THIS DATE IN BASEBALL

WEEK AHEAD

MARCH 30

1966 — The Koufax-Drysdale holdout ended. The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the signings. Sandy Koufax got $120,000 and Don Drysdale $105,000, making them the highest paid teammates in history.

1978 — The Boston Red Sox acquire pitcher Dennis Eckersley and catcher Fred Kendall from the Cleveland Indians for pitchers Rick Wise and Mike Paxton, catcher Bo Diaz and infielder Ted Cox. 1992 — The Cubs and White Sox made a trade. The Cubs sent outfielder George Bell to the White Sox for outfielder Sammy Sosa and pitcher Ken Patterson.

2001 — Pitcher Dwight Gooden announces his retirement. The four-time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner posted a 194-112 record with a 3.51 ERA and 2293 strikeouts in 16 seasons.

2004 — The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays opened the season in Japan with Tampa Bay posting an 8-3 victory behind the pitching of Victor Zambrano and the hitting of Tino Martinez. Martinez had three hits including the 300th homer of his career. 2008 — Nationals Park opens for action with the host Nationals beating the Braves, 3 - 2. 2019 — In a very rare occurrence, position players take the mound for both teams in the Dodgers' 18 - 5 win over the Diamondbacks.

2023 — For the first time ever, all 30 teams are active on Opening Day as no rainouts affect the schedule.

MARCH 31

1961 — The Pacific Coast League's proposal to use a designated hitter for the pitcher was rejected by the Professional Baseball Rules Committee by a vote of 8-1. 1968 — Seattle, the American League's second new team, announced its nickname - the Pilots.

1994 — The Chicago White Sox assign NBA superstar Michael Jordan to the Double-A Birmingham Barons of the Southern League.

1995 — Major league baseball players end their strike when Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor of U.S. District Court in Manhattan rules against the owners in the labor dispute.

1996 — The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 in 12 innings in major league baseball's season opener, the first major league game played in March.

1998 — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks looked like expansion teams in their first games. The Devil Rays fell behind 11-0 in an 11-6 loss to Detroit at Tropicana Field, and the Diamondbacks dropped a 9-2 decision to the Colorado Rockies at Bank One Ballpark. Milwaukee dropped a 2-1 decision at Atlanta in the Brewers' first game since becoming the only team to switch leagues this century.