Seven years after the team had threatened to strike because of the integration of baseball by Jackie Robinson, North Carolina A&T graduate Tom Alston becomes the first black player to appear in a Cardinals uniform. The highly-touted first baseman, acquired from the PCL’s San Diego club in exchange for veteran infielder Dick Sisler and $100,000, pops out to first base in his first major league at-bat.
The Pittsburgh Pirates open at home for the first time in 61 years and defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 – 2, before 32,294 spectators. Curt Roberts, the Pirates’ first black player, hits a triple against Robin Roberts in the 1st inning.
On Opening Day off Chicago hurler Paul Milner, Wally Moon hits a home run in his first major league at-bat. The 24 year-old Cardinal center fielder, who will be selected as the National League’s Rookie of the Year, will also homer in the last at-bat of his freshman season.
In Boston, Braves Field is renamed “BU Field” by its new owners, Boston University.
Cincinnati, in an effort to not be associated with Communists, plays its first game as the Redlegs. The new moniker, which is widely accepted, will be employed for six seasons, before the club reverts back to being known as the Reds, which was a shortened version of the Red Stockings, the team’s original name from 1882 to 1899.
Willie Mays, who missed nearly two seasons due to military service, homers in his first game back, a sixth-inning blast off Carl Erskine that will prove to be the difference in the Giants’ 4-3 Opening Day victory over Brooklyn. The 22 year-old center fielder’s prodigious poke may have traveled over 600 feet if it had not been impeded by the upper left-field stands at the Polo Grounds.
The Yankees trade two minor leaguers along with rookie right-hander Mel Wright to the Cardinals in exchange for 38 year-old right-fielder Enos Slaughter. The future Hall of Fame outfielder will hit only .239 in 79 games during his first tenure with the Bronx Bombers, but Bill Virdon, one of the prospects dealt to the Redbirds, will be named the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1956.
[adrotate banner=”32″] April 8, 1954 Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter was born in Culver City, California in 1954 to Jim Carter, an aircraft worker, and his wife, Inge. Athletic at a young age, Carter – along with four other boys – won the 7-year-old category of the first national Punt, Pass, and Kick skills…
Veteran pitcher Dave Koslo is purchased by the Baltimore Orioles from the New York Giants.
1954 – Chicago Cubs manager Phil Cavarretta gives team owner Phil Wrigley an honest assessment of the Cubs’ chances, and is fired for his defeatist attitude, becoming the first manager ever to be given the gate during spring training. Stan Hack replaces him. Cavarretta is right: the Cubs will drop to seventh place this year.
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