On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hits the first of his 755 home runs in a 7-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Aaron’s milestone home run-a solo blast-comes against Cardinals right-hander Vic Raschi.
Giant reliever Hoyt Wilhelm homers in his first major league at-bat, a fourth-inning blast off Dick Hoover in the team’s 9-5 victory over Boston at the Polo Grounds. During the next 21 years, covering 1070 games and 432 official at-bats, the knuckle-balling future Hall of Fame hurler will never homer again.
Bob Cain of the St. Louis Browns and Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians each pitch one-hitters, with the Browns prevailing, 1 – 0. This ties a major league record for the fewest hits by two teams in a game (since broken). Bobby Young hits a triple in the 1st inning and scores on an Al Rosen error as the Browns move into first place. The Indians’ only hit is a single by Luke Easter. For Feller, it is the fourth time he’s tossed a one-hitter against the Browns.
At Braves Field, in the second of two games, the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies start the match in daylight and finish under the lights, a first in the majors. The Phillies win, 6 – 5. Johnny Sain hurls the Braves to a 4 – 3 victory in the opener.
On April 23, 1948, Chuck Connors makes his regular season debut with the Montreal Royals in their season opener in Newark it was less than glorious: he committed three errors and did not get any hits. Ultimately, he struck out in his professional sports career and shifted to acting. Westerns like Gunsmoke and Wagon Train…
Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitches a 5 – 0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. It is Head’s first appearance since his return from the military.
At Braves Field, Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves pitches a one-hit 6 – 0 shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Braves’ home opener. Philadelphia second baseman Ford Mullen gets the only hit in the 6th inning. In his previous start, Tobin lost a three-hitter to the New York Giants, 2 – 1, at the Polo Grounds.
On April 23, 1940, flooding of the Ohio River causes cancellation of today’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field. Weather forecasters predict that the flood’s waters will reach as high as eight feet at the ballpark. The next day’s game will also be postponed.
Rookie Ted Williams goes 4 for 5, including his first major-league home run, but the Boston Red Sox lose to the Philadelphia Athletics, 12 – 8, at Fenway Park.
In his first start of the season, Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants pitches a three-hit shutout against the Boston Bees. For Hubbell, it is his 17th straight win dating back to July 17, 1935.
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