio

1966 Greg Maddux Hall of Fame pitcher (4-time NL Cy Young Award), born in San Angelo, Texas

1966 Greg Myers catcher (Minnesota Twins), born in Riverside, California
1967 Mike Trombley pitcher, 1992-2002 (Minnesota Twins and 2 other teams), born in Springfield, Massachusetts

1968 Jesse Levis catcher (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1969 Brad Ausmus catcher (Detroit Tigers), born in New Haven, Connecticut
1969 Brad Pennington pitcher (California Angels), born in Salem, Indiana
1970 Steve Avery pitcher (Atlanta Braves), born in Trenton, Michigan

1971 Gregory Zaun baseball analyst & catcher (Baltimore Orioles), born in Glendale, California

1976 Kyle Farnsworth pitcher born in Wichita, Kansas

 

FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1908 Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss offers Honus Wagner a contract with a proposed salary of $6,000. The third baseman, who won his second consecutive NL batting crown last season, will eventually sign for $10,000, twice the amount of his previous pay, to become the first major leaguer to make a five-figure salary.

1910 At American League Park in Washington, D.C., William Taft becomes the first president to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The Chief Executive stays to see a great game when Senator legend Walter Johnson one-hits the A's in the season opener, 3-0.

1911 Shortly after midnight, a tremendous fire breaks out, destroying much of the Polo Grounds, leaving the Giants without a place to play. The Highlanders invite the McGraw men to share Hilltop Park, an offer the displaced National League team accepts for six weeks until the completion of the temporary stands at their damaged ballpark.
1915 Herb Pennock's bid to throw a no-hitter on Opening Day is spoiled when he gives up a scratch hit to Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth inning. The A's southpaw retires the next batter, preserving his 2-0 shutout of Boston at Shibe Park.

1917 White Sox hurler Eddie Cicotte, who will become better known as one of the eight players made permanently ineligible for professional baseball due to his alleged participation in the Black Sox scandal in the 1919 World Series, no-hits the Browns, 11-0. The 33-year-old Michigan native, called Knuckles by his teammates, will finish the season with a 28-12 record with a 1.53 ERA, leading the league in victories and earned run average.

1925 The Indians start the season beating the Browns, 21-4, to establish the major league mark for the most runs scored by one club on Opening Day. Cleveland tallies 12 times in the eighth inning with the help of five St. Louis errors.
1925 WGN broadcasts the first fully-live regular season baseball game, detailing Grover Alexander and the Cubs' defeat of the Pirates on a chilly Opening Day, 8-2. Quin Ryan is behind the microphone doing play-by-play from a perch on the Wrigley Field roof.

 

1930 President Herbert Hoover, continuing the tradition started by William Taft in 1910, throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox edge the hometown Senators, 4-3. Historically thought to be a southpaw, the Chief Executive does the honors right-handed six times during his one term in the White House, all four Opening Days at Griffith Stadium, and two games World Series games at Shibe Park in the 1929 and 1930.
1931 At Braves Field, Jack Quinn becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game. The 47 year-old Robin right-hander gives up six runs on nine hits in six innings of work, taking the loss when Brooklyn bows to Boston, 7-4.

1936 At Sportsman's Park, Eddie Morgan, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the Cardinals' 12-7 loss to Chicago, hits a home run in his first major league first at-bat. The round-tripper will be the 21-year-old rookie's only career homer during his brief stint with St. Louis and Brooklyn.
1949 Bobo Newsom signs as a free agent with the Senators. The 41-year-old right-hander, who will not appear with the club until the 1952 season, becomes the first major leaguer to join the same team on five different occasions (1935-37, '42, '43, '46-47, '52).

1953 In their first game ever played in Milwaukee, the transplanted Braves beat the Cardinals at County Stadium, 3-2, thanks to Billy Bruton's walk-off home run off Gerry Staley in the tenth inning. The 27-year-old rookie center fielder will not hit another home run this season.
1953 Bob Lemon nearly throws an Opening Day no-hitter against the White Sox, except for Minnie Minoso's first-inning single spoiling the bid. The Indians' hurler almost loses his shutout when Jim Rivera walks, steals second, and goes to third on a grounder, but the fleet-footed outfielder thrown out trying to swipe home.

1955 Elston Howard, who will be named the American League's MVP in 1963, becomes the first black to play for the Yankees. The former Monarchs' catcher will appear in nine All-Star Games and 54 World Series games, compiling a .274 batting average during his 14-year playing career.