April 1

Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 1.

[edit] Events

• 1914 - Rube Waddell dies from tuberculosis in San Antonio, TX, at the age of 37. One of the top lefthanded pitchers in major league history, Waddell led the American League in strikeouts for six years in a row, collected four consecutive 20-win seasons from 1902 to 1906, including the Triple Crown in 1905 with 27 wins, 287 strikeouts and a 1.48 ERA, leading the league in all pitching categories. Waddell, who dies in a sanitarium, had seen his condition weakened by his efforts to contain a winter flood in Kentucky. He will be selected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1946.
• 1939 - Phil Niekro is born in Blaine, Belmont County, Ohio. "Knucksie" will make his major league debut in 1964 with the Milwaukee Braves. He will win 318 games over a 24-year career and will gain election to the Hall of Fame in 1997.
• 1942 - Major league owners decide not to allow furloughed players in the military to play for their clubs if based near a game site.
• 1949 - The St. Louis Browns, owners of Sportsman's Park, move to evict the St. Louis Cardinals in order to gain a rent increase.
• 1957 - Called by Les Biederman of The Sporting News "one of the most unusual games in modern spring training history," Kansas City and Pittsburgh battle through 18 innings to a scoreless tie "before probably one of the smallest crowds of the season anywhere, only 432 paid admissions." Starting at 1:30 p.m., the game is called by mutual agreement at 5:27 because of impending darkness and high winds. Each team uses three pitchers, with the Athletics managing eleven safeties and the Bucs held to seven. Of the latter total, Roberto Clemente accumulates three, including the contest's only extra-base hits, a leadoff double to begin the game and a one-out double in the top of the 18th. Clemente then saves the game in the bottom of the frame by gunning down Clete Boyer trying to go from first to third on Vic Power's single with none out.
• 1962 - The Detroit Tigers sign University of Detroit basketball star Dave DeBusschere. He will pitch effectively in 1962 and 1963 with the Chicago White Sox, but will gain much more notoriety as a key member of the New York Knicks' NBA championship teams of 1970 and 1973.
• 1963 - The New York Mets purchase veteran outfielder Duke Snider from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Snider, one of the most popular players in the New York City area, starred for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1957. The future Hall of Famer will hit 14 home runs for the Mets this year.
• 1969 - The Seattle Pilots trade little-known minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to the Kansas City Royals for two prospects. Piniella will hit .282 with 11 home runs and 68 RBI, good enough to win American League Rookie of the Year honors.
• 1970 - An ownership group headed by automobile dealer Bud Selig buys the Seattle Pilots for $10.8 million. Selig will immediately move the Pilots to Milwaukee, WI and rename the team the "Brewers." The Pilots lost $1 million during their lone season in Seattle, WA.
• 1982 - The New York Mets trade popular center fielder and teen idol Lee Mazzilli to the Texas Rangers for minor league pitchers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell. Darling will emerge as an important member of the Mets' starting rotation and a key contributor to their win in the 1986 World Series.
• 1985 - Today's issue of Sports Illustrated contains a fictitious article about a New York Mets pitching prospect named Sidd Finch, whose fastball has been timed at 168 miles per hour. Author George Plimpton offers bogus quotes from real-life members of the Mets, as well as several staged photos, and fools readers nationwide.
• 1987 - The Pittsburgh Pirates trade All-Star catcher Tony Peña to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for catcher Mike LaValliere, outfielder Andy Van Slyke, and pitcher Mike Dunne. Van Slyke will hit 21 home runs for the Pirates this year and emerge as a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder.
• 1988 - For the first time since 1956, the Special Veterans Committee does not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, Joe Gordon, and Gil Hodges are among the candidates passed over.
• 1996 - Longtime umpire John McSherry collapses and dies from a heart attack on Opening Day at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, in the 1st inning of a game between the Reds and Expos, which is cancelled. The 51-year-old McSherry had umpired in the National League for 26 seasons. Reds owner Marge Schott hits a low point with her insensitive remarks, blaming the late umpire for spoiling the team's opening day celebrations.
• 2008:
  • The New York Yankees set a major league record by winning their 11th straight home opener. Oddly, the record had been held by the 1945-1954 Pittsburgh Pirates, a club which lost 100 or more games three times in that period. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays, 3 - 2. Chien-Ming Wang allows two runs in 7 innings for the win over Roy Halladay.
  • The Independent South Coast League suspends its operations after only one season of play.
• 2009:
  • Alfredo Despaigne's consecutive homer streak, tying the Cuban record, is stopped at six games. Despaigne got hot right after returning from the 2009 World Baseball Classic, where he was the only Cuban starting outfielder left off the All-Tournament team.
  • Jorge Padrón becomes the 22nd player in Cuban Serie Nacional history to get six hits in a game, going 6 for 6 as his Pinar del Río club edges the Las Tunas Magos, 12 - 10.
• 2010:
