ON THIS DATE
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.
1963 — Pete Rose has first at-bat with the Cincinnati Reds.
1969 — Four expansion teams make their debuts. The Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres all win their inaugural games.
1974 — In the opener in Atlanta, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career record by hitting his 715th home run off Dodgers 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.
1977 — The Mariners record their first win by defeating the Angels 7-6 at the Kingdome.
1986 — Jim Presley of the Mariners hit home runs in the ninth and 10th innings for a come-from-behind 8-4 opening day victory over the Angels.
1986 — Facing Nolan Ryan of the Astros, Giants rookie Will Clark hits a home run in his first major league at-bat.
1987 — Pitchers Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton of Cleveland 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.
1989 — One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major league debut for the Angels.
1991 — Major league umpires strike on opening day, and amateur umpires are used as replacements.
1993 — Carlos Baerga of Cleveland 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.
1995 — Free agents signed include outfielder Larry Walker and pitcher Bill Swift by the Rockies, and pitcher Orel Hershiser by the Indians.
2002 — Craig Biggio hit for the cycle and had four RBIs in Houston’s 8-4 win over Colorado.
2003 — At Yankee Stadium’s home opener, Hideki Matsui hits his first major league home run, a grand slam.
2008 — Chase Utley ties a major league record by being hit by pitch three times in a game.
2011 — Slugger Manny Ramirez, who signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in the offseason, announces his retirement after a failure to conform with Major League Baseball’s drug policy.