BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1969 Bill Singer becomes the first major league reliever to officially record for a save, a new stat that will be kept starting this season, in the Dodgers' 3-2 win over Cincinnati in the season-opener at Crosley Field. The 'Singer Throwing Machine' does not allow a hit, hurling three scoreless innings en route to saving Don Drysdale's victory

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1969 After throwing just two pitches to start the season, Don Drysdale finds himself and his team trailing by two runs when Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan hit back-to-back homers. The 32-year-old right-hander settles down, and the Dodgers come back to win the Crosley Field contest, 3-2.

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1969 At Washington's RFK Stadium, Ted Williams makes his managerial debut in front of President Nixon and a crowd of 45,113, a franchise attendance record for Opening Day. The Commander-in-Chief throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees' 8-4 defeat of the 'Splendid Splinter's' Senators.

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1970 The team formerly known as the Seattle Pilots plays their first home game in Milwaukee as the Brewers in front of 36,107 enthusiastic fans at County Stadium. Behind Andy Messersmith's four-hit complete game, the Angels rout the transplanted Brew Crew, 12-0.

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1970 After eight consecutive Opening Day defeats, the Mets finally win the first game of the season by beating the Pirates at Forbes Field in 11 innings, 5-3. New York becomes the first team to have won a World Series (1969) before prevailing in a season debut.

 

1973 The Indians break their Opening Day American League attendance record when a crowd of 74,420 watches Gaylord Perry go the distance in the team’s 2-1 victory over the Tigers at Cleveland Stadium. The Tribe had set the previous mark in the 1948 season opener against the Browns.

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1976 The Reds trade utility player Terry Crowley to the Braves in exchange for Mike Thompson, who will never throw another pitch in the major leagues. After appearing in just seven games, Crowley, who Atlanta will release, returns to the Orioles, the team that drafted him, playing seven more seasons in Baltimore as a DH/1B, before finishing his career with Montreal.

1977 Frank Sinatra keeps his promise to Tommy Lasorda by singing the Star-Spangled Banner on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. 'Old Blue Eyes' had told the team's new skipper he would perform the National Anthem if his friend ever became the L.A. manager.

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1977 Gary Thomasson starts the game by blasting the first pitch in the Dodgers' opener for a home run off Don Sutton, who had deliberately thrown a gopher ball. Unbeknownst to the Giants' leadoff hitter, the ball, scheduled to be sent to Cooperstown, was to be taken for a pitch and then handed to the home plate umpire to take it out of play.

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1977 In his first major league at-bat, Al Wood becomes the first player to pinch-hit a home run on Opening Day. The round-tripper contributes to the Blue Jays' 9-5 win over the White Sox, giving the team its first victory in franchise history.

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1977 After a lengthy snow delay on Opening Day at Exhibition Stadium, Doug Ault, acquired in the expansion draft, hits two home runs in his first two at-bats in a Blue Jay uniform. The rookie first baseman's pair of round-trippers, the first two of only the 17 he will hit during his four-year big league career, helps Toronto beat Chicago, 9-5, giving the franchise a victory in the first game it plays in its history.

1979 Ken Forsch, who almost didn't make the start due to swelling in his right arm caused by an insect bite, holds the Braves hitless, throwing the earliest no-hitter in baseball history. The Astros hurler's no-no makes the Forsch brothers the first siblings to accomplish the feat, with Bob, as a member of the Cardinals, throwing a no-hitter against the Phillies last season.

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1984 On NBC's nationally televised Game of the Week, Detroit right-hander Jack Morris throws a no-hitter, blanking the White Sox at Comiskey Park, 4-0. The 29 -year-old becomes the first Tiger hurler to accomplish the feat since Jim Bunning held Boston hitless at Fenway Park in 1958.

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1984 Dwight Gooden gives up three hits and one run in five innings in his major league debut, earning the victory when the Mets beat Houston, 5-3. The 19-year-old rookie right-hander, anxious to get to the Astrodome before his start, arrives so early that he had to jump a fence to gain entry into the closed ballpark.

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1986 Boston outfielder Dwight Evans becomes the first player to hit the first pitch of the season for a home run when he goes deep on Opening Day. Jack Morris throws the gopher ball but gets the win when Detroit edges the Red Sox at Tiger Stadium, 6-5.

