ON THIS DATE

1931 — Virne Beatrice “Jackie” Mitchell, the first woman in professional baseball, pitched against the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Babe Ruth waved wildly at the first two pitches and took a third strike. Lou Gehrig timed his swing to miss three straight pitches. Tony Lazzeri, after trying to bunt, walked, and Mitchell left the game. 1984 — The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds 8-1 for their first opening-day defeat in 10 years. 1997 — For the first time, the salary of one player (Albert Belle) exceeded the payroll of an entire team (the Pittsburgh Pirates). Belle, the game’s highest-paid player for 1997 at $10 million, made $928,333 more than the Pirates’ payroll of $9,071,667.

2001 — New York right-hander Roger Clemens became the American League strikeout king, getting five to pass Walter Johnson as the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 in their season opener. Clemens fanned Joe Randa for his 3,509th strikeout.

2003 — Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 300 home runs, connecting for a threerun drive in the Texas Rangers’

11-5 loss to the Anaheim Angels. Rodriguez, at 27 years, 249 days old, surpassed Hall of Famer Jimmie

Foxx (27 years, 328 days).

2003 — The Detroit Tigers became the first team to have four pitchers make their major league debuts in the same game — Jeremy Bonderman, Wilfredo Ledezma, Chris Spurling and Matt Roney. The Tigers lost 8-1 to the Minnesota Twins.

2007 — Tampa Bay outfielder Elijah Dukes homered in his first big league at-bat in the Rays’ 9-5 loss to the New York Yankees.

2011 — Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler became the first major leaguer with leadoff homers in each of his team’s first two games. Kinsler hit the first of four homers by the Rangers in their 12-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

2012 — Matt Cain and the

San Francisco Giants agreed to a six-year, $127.5 million contract, the largest deal for a right-handed pitcher in major league history. 2017 — San Francisco left-hander Madison Bumgarner hit two home runs, but the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off new Giants closer Mark Melancon to win 6-5 in a wild season opener. Bumgarner retired his first 16 batters and became the first pitcher to hit two homers on opening day. He struck out 11 with no walks in seven innings.