Elston Howard, who will be named the American League’s MVP in 1963, becomes the first black to play for the Yankees. The former Monarchs’ catcher will appear in nine All-Star Games and 54 World Series games, compiling a .274 batting average during his 14-year playing career.
In their first game ever played in Milwaukee, the transplanted Braves beat the Cardinals at County Stadium, 3-2, thanks to Billy Bruton’s walkoff home run off Gerry Staley in the tenth inning. The 27 year-old rookie centerfielder will not hit another home run this season.
Bob Lemon almost throws an Opening Day no-hitter against the White Sox, but the attempt is spoiled by Minnie Minoso’s first inning single. The Indians’ hurler almost loses his shutout when fleet footed outfielder Jim Rivera walks, steals second, and goes to third on a grounder, but is thrown out trying to steal home.
Fitton Field, Worcester, MA, April 14, 1939 – Red Sox rookie Ted William’s first at-bat in the state of Massachusetts is in an exhibition game against Holy Cross, and the tall lanky 20-year-old showed why the expectations for him are so high by hitting a grand slam in his first at bat…
At Sportsman’s Park, Eddie Morgan, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the Cardinals’ 12-7 loss to Chicago, hits a home run in his first major league first at-bat. The round-tripper will be the 21 year-old rookie’s only career homer during his brief stint with St. Louis and Brooklyn.
1931 – At Braves Field, Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Robins becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game. The 47-year-old Pennsylvanian gets tagged with the lost as the Boston Braves beats Brooklyn, 7 – 4.
President Herbert Hoover, continuing the tradition started by William Taft in 1910, throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox edge the hometown Senators, 4-3. The Chief Executive, who is historically thought to be a southpaw, will do the honors right-handed six times during his one term in the White House, all four Opening Days at Washington’s Griffith Stadium and two World Series games played at Shibe Park in the 1929 and 1930 Fall Classics.
In the first regular-season Chicago Cubs game to be broadcast on the radio, Quin Ryan announces the contest from the grandstand roof for WGN. Grover Alexander wins for the Cubs, 8 – 2, over the Pirates and helps himself with a single, double, and home run.
The Cleveland Indians open the season with a 21 – 14 victory over the St. Louis Browns. The Indians score 12 runs in the 8th inning when the Browns make five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler has four errors in the game, and the Indians’ 21 runs set a major league record for the most runs scored by one club on Opening Day.
Two future Hall of Famers make their major league debuts with the Philadelphia Athletics in the same game. Lefty Grove starts against the Boston Red Sox and leaves in the 4th inning after walking four and striking out nobody. He gives up five runs on six hits. In the 8th inning, Mickey Cochrane pinch-hits a single, while the Athletics go on to score nine runs in the last four innings to win, 9 – 8, in ten innings. Grove, known as Groves in Baltimore, is also listed that way in the New York Times box score. Grove will become the first pitcher to lead the American League in strikeouts and walks in the same year.
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