In a letter to American League team owners, Ban Johnson says that the rule requiring clubs to cut their players to 14 will not be enforced until May 20th.
On May 8, 1901, In their long-delayed American League home opener, Boston defeats Philadelphia’s Bill Bernhard, 12 – 4, behind Cy Young, who has jumped from the St. Louis Cardinals. Boston is led by Buck Freeman, who has a single, triple and homer. Young complains that he does not like the rule against pitchers warming up, but he will still lead the AL with his 1.62…
Fred Brown makes his major league debut, his first appearance of a brief nine-game career, all for the Boston Beaneaters over two seasons. The 22 year-old outfielder, who goes 4-for-20 at the plate without making an error in the field, will enjoy a far more extended career as a politician, winning a Senate seat as a Democrat in then-conservative New Hampshire 1932 after serving as the state’s governor.
After the Tigers take the lead in the top of the inning at Chicago’s South Side Park, the White Sox slow down the pace of the game in hopes the contest will be rained out. Umpire Tom Connolly is not impressed and forfeits the game, the first in American league history, giving Detroit a 7-5 victory.
Herm McFarland of the Chicago White Sox hits the first grand slam in American League history in a 19 – 9 victory over the Detroit Tigers. His teammate Dummy Hoy also hits a grand slam, in a contest which features Detroit committing 12 errors, 10 by the infield, to set another AL record, which Chicago will tie on May 6, 1903, against the Tigers.
At Chicago’s South Side Park, the Cleveland Blues (Indians) collect 23 singles as the team coasts to a 13-1 victory over the White Sox. Pale Hose hurler Bock Baker gives up all of the one-base hits, a major league record.
In the second game of the franchise’s history, Senator infielder Billy Clingman hits the team’s first home run. The 33 year-old switch-hitting shortstop blasts a two-run homer off A’s southpaw Wiley Piatt in the top of the fifth inning of Washington’s 11-5 victory over Philadelphia at Columbia Park.
After two days of rain at Philadelphia’s Columbia Park, 10,547 fans witness Connie Mack’s A’s making their American League debut, losing to the Senators, 5-1. In their inaugural season in the Junior Circuit, the Mackmen will finish in fourth place, compiling a 74-62 record.
On April 25, 1901, the Detroit Tigers make an incredible comeback in their American League debut. Down 13-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers score 10 runs in their last at-bat to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 14-13. Frank Dillon drives in the game-winning run with a double.
On April 24, 1901, the Chicago White Stockings and Cleveland Blues play the first game in the history of the American League. A crowd of over 10,000 fans attends the game in Chicago, where the White Stockings rout the Blues, 8-2.
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