This date in baseball

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 major league baseball to Baltimore.

1953 For the first time in half a century, a new city was represented in the American or National leagues. The Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee and opened in Cincinnati, where Max Surkont set down the Reds, 2-0.

1954 Henry 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 major league game.

1963 Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds tripled off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend for his first major league hit. 1972 The first player strike in baseball history ended.

1984 Montreal’s Pete Rose got his 4,000th hit, a double off Philadelphia pitcher Jerry Koosman. The hit came exactly 21 years after his first hit. Rose would score on Tim Raines one out single, sliding into home to give Montreal a 4-1 lead in their eventual 5-1 victory.

1987 The San Diego Padres set a major league record when the first three batters in the bottom of the first inning hit homers off San Francisco starter Roger Mason in their home opener. The Padres, trailing 2-0, got home runs from Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk.

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, surpassing Jeff Reardon of the Cincinnati Reds.

1999 Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez drove in nine runs in the Rangers’ 15-6 victory at Seattle.

2004 San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball’s career list.

2009 Jody Gerut christened the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, with a leadoff home run in San Diego’s 6-5 win over New York. Gerut’s shot off Mike Pelfrey marked the first time in history that the first batter homered in a regular-season opener at a major league ballpark.

2011 A federal jury convicted Barry Bonds of a single charge of obstruction of justice, but failed to reach a verdict on the three counts at the heart of allegations that he knowingly used steroids and human growth hormone and lied to a grand jury about it.