April 14
1910 — William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington.
1910 — Chicago’s Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns.
1915 — In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A’s blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit — a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth.
1917 — Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.
1925 — The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game.
1925 — In the first regular-season Chicago Cubs game to be broadcast on the radio, Quin Ryan announces the contest from the grandstand roof for WGN.
1931 — Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Robins becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game at 47 years old.
1961 — The “new” Washington Senators franchise wins its first game, defeating the Cleveland Indians, 3-2.
1964 — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax throws his ninth complete game without allowing a walk.
1967 — Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Yankees’ only hit in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox.
1969 — The first major league game outside the United States was played in Montreal’s Jarry Park with the Expos defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.
1976 — In the 6th inning of today’s 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Mets’ Dave Kingman hits what will become widely regarded as the longest home run ever hit in Wrigley Field, estimated at 600 feet.
1991 — Nolan Ryan becomes the 12th pitcher in major league history to surpass 5,000 innings pitched.
1999 — John Franco struck out the side in the ninth inning of the New York Met’s 4-1 win over the Florida Marlins, becoming only the second pitcher to reach 400 career saves. The only reliever with more saves than Franco is Lee Smith, who retired with 478.
2004 — A day after Yankees teammate Mike Mussina earned his 200th career victory, Kevin Brown reaches the same plateau.
2005 — Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield got into a brief scuffle with a fan along the right-field fence at Fenway Park during New York’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
2010 — Jorge Cantu homered, making him the first player in major league history to have at least one hit and one RBI in each of his team’s first nine games, and the Florida Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3.
2014 — Neil Walker and Gaby Sanchez hit back-to-back homers twice, and the Pirates and Reds combined for 10 homers in only six innings before rain forced a suspension. Pittsburgh had three sets of back-to-back homers, only the third time that’s happened in major league history. The NL Central rivals completed the game the next day. Andrew McCutchen doubled and came around on Russell Martin’s single in the seventh inning, giving the Pirates an 8-7 win.
2016 — Bryce Harper makes the 100th home run of his career his first-ever grand slam.
2017 — The Braves open their new ballpark, SunTrust Park, with a 5 – 2 win over the Padres before a sellout crowd of 41,149.
2021 — Carlos Rodon of the White Sox throws the second no-hitter of the season, blanking the Indians, 8-0.
_____
