April 23
1903 — The New York Highlanders won their first game as a major league team, 7-2 over the Washington Senators.
1913 — New York Giants ace Christy Mathewson beat the Phillies 3-1, throwing just 67 pitches.
1939 — Rookie Ted Williams went 4-for-5, including his first major league home run, but the Red Sox lost to Philadelphia 12-8 at Fenway Park.
1946 — Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers no-hit the Boston Braves 5-0 at Ebbets Field. Head was making his first start after a year’s military service.
1952 — Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians and Bob Cain of the St. Louis Browns matched one-hitters. Cain wound up as the winner, 1-0.
1952 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Giants hit a home run at the Polo Grounds in his first major league at-bat. He was the winner, too, and pitched 1,070 games in the majors — but never hit another homer.
1954 — Hank Aaron hit the first home run of his major league career. The drive came against Vic Raschi in the Milwaukee Braves’ 7-5 victory over St. Louis.
1962 — After an 0-9 start, the expansion New York Mets won their first game beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 behind Jay Hook.
1964 — Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the first pitcher to lose a nine-inning no-hitter when Pete Rose scored an unearned run to give the Cincinnati Reds a 1-0 victory.
1978 — Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds makes an error at second base, bringing his major league record of 91 consecutive errorless games to an end.
1989 — Nolan Ryan came within two outs of his sixth career no-hitter, losing it when Nelson Liriano tripled in the ninth inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1. Ryan finished with his 10th lifetime one-hitter.
1990 — Steve Lyons of the Chicago White Sox plays all nine positions during an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs.
1999 — Fernando Tatis of St. Louis became the first in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning in a 12-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tatis also set the record with eight RBIs in one inning.
2008 — The Chicago Cubs won their 10,000th game, joining the Giants as the only franchise to reach that mark with a 7-6 10-inning victory at Colorado.
2009 — Ichiro Suzuki lined James Shields’ second pitch of the game for a home run, the only run of Seattle’s 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the 22nd time a leadoff homer was the deciding run in a game, and it was just the second time it happened for the Mariners.
2012 — Ivan Rodriguez, who has caught more games than anyone in big league history, announces his retirement after a 21-year career.
2013 — B.J. Upton and his brother Justin hit back-to-back homers for the first time, leading the Atlanta Braves past the Colorado Rockies 10-2 to complete a doubleheader sweep. It was the 27th time in major league history that brothers homered in the same game, but only the second time they went deep in consecutive at-bats. Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates also accomplished the feat on Sept. 15, 1938.
2022 — Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers becomes the 33rd member of the 3,000 hit club.
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