April 20

From BR Bullpen


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Stats of players who were born this day
Stats of players who died on this day
Standings on this day
Permanent link to Today's Entry
Sources
Baseball Library Chronology
Today in Baseball History

Events, births and deaths that occurred on April 20.

[edit] Events

1903 - On Opening Day, before 8,376 fans at Huntington Ave Baseball Grounds, the Americans defeat the Philadelphia Athletics in the morning game of Patriot's Day twin bill, 9 - 4. Connie Mack's Athletics win the matinee match-up featuring two future Hall of Fame pitchers, 10 - 7, as 27,658 spectators enjoy watching starters Eddie Plank and Cy Young oppose one another.
1908 - Henry Chadwick dies at age 83 in Brooklyn, New York. A sportswriter and historian, Chadwick was one of the prime movers in the rise of baseball to its unprecedented popularity at the turn of the 20th century. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1938.
1910 - Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps pitches his second career no-hitter. A busy Joss helps himself by recording 10 fielding assists during the 1 - 0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
1912 - The Boston Red Sox play the first game in the history of Fenway Park. The Red Sox open up with an 11-inning, 7 - 6 victory over the New York Highlanders, the predecessors to Boston's arch-rival, the New York Yankees. Tris Speaker delivers the game-winning RBI before a crowd of 27,000 fans. Minutes later, the Detroit Tigers christen their Navin Field with a 6 - 5 win over the Cleveland Indians.
1914 - The 25-player limit is suspended in the American and National leagues. With uncertainty over who has signed with what teams, it is almost impossible to know how many players may be on the roster at any one time.
1916 - The Chicago Cubs play their first game in the newly built Federal League Weeghman Park, which will be renamed Wrigley Field in 1926. The stadium, minus the upper deck added later, seats 14,000, but 20,000 fans are on hand. Greeting fans on the Addison Street side is JOA, a bear cub owned by Cub's (partial) owner J. Ogden Armour. Everyone goes home happy as Vic Saier's 11th inning sacrifice fly gives the Cubs a 7 - 6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1920 - Manager Gavvy Cravath of the Philadelphia Phillies inserted himself as a pinch hitter and beat the New York Giants with a three-run home run, 3 - 0. It was his last HR in the majors.
1932 - The New York Yankees draw the largest paid attendance, 55,452, for any Yankee Stadium opener. Babe Ruth homers, as Lefty Gomez beats Lefty Grove in the 8 - 3 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
1933:
- Chicago White Sox outfielder Al Simmons makes an unassisted double play against the St. Louis Browns.
- At the Polo Grounds V, umpire Charlie Pfirman officiates in his 1,700th consecutive National League game, as Carl Hubbell lead the New York Giants to a 1 - 0 victory over Fred Frankhouse the Boston Braves.
1937 - Gee Walker hit for the cycle on Opening Day to lead the Tigers to a 4 - 3 victory over Cleveland. Walker hit the cycle in reverse order: home run, triple, double, single.
1938 - Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians pitched the first of 12 career one-hitters, beating the St. Louis Browns, 9 - 0.
1939 - The Boston Red Sox show off their prize rookie Ted Williams before 30,278 in the opener at Yankee Stadium, delayed two days because of rain. After striking out twice, Williams collects a double off New York Yankees pitcher Red Ruffing, who wins 2 - 0. Lou Gehrig makes an error, goes hitless, and lines into two double plays in the only game featuring the two great sluggers. Other notables in what will become a historic box score include Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Red Rolfe, and losing pitcher Lefty Grove. New York score their first run on a home run by Dickey and their second tally on an error by Foxx. Boston has baserunners in each inning, but Ruffing tosses just the second opening day shut out in Yankees history. Four umpires work the game including third base ump George Pipgras, the starting pitcher for the Yankees in the 1929 opener against Boston. Curiously, his opponent for that day was Ruffing.
1941:
- The Brooklyn Dodgers become the first major league team to wear protective headgear. Each player's cap features a special plastic lining designed to fend off the effects of beanballs. It is a cautious response to the numerous beanball wars of 1940 that hospitalized Joe Medwick and Billy Jurges, between others. The liners in the caps are thin enough to be hardly noticeable, but most najor league players disdain the protection.
- A syndicate of 12 Bostonians buys 73 percent of the Braves, formerly the Bees, for $350,000 from the Charles F. Adams estate.
1943:
- The season starts, two weeks later than customary. Stalwarts such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Enos Slaughter and Johnny Mize are gone, among some 60 players who could have been classified as regulars in the 1942 season.
- Embattled Boston Braves manager Casey Stengel is struck by a taxicab, fractures a leg, and will miss much of the season. The cabdriver is nominated Sportsman of the Year in Boston by a local newspaper for knocking Stengel from action for most of the season, weary of Stengel's humor in the face of the Braves' pitiful record.
1944 - Elmer Gedeon becomes the first major league player to lose his life serving in World War II. The 26-year-old Gedeon, who played briefly as an outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1939, dies when his plane is shot down over St. Pol, France. Gedeon served in the Army Air Corps.
1946 - In their Opening Game at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs are shut out by Harry Brecheen of the St. Louis Cardinals, 2 - 0. The game is the first to be televised in Cubs history, as Bert Wilson does the play-by-play for WBKB.
1949 - Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Willie Jones hits four consecutive doubles, tying a National League mark with Dick Bartell (1933) and Ernie Lombardi (1935).
1951 - The Philadelphia Athletics win their first game at Fenway Park since September 12, 1948, beating Mel Parnell and the Boston Red Sox, 6 - 3. Making it sweeter is besting Parnell, winner of 10 straight over Philadelphia. The Athletics break a 3 - 3 tie in the eigth inning with three runs to make Alex Kellner the winner, just the third left-handed pitcher since 1948 to go the distance in Fenway.
1966 - At Shibe Park, Hank Aaron hits his 399th and 400th home runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to a victory, 8 - 1, over the Philadelphia Phillies. The first shot is off starter Ray Culp in the first inning, and number 400 comes in the ninth, off Bo Belinsky.
1967 - Tom Seaver of the New York Mets recorded his first major league victory with a 6 - 1 triumph over the Chicago Cubs. Seaver went 7 2-3 innings and gave up eight hits and one run.
1968 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Jon Warden, the last man to make the team in spring training, makes his third appearance, and wins for the third time in relief, as Detroit beats the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in 10 innings, 4 - 1. Due to a torn rotator cuff injury after being selected by the Royals in the expansion draft, the rookie sensation, who will be the only Tiger not to appear in the World Series, will pitch only one season finishing with a 4-1 record and a 3.62 ERA.
1973 - Four months after his death, Pittsburgh Pirates great Roberto Clemente is inducted into the Hall of Fame in a special election.
1982 - The Atlanta Braves recorded their 12th consecutive victory from the beginning of the season, a 4 - 2 decision over the Cincinnati Reds at Fulton County Stadium. The Braves eclipsed the major league record set a year earlier by the Oakland Athletics.
1983 - George Brett belts three home runs, the last a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning, and drives in seven runs to lead the Royals to an 8 - 7 victory over Detroit.
1985 - In South Meriden, Connecticut Little League action, Matt Panetta's timely hitting and outstanding defensive play helps Katz defeat MIC, 6 - 2. The 11-year old is awarded the game ball as a result of his efforts.
1986:
- San Francisco's Vida Blue of the San Francisco Giants wins his 200th career game, combining with Jeff Robinson to shut out the Padres 4 - 0.
- At Wrigley Field, the Pirates and Cubs go 13 innings and end 8 - 8 as darkness calls the game. It will be finished August 11.
1987 - The Milwaukee Brewers win their 13th consecutive game to start the season, matching the Atlanta Braves of 1982 for the best start in major league history. Robin Yount drives in the game-winning run in the seventh inning, as the Brewers defeat the Chicago White Sox, 5 - 4.
1988 - Claudell Washington hits the 10,000th home run in New York Yankees history in a 7 - 6 victory over the Twins at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
1988 - The Baltimore Orioles set a major league record by losing their 14th consecutive game to start the season. An 8 - 6 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers pushes the Orioles past the 1904 Senators and the 1920 Detroit Tigers for the worst start in major league history.
1990 - Brian Holman of the Seattle Mariners lost his bid for the major league 13th perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on Ken Phelps' pinch-hit home run in the Mariners' 6-1 victory over the against the Oakland Athletics.
1995:
- The Pittsburgh Pirates release Tim Wakefield, who posted a 8-1 record in 1993 and was named the National League rookie pitcher of the season. The knuckleballer started the 1994 opener, but spent most of the season with the Buffalo of the International League, going 5-15, and was shelled in his only start this spring. Wakefield will be picked up by the Boston Red Sox.
- Relief pitcher Jeff Reardon announces his retirement. His 367 career saves ranks him second on the all-time list.
- Peter O'Malley donates the Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 World Championship banner to the borough in which it was won, saying, "The flag belongs in Brooklyn."
1997:
- The Chicago Cubs stopped their season-opening losing streak at 14 games, rallying in the sixth inning to beat the New York Mets, 4 - 3, in the second game of a doubleheader. The Mets won the opener 8-2. Chicago's 0-14 start set a National League record and was the second worst behind the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who began 0-21.
- Mark McGwire becomes the fourth major leaguer to hit a home run over the left field roof at Tiger Stadium. The Athletics first baseman joins Harmon Killebrew (1962), Frank Howard (1968), and Cecil Fielder (1990) as the only players to accomplish the feat.
1999:
- Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott agrees to sell her controlling interest in the Reds to a group headed by Carl H. Lindner, ending her 14 - year tenure. The group will pay a total of $67 million.
- The Nolan Ryan Museum opens in Alvin, TX.
2001:
- Carlos Delgado of the Toronto Blue Jays hit three home runs for the second time this season, as Toronto beat the Kansas City Royals, 12 - 4. On two of the homers, Delgado combines with Raúl Mondesi to go back-to-back, the first time in a season that teammates have twice gone back-to-back in the same game.
- A new musical, The Curse of the Bambino, opens in Boston. Written by David Kruh with music and lyrics by Stephen Bergman, the comedy is staged as a Greek tragedy complete with a Greek chorus composed of four fans.
2006:
- Julio Franco, at 47 years 240 days old, became the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run. At Petco Park, Franco connected for a two-run, pinch-hit shot off Scott Linebrink that launched the Mets' six-run eighth inning and propelled them to a 7 - 2 comeback victory against the Padres. That gave Franco the spot in the record book that had been belonged to Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit homer and have a multihomer game. He also has four career pinch-hit homers. Kazuo Matsui hit another notable homer for the Mets early at the game. His inside-the-park home run leading off the third inning made this the third consecutive year he's homered in his first at-bat of the season. The last player to do that was Ken Griffey, Jr. from 1997-99, while with Seattle, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
- Nick Johnson belted a pair of home runs in leading the Washington Nationals to a 10 - 4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, giving manager Frank Robinson his 1,000th career victory.
2008 - The Blue Jays release former superstar Frank Thomas, who had 516 major league home runs and a 979 career OPS to his name. A five-time All-Star and two-time MVP, Thomas had gotten into conflict with manager John Gibbons, who had benched him. Thomas was 12th all-time in MLB in OPS, 9th in walks and 18th in home runs. It is the third major player-manager conflict for Gibbons in his time with Toronto.