  • It is Opening Day in the Italian Baseball League. Bologna starts the year by beating the Godo Knights, 4 - 0, behind the two-hit pitching of Jesus Matos and Victor Moreno. Jairo Ramos Gizzi goes 3 for 4 with two RBI to lead their offense. Godo's new import players are not sharp - Gary Burnham and Carlos Villalobos are a combined 0 for 7 while Robert Palencia takes the loss.
  • The Phillies are thin on the mound going into the season, as they place starter Joe Blanton on the disabled list, where he joins teammates and bullpen mainstays Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero.
  • The Rangers pick up 1B Ryan Garko on waivers from the Mariners while the Orioles pick up infielder Julio Lugo from the Cardinals
• 2011:
  • The Blue Jays open their season with an offensive outburst in beating the Twins, 13 - 3, before a sell-out crowd at the Rogers Centre. Rookie C J.P. Arencibia is the star, homering twice and adding a two-run triple on a 5-RBI night. Jose Bautista and Adam Lind also go deep as the Jays take a quick 10 - 0 lead against starter Carl Pavano and reliever Jeff Manship. Ricky Romero picks up the win in his first Opening Day start and John Farrell has his first win as a manager.
  • Marlins P Josh Johnson takes a no-hitter into the 7th inning, and C John Buck, in his first game for the team, hits a grand slam in Florida's 6 - 2 Opening Day win over the New York Mets. Logan Morrison also homers for the Fish, while Willie Harris breaks the no-no bid with a double to lead off the 7th.
  • Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez of the Mariners starts off his defense of the title with a complete game 6 - 2 win over the Athletics. He is the first pitcher in team history to throw a complete game on Opening Day. The evening does not start well for King Felix, who gives up a two-run homer to Josh Willingham in the 1st, but he then settles down, throwing six perfect innings in a row while the M's take the lead on Chone Figgins' solo shot against Craig Breslow in the 6th, matching his homer total from last season.
  • Cardinals OF Matt Holliday undergoes an emergency appendectomy in St. Louis, MO. The surgery goes well, and the Cardinals wait to put Holliday's name on the disabled list, hoping he can come back before the mandatory 15 days after going 3 for 4 with a homer in the team's opener yesterday.
  • Neil Walker hits the second Opening Day grand slam in Pittsburgh Pirates history, powering a shot out of Wrigley Field. It had been 49 years since Roberto Clemente had delivered a grand slam in an opener for the Bucs. Pittsburgh wins, 6 - 3, over the Cubs.
• 2012:
  • Indians P Ubaldo Jimenez starts a bench-clearing brawl when he plucks former teammate Troy Tulowitzki in the elbow in the 1st inning of a Cactus League game. The Rockies are convinced the gesture is intentional, as there is some bad blood between the two, dating back to Jimenez criticizing his former team for not offering him a long-term contract last year, and Tulowitzki replying through the media that "there's a certain point in this game where you go play and you shut your mouth." Tulowitzki is taken out of the game, but x-rays on his elbow are negative. For his part, Jimenez will receive a five-game suspension.
  • The Cardinals' Lance Berkman plays an April Fools prank on teammate Adam Wainwright. Before the 3rd inning of a Grapefruit League game, Wainwright's white Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck is driven on the warning track at Roger Dean Stadium as the public address announcer states that it will be given away to a lucky fan. A stunned Wainwright watches from the bench as the supposed prize winners, a father and his son, climb into the bed of the truck when it stops in front of the home dugout and Berkman, who is driving, pokes his head out of the window, waves to everyone, and drives away.
  • The Reds trade 3B Juan Francisco, once a top prospect but now out of minor league options, to the Braves­ in return for minor league P J.J. Hoover after he fails to make the team out of spring training.
• 2013:
  • For the first time since the New York Mets started play in 1962, both New York teams open the season at home on the same day. The Mets improve their Opening Day record to a major league best 34-18 by crushing the Padres, 11 - 2, behind the pitching of Jon Niese and a double and grand slam from new CF Collin Cowgill. Things aren't so good for the Yankees, who lose to the Red Sox, 8 - 2.
  • The legend of Bryce Harper keeps growing. He homers off Miami's Ricky Nolasco in his first two at-bats of the season and accounts for all of the Nationals' runs in a 2 - 0 Opening Day win at home. Harper, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, is the youngest player to homer twice on Opening Day. Stephen Strasburg gets the win, giving up three hits and no walks in seven innings.
  • Clayton Kershaw turns in a great all-around performance on Opening Day, pitching a four-hit shutout and homering off George Kontos in the 8th to break a scoreless tie as the Dodgers defeat the Giants, 4 - 0. Don Drysdale, back in 1965, was the last major league pitcher to pitch a shutout and homer on opening day, also for the Dodgers.
  • For the first time in major league history, an interleague contest is played on Opening Day, as the American League's Angels visit the National League Reds. The Angels win, 3 - 1, in 13 innings, after both starters, Jered Weaver and Johnny Cueto are dominant in the early going. Worse than the loss for the Reds is the dislocated shoulder suffered by LF Ryan Ludwick, sustained when he dives for a ball in the 3rd inning. With the Houston Astros moving to the AL this season, there is a necessity to play at least one interleague series at all times, as both leagues now number an odd 15 teams.

[edit] Births

• 1849 - John McMullin, outfielder (d. 1881)
• 1856 - Ed Kennedy, outfielder (d. 1905)
• 1857 - Dan Cronin, infielder/outfielder (d. 1885)
• 1858 - Fred Mann, outfielder (d. 1916)
• 1858 - John Russ, pitcher/outfielder (d. 1912)
• 1860 - Wes Curry, pitcher (d. 1933)
• 1876 - Bill Friel, infielder (d. 1959)
• 1883 - Ed Reichle, minor league player and manager (d. 1974)
• 1884 - Hugo Bezdek, manager (d. 1952)
• 1890 - George Young, pinch hitter (d. 1950)
• 1892 - Claude Cooper, outfielder (d. 1974)
• 1894 - Hal Reilly, outfielder (d. 1957)
• 1904 - Jack Cummings, catcher (d. 1962)
• 1910 - Shotaro Ogawa, writer; Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (d. 1980)
• 1911 - Bob Brown, pitcher (d. 1990)
• 1912 - Hachiro Maekawa, NPB pitcher (d. 2010)
• 1912 - Jake Wade, pitcher (d. 2006)
• 1913 - Buster Bray, outfielder (d. 1982)
• 1913 - Norman Robinson, Negro League outfielder (d. 1984)
• 1914 - George Bradley, outfielder (d. 1982)
• 1914 - Moe Franklin, infielder (d. 1978)
• 1915 - Skeeter Ebnet, minor league infielder (d. 1938)
• 1915 - Jeff Heath, outfielder; All-Star (d. 1975)
• 1916 - George Staller, outfielder (d. 1992)
• 1917 - Chet Ross, outfielder (d. 1989)
• 1919 - Willie Patterson, Negro League infielder (d. 2004)
• 1921 - Red Murff, pitcher (d. 2008)
• 1922 - Vern Hoscheit, coach; minor league manager (d. 2007)
• 1926 - Jake Thies, pitcher (d. 2013)
• 1929 - Bo Schembechler, executive (d. 2006)
• 1931 - Giulio Glorioso, Serie A1 pitcher
• 1934 - Rod Kanehl, infielder (d. 2004)
• 1934 - Jerry Nelson, minor league pitcher
• 1935 - Tom Qualters, pitcher
• 1936 - Ron Perranoski, pitcher
• 1936 - Ted Sadowski, pitcher (d. 1993)
• 1939 - Phil Niekro, pitcher; All-Star, Hall of Famer
• 1941 - Dick Kenworthy, infielder (d. 2010)
• 1942 - Jake Jaeckel, pitcher
• 1943 - Mike Degerick, pitcher
• 1944 - Rusty Staub, outfielder; All-Star
• 1948 - Willie Montanez, infielder; All-Star
• 1952 - Mike Bacsik, pitcher
• 1953 - Larry Murray, outfielder
• 1956 - Mark Esser, pitcher
• 1957 - Manny Castillo, infielder
• 1958 - Mike Kinnunen, pitcher
• 1962 - Rich Amaral, outfielder
• 1968 - Masumi Kuwata, pitcher
• 1969 - Frank Castillo, pitcher
• 1969 - Koichi Sekikawa, NPB catcher/outfielder
• 1970 - Matt Herges, pitcher
• 1971 - Jose Martinez, infielder
• 1976 - Arnošt Nesňal, Extraliga infielder and manager
• 1978 - Adolfo Matamoros, Serie A1 catcher
• 1980 - Yasser Gómez, Cuban leagues outfielder
• 1980 - Chun-Lin Chi, CPBL outfielder
• 1981 - Nielsen Abreu, minor league infielder
• 1981 - Luke Hagerty, minor league pitcher
• 1983 - John Axford, pitcher
• 1983 - Emilio Podreka, Austrian national team infielder
• 1983 - Will Rhymes, infielder
• 1984 - Sheng-Wei Wang, CPBL infielder
• 1984 - Anthony Wycklendt, minor league outfielder
• 1985 - Dan Murphy, outfielder
• 1986 - Eldrion Regina, Hoofdklasse outfielder
• 1988 - Christoffer Johansson, Elitserien outfielder
• 1989 - Kolbrin Vitek, minor league infielder
• 1989 - Chris Withrow, minor league pitcher
• 1992 - Arnošt Dubový, Extraliga outfielder
• 1993 - Milvio Andreozzi, Italian Baseball League pitcher
• 1994 - David Dahl, minor league outfielder

[edit] Deaths

• 1914 - Rube Waddell, pitcher; Hall of Famer (b. 1876)
• 1922 - Leech Maskrey, outfielder (b. 1854)
• 1922 - Harry Smith, catcher (b. 1890)
• 1926 - Al Martin, infielder/outfielder (b. 1847)
• 1927 - Harry Stein, catcher (b. 1869)
• 1928 - Marr Phillips, infielder (b. 1857)
• 1934 - Barney Gilligan, catcher (b. 1856)
• 1943 - Pat Deasley, catcher (b. 1857)
• 1946 - George Strief, infielder (b. 1856)
• 1947 - Mike Lynch, outfielder (b. 1875)
• 1948 - Heinie Jantzen, outfielder (b. 1890)
• 1949 - George Kircher, college coach (b. 1887)
• 1964 - Casey Hageman, pitcher (b. 1887)
• 1965 - Ernie Walker, outfielder (b. 1890)
• 1966 - John Sullivan, outfielder (b. 1890)
• 1968 - Tom Cantwell, pitcher (b. 1888)
• 1975 - Pete Bigler, pinch runner (b. 1892)
• 1983 - Calvin Chapman, infielder (b. 1910)
• 1991 - Frankie Gustine, infielder; All-Star (b. 1920)
• 1994 - Lou Dials, Negro League outfielder (b. 1904)
• 1996 - John McSherry, umpire (b. 1944)
• 1999 - Red Flaherty, umpire (b. 1917)
• 2001 - Jo-Jo Moore, outfielder; All-Star (b. 1908)
• 2006 - Bill Pierro, pitcher (b. 1926)
• 2007 - Herb Carneal, announcer (b. 1923)
• 2007 - Lou Limmer, infielder (b. 1925)
• 2011 - Lou Gorman, general manager (b. 1929)
• 2012 - Jerry Lynch, outfielder (b. 1930)
• 2013 - Bob Smith, pitcher (b. 1931)