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1986 Tom Seaver, extending his major league record, makes his 16th Opening Day start when he gets the honor for the second time with the White Sox. The 41-year-old future Hall of Fame right-hander has also pitched the first game of the season for the Mets (11) and Reds (3).

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1987 Rick Mahler blanks the Phillies, 6-0, for his third Opening Day shutout. The Braves' right-hander ties a National League record with his trio of whitewashes, shared by Rip Sewell (Pirates, 1943, 1947, 1949) and Chris Short (Phillies - 1965, 1968, 1970).

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1988 Chris Sabo ties a major league record in his second big-league game, handling eleven assists at third base in the Reds' 8-1 victory over the Cardinals at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati freshman infielder will beat out Chicago's Mark Grace for Rookie of the Year this season.

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1993 The Phillies sweep the season's opening series against Houston with a ten-inning 6-3 victory at the Astrodome. The comeback victory, which will become a trademark of the eventual National League champs, marks the first time the franchise had won its first three away games since 1915, when Pat Moran's men won their first six games on the road, playing in Boston and New York.

1997 The Brewers' home opener has two lengthy delays as the ground crew needs to clear baseballs thrown by fans from the playing field. The promotion marks the last time the team will give away souvenir baseballs.

1999 Bob Cranmer, chairman of the Allegheny County Commissioners, announces the Sixth Street Bridge, which joins downtown Pittsburgh to the North Side at Federal Street by crossing the Allegheny River, will now be known as the Roberto Clemente Bridge. During home games at PNC Park, the 995-foot suspension bridge, constructed in 1928, will serve as a pedestrian walkway, allowing Pirates fans to enter the new ballpark directly from the span.

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2000 In 15 games, a record total of 57 home runs is hit in the major leagues - two more than the August 13th, 1999 mark established in 17 games. The 36 American League homers set the one-day record, surpassing the previous mark by six.

2000 Houston hosts a regular-season game outdoors at home for the first time since 1964 when the team played in Colt Stadium as the .45s, losing the Enron Field debut to the Phillies, 4-1. The 19th-century replica locomotive atop the left-field wall makes its maiden voyage when Richard Hidalgo hits the Astros' first home run in their new ballpark.

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2000 Berley W. Visgar is sentenced to 90 days in jail and fined $1,000 by Circuit Judge Michael Brennan for jumping onto the back of Astros' outfielder Bill Spiers last season after going onto the field at County Stadium. Although the 23-year-old has no prior criminal record, the judge believes the harsh sentence will discourage other fans from similar actions in the future.

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2000 In a ceremony before the team's home opener, the Devil Rays retire Wade Boggs' uniform number 12. Although the former Red Sox and Yankees infielder spent only two years with Tampa Bay, he hit the first home run in franchise history and collected his 3000th hit with the team.

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2002 ESPN becomes the first network to ask players, coaches, and umpires to wear a microphone during a game. During the nationally televised Sunday night contest, the innovative concept starts with micing A's catcher Ramon Hernandez during a 6-5 Oakland victory over Seattle at Safeco Field.

2003 With the team exercising Pedro Martinez's option for the 2004 season seven months before a November deadline, the Red Sox make the Dominican hurler the highest-paid pitcher for a season in major league history. The 31-year-old three-time Cy Young winner will earn $17.5 million playing for Boston next year.

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2004 At the main entrance of their fields in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, the Soo Minor Baseball Association unveils the world's largest baseball. The 8,620-pound ( 3,910 kg) double-walled steel sphere with a diameter of ten feet ( 3.0 m) is proportional to the bat at the Louisville Bat Company in Kentucky, being almost 2000 times larger than a real baseball.

2004 Adam LaRoche collects the first two hits of his career in one inning. En route to an 18-10 win over the Mets, the rookie first baseman singles and doubles during the Braves' thirty-three minute, 11-run fourth inning.

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2006 The Mets beat Washington at Shea Stadium, 10-5, in the 7,000th game in franchise history. The Amazins' have compiled a 3,314-3,678 record (.474) and eight ties during their 42 years of existence.

2009 Ninety-seven years after his grandfather, Boston mayor 'Honey Fitz' Fitzgerald, threw the first pