April 10
From BR Bullpen
| Stats of players who were born this day | |
| Stats of players who died on this day | |
| Standings on this day | |
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| Today in Baseball History | |
Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 10.
[edit] Events
- 1913 - In a game which features U.S. President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the first pitch, the New York Highlanders become the New York Yankees. Playing their first game under their new nickname, the Yankees lose to the Washington Senators, 2 - 1, as future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson picks up the win for Washington. After giving up an unearned run in the first inning, Johnson begins a string of shutout innings that will reach a major league record 56 before the St. Louis Browns score in the fourth inning on May 14.
- 1947 - In one of the most significant moments history, Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player of the 20th century to sign a major league contract. Robinson agrees a one-year deal with the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose general manager, Branch Rickey, had personally recruited Robinson from the Negro Leagues.
- 1950 - Due to a salary dispute, St. Louis Browns pitcher Al Widmar quits team and threatens to sue baseball. Widmar will sign a contract within the week.
- 1959 - In Opening Day at Briggs Stadium, Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox goes 5-for-7 and hits a 14th-inning two-run unlikely home run off Don Mossi to beat the Detroit Tigers, 9 - 7. Fox did not homer in 623 at-bats the last season.
- 1961 - The new Washington Senators club play the first game in franchise history. With U.S. President John F. Kennedy in attendance, the Senators lose a 4 - 3 decision to the Chicago White Sox on Roy Sievers' sacrifice fly.
- 1962:
- Dodger Stadium, the first major league arena privately financed since Yankee Stadium in 1922-23, opens in Chavez Ravine. With 52,564 fans on hand, the Los Angeles Dodgers inaugurate the $22 million facility with a 6 - 3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
- At Colt Stadium, the Houston Colt .45s make their major league debut with an 11 - 2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Houston right fielder Roman Mejias hits a pair of three-run home runs before a crowd of 25,271 fans. Bobby Shantz pitches a complete-game five-hitter and Don Cardwell is the loser. The Colt .45s and New York Mets recently joined the National League as expansion teams.
- 1964 - Demolition begins on the Polo Grounds to clear the way for a housing project.
- 1969 - Tommie Agee of the New York Mets hits a monster shot into the upper deck in left field making it the longest home run to reach the seats in Shea Stadium history. Disc commemorating Agee's historic homer at Shea Stadium.
- 1971 - The Phillies debut in their new $49.5 million Veterans Stadium by beating Montreal 4 - 1. Don Money of the Phillies connects for the park's first home run.
- 1973 - The first game in the history of Royals Stadium is played. John Mayberry hits a home run in Kansas City's 12-1 rout of Texas. A crowd of 39,476 attends the game at the state-of-the-art ballpark, which features water fountains beyond the outfield fence.
- 1976 - Don Money hits a ninth-inning grand slam to give the Milwaukee Brewers an apparent 10 - 9 win over the New York Yankees. The umpires, however, rule that first baseman Chris Chambliss had called time out prior to the pitch. Money returns to the plate and flies out to right. The Brewers lose, 9 - 7.
- 1977 - At Fenway Park, the Cleveland Indians (13) and the Boston Red Sox (6) established a major league record for the most runs scored by both teams in one inning. The eighth inning barrage proves to be too much too much for Boston as Cleveland beats the home team, 19 - 9.
- 1979:
- Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck offers fans free admission to the next home game after his team's unimpressive debut on Opening Day. The White Sox' 10 - 2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays prompts the unusual action by Veeck.
- J.R. Richard sets a major-league record with six wild pitches, but he strikes out 13 Dodgers as the Astros win, 2 - 1.
- 1980 - In Opening Day at County Stadium, Sixto Lezcano hits a grand slam off Dick Drago with two outs in the ninth inning, to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 9-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Lezcano also opened the 1978 season with a grand slam, becoming the first player in major league history to do it twice on Opening Day.
- 1981 - In his first game for the Chicago White Sox, Carlton Fisk belts a three-run home run in the eighth inning to lead Chicago to a 5 - 3 victory over his former Red Sox teammates at Fenway Park.
- 1982:
- The New York Yankees trade hard-throwing reliever Ron Davis and minor leaguers Greg Gagne and Paul Boris to the Minnesota Twins for infielder Roy Smalley. The trade breaks up the Yankees' devastating bullpen combination of Davis and Goose Gossage.
- A crowd 62,443 fans show up with the game-time temperature 38 degrees with a wind chill of 17 to see the Cleveland Indians drop the season opener to the Texas Rangers, 8 - 3. Five hundred tons of snow had to be removed from the Cleveland Stadium field prior to the game.
- 1989:
- Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his first major league home run at Kingdome in Seattle's 6 - 5 win over the White Sox. Griffey and his father, Ken Sr., play in the outfield, becoming the first father-son duo to play in the major leagues at the same time.
- At Yankee Stadium, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dave Stieb throws a one-hitter, 8 - 0 shutout against New York, giving him three one hitters in his last four starts dating back to the previous September.
- 1990 - Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox is intentionally walked three times tying a major league mark for a nine-inning game.
- 1994 - Former NBA star Michael Jordan singles twice collecting his first hits in his professional baseball career while playing for the Birmingham Barons of the Class-AA Southern League.
- 1997 - The Chicago Cubs fall to 0-8, the worst start in the club's 122-year history, following a 1 - 0 loss to the Florida Marlins at frigid Wrigley Field. Florida pitcher Alex Fernandez, making his first appearance in Chicago since he left the White Sox over the winter as a free agent, is two outs away from a no-hitter when pinch-hitter Dave Hansen legs out an infield hit off the pitcher's glove. Fernandez settles for the one-hitter.
- 1998 - The New York Yankees draw the largest regular-season crowd ever at the new Yankee Stadium as 56,717 attend the home opener against the Oakland Athletics. Then the Yankees crush the club scoring mark by winning the 17-13 slugfest.
- 2000 - On his father's 50th birthday, Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the youngest player (30 years, 141 days) to hit 400 career home runs beating the previous mark set by Jimmie Foxx (30 years, 248 days old).
- 2003:
- By hitting his 31st career leadoff home run, Astros' outfielder Craig Biggio breaks Bobby Bonds' National League record. The major league mark of 80 belongs to Rickey Henderson.
- In a 7-6 victory over the Cardinals at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies turned the first triple play in club history. With Scott Rolen on second base and Tino Martinez on first, Colorado's first baseman Todd Helton catches Orlando Palmeiro's soft liner for the first out and throws to shortstop Jose Hernandez who steps on second for the second out and then tags Matinez to complete the feat.
- 2006:
- Jim Thome and Joe Crede hit two-run home runs and Paul Konerko added a solo shot, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 5 - 3 victory in the Detroit Tigers' home opener. Freddy Garcia struck out five and limited the Tigers to five hits in six innings en route to his 100th career victory.
- David Ortiz agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, a deal that will guarantee the slugger about $52 million. In 2005, Ortiz batted .300 with 148 RBI in 159 games, as his 47 home runs were second in Red Sox history to Jimmie Foxx's 50 in 1938.
- Howdy Groskloss, a former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder, celebrates his 100th birthday this week, making him the oldest living major league baseball player.
[edit] Births
- 1847 - George Keerl, infielder (d. 1923)
- 1862 - Ed Ford, infielder (d. 1931)
- 1868 - Tom Parrott, outfielder (d. 1932)
- 1879 - Tom Barry, pitcher (d. 1946)
- 1879 - Nick Kahl, infielder (d. 1959)
- 1880 - Cliff Blankenship, catcher (d. 1956)
- 1882 - Art Loudell, pitcher (d. 1961)
- 1883 - Tex Pruiett, pitcher (d. 1953)
- 1885 - Cliff Daringer, infielder (d. 1971)
- 1893 - Walter Ancker, pitcher (d. 1954)
- 1895 - Bob McGraw, pitcher (d. 1978)
- 1897 - Joe Price, outfielder (d. 1961)
- 1897 - Ross Youngs, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1927)
- 1898 - Tom Jenkins, outfielder (d. 1979)
- 1899 - Rudy Kneisch, pitcher (d. 1965)
- 1905 - Ed Strelecki, pitcher (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Cliff Bolton, catcher (d. 1979)
- 1908 - Bubba Hyde, Negro League outfielder (d. 2003)
- 1909 - Jim Spotts, catcher (d. 1964)
- 1911 - Roger Wolff, pitcher (d. 1994)
- 1913 - Lloyd Russell, pinch runner (d. 1968)
- 1918 - Ichiro Hara, NPB catcher (d. WWII)
- 1921 - Chuck Connors, infielder (d. 1992)
- 1925 - Pete Milne, outfielder (d. 1999)
- 1928 - Frankie Pack, pinch hitter (d. 2000)
- 1930 - Frank Lary, pitcher; All-Star
- 1934 - Wes Stock, pitcher
- 1934 - David Halberstam, author (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Joe Gibbon, pitcher
- 1937 - Fritz Ackley, pitcher (d. 2002)
- 1946 - Phil Hennigan, pitcher
- 1946 - Leroy Stanton, outfielder
- 1946 - Bob Watson, infielder; All-Star
- 1948 - Lee Lacy, outfielder
- 1949 - Tom Lundstedt, catcher
- 1949 - Pete Varney, catcher
- 1950 - Ken Griffey, outfielder; All-Star
- 1954 - Hector Eduardo, minor league pitcher
- 1961 - Bill Gayton, scout
- 1962 - Katsumi Hirosawa, Olympian; NPB slugger
- 1963 - Mike Devereaux, outfielder
- 1963 - Marvin Freeman, pitcher
- 1963 - Jeff Gray, pitcher
- 1964 - Eric King, pitcher
- 1965 - Bruce Egloff, pitcher
- 1967 - Mike Humphreys, outfielder
- 1968 - Jong-Hun Jang, infielder; KBO home run leader
- 1970 - Rob Butler, outfielder
- 1971 - Al Reyes, pitcher
- 1972 - Shayne Bennett, pitcher
- 1972 - Takanori Suzuki, NPB outfielder
- 1975 - Mike Lincoln, pitcher
- 1976 - Norihiro Akahoshi, NPB outfielder
- 1982 - Andre Ethier, outfielder
- 1982 - Colt Morton, catcher
- 1982 - Chris Dickerson, minor league outfielder
- 1990 - Lesther Galván, minor league outfielder
[edit] Deaths
- 1882 - William Hulbert Hall of Famer (b. 1832)
- 1888 - Denny Mack, infielder, manager (b. 1851)
- 1901 - John Hiland, infielder (b. 1860)
- 1908 - Mike Griffin, outfielder, manager (b. 1865)
- 1918 - Owen Shannon, catcher (b. 1879)
- 1923 - Jay Faatz, infielder, manager (b. 1860)
- 1923 - Jim Gill, infielder/outfielder (b. 1866)
- 1931 - Mickey Hughes, pitcher (b. 1866)
- 1932 - Fred Pfeffer, infielder, manager (b. 1860)
- 1934 - Bill Hunter, outfielder (b. 1887)
- 1935 - Pat Hartnett, infielder (b. 1863)
- 1940 - Tom Seaton, pitcher (b. 1887)
- 1955 - Curt Bernard, outfielder (b. 1878)
- 1956 - Ginger Beaumont, outfielder (b. 1876)
- 1956 - Bill Brady, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1958 - Hod Leverette, pitcher (b. 1889)
- 1961 - Jim Kelly, outfielder (b. 1884)
- 1962 - Milt Watson, pitcher (b. 1890)
- 1963 - Jim Wright, pitcher (b. 1900)
- 1964 - Chief Yellowhorse, pitcher (b. 1898)
- 1980 - Hal Sayles, minor league executive (b. 1911)
- 1982 - Alonzo Boone, Negro League pitcher and manager (b. 1908)
- 1983 - Chet Johnson, pitcher (b. 1917)
- 1984 - Karl Spooner, pitcher (b. 1931)
- 1985 - Yoshio Tanaka, NPB catcher and manager (b. 1907)
- 1986 - Luther Harvel, outfielder (b. 1905)
- 1991 - Sammy Holbrook, catcher (b. 1910)
- 1995 - Billy Myers, infielder (b. 1910)
- 2007 - Dick Kryhoski, infielder (b. 1925)
