This Weekend in Baseball History
April 16th, 2000: Chuck Finley of the Indians strikes out four batters in the same inning for a record third time in his career. Facing the Rangers at Jacobs Field, he gets Tom Evans, Royce Clayton, Chad Curtis (who takes first base on a passed ball) and Rafael Palmeiro in the 3rd inning. But Texas took a 1-0 lead that inning when Ivan Rodriguez drove in Luis Alicea, and held it until the bottom of the 9th, when Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome hit back-to-back home runs to bring the Tribe from behind for a 2-1 win.
April 16th, 1984: Dave Kingman blasts three home runs, including the 16th grand slam of his career, as the A's outscore the Mariners 9-6 at the Kingdome. It's Kingman's fifth three homer game of his career.
April 16th, 1978: Bob Forsch of the Cardinals no-hits the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Ken Reitz singles in the first run in the 5-0 St. Louis victory, while ex-Phil Roger Freed breaks the game open with a bases-loaded double in the 6th.
April 16th, 1972: Burt Hooten, in just the fourth game of his career, fires a 5-0 no-hitter over the Phillies at Wrigley Field.
April 16th, 1969: Sal Bando hits the A's first grand slam since the franchise moved to Oakland. The 3rd baseman connects off George Brunet in a 6-1 victory over the Angels.
April 16th, 1957: The Phillies unveil a statue of longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager and owner Connie Mack near the ballpark that was renamed in his honor. It was later relocated to Veterans Stadium and currently stands outside Citizens Bank Park.
April 16th, 1967: The Yankees and Red Sox play an 18-inning marathon in the Bronx. Joe Pepitone finally settles things, singling in Jake Gibbs with the deciding run and a 7-6 Yankee win.
April 16th, 1940: Bob Feller throws what's still the only Opening Day no hitter in baseball history. The Indians ace strikes out eight as he dominates the Indians in a 1-0 victory at Comiskey Park.
April 16th, 1935: It's New York versus Boston in a pair of Opening Day games. Babe Ruth makes his National League debut at Braves Field and gets a single and home run (the 709th of his career) off fellow future Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell in a 4-2 win over the Giants. Back in the Bronx, George Selkirk is the Yankees new right fielder, and singles in three times at bat. But Lou Gehrig's double is the only other Yankee hit, as they're shut out by Wes Farrell and the Red Sox, 1-0.
April 17th, 1975: Ted Simmons homers from both sides of the plate. Hitting righthanded, he connects off Jerry Koosman; later, connecting against lefty against Rick Baldwin. But they're not enough to offset a four-RBI game from ex-Cardinal Jack Heideman in a 14-7 Mets victory.
April 17th, 1964: The Mets open their brand new home, Shea Stadium, but lose 4-3 to the Pirates. Bob Friend outpitches Jack Fisher, while Willie Stargell crushes the park's first home run in the top of the 2nd. Other Shea firsts: Pirate leadoff man Dick Schofield was the first batter; Tim Harkness was the first Met to hit (he grounded out). Jesse Gonder singled in Ron Hunt for the Mets' first run at Shea.
April 17th, 1953: Mickey Mantle hits the longest home run of his career, a 565-foot rocket off the Senators' Chuck Stubbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Yankees won the game 7-3.
April 17th, 1951: Mickey Mantle makes his Yankee debut and goes 1 for 4 in the 5-0 win over the Red Sox. The Oklahoma native's first career hit was a run-scoring single off Boston lefthander Bill Wight in the 6th inning. The game also marked the debut of another Bronx baseball legend -- Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard.
April 18th, 2006: Pedro Martinez notches his 200th career victory, working the first 6-2/3 innings in the Mets 4-3 Shea Stadium victory over the Braves.
April 18th, 1991: The first game at the New Comiskey Park doesn't go as planned for the White Sox. The Tigers posted a football score, blanking the Sox 16 - 0. Cecil Fielder had the park's first home run (off Jack McDowell). Rob Deer and Tony Phillips also cleared the fences.
April 18th, 1987: Mike Schmidt's 500th career home run is a game winner. His three-run blast with two out in the top of the 9th brings the Phils from behind for an 8-6 win over the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.
April 18th, 1958: In the first major league game at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Dodgers defeat their longtime rivals and fellow transplants, the San Francisco Giants 6-5. Starting pitcher Carl Erksine earns the win, and Clem Labine the save. A few "famous firsts": the Giants' Jim Davenport was the first batter, and led off the game with a single. Teammate Daryl Spencer had the first RBI and Hank Sauer belted the game's (and Coliseum's) first home run.
April 18th, 1950: Vin Scully, age 22, called his first game as the Dodgers visit the Phillies at Shibe Park. It was hardly a memorable day for defending NL champs. Don Newcombe didn't make it out of the 2nd inning in a 9-1 loss. Scully went on to call games during 12 presidential administrations -- from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. (Ironically, Scully's mentor Red Barber, made his Dodger broadcast debut 11 years earlier on the same date.)
April 18th, 1929: The Yankees introduce numbers on the backs of their uniforms. Corresponding to the batting order, leadoff hitter Earle Combs wears number-one; Mark Koenig followed, at two; Babe Ruth, hitting third, dons three and cleanup hitter Lou Gehrig follows, wearing four. And while 7 would become synonymous with Mickey Mantle in the '50s and '60s, the first to wear the number is shortstop -- and later Hall of Fame manager -- Leo Durocher. An exception: starting pitcher George Pipgras is 14.
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