In With the New

A pair of notable ballparks saw their first regular season action on April 9th.


 1962: President John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball at the new District of Columbia Stadium. Despite rain, a record Washington crowd of 42,143 shows up to see Bennie Daniels stop Detroit with a 5-hit, 4-1 win in the new park. This is a switch for Daniels, who had lost the last games played at both Ebbets Field, in 1957, and DC's old ballpark, Griffith Stadium, last year.

Over its history, Washington's multi-purpose stadium staged 13 seasons of baseball -- neither the Senators nor Nats ever made the post-season and only the '69 Senators (managed by Ted Williams) ever finished above .500.

I twice visited the park that was later renamed for RFK: back in the '80s for an Orioles exhibition game on the Sunday before the regular season opened. I returned in 2007 for a Nationals/Mets game.


1913: The Phillies and pitcher Tom Seaton spoiled the opening game fun for Dodgers fans at Ebbets Field. The knuckleballing righty threw a six hit shutout, striking out seven and walking only one -- his first of 27 wins that season). Otto Knabe score the game's only run in the top of the 1st, racing home from 2nd when Brooklyn right fielder Benny Meyer dropped what appeared to be a catchable fly ball. The weather was as mediocre as the score: cold weather held down the crowd to around 10,000.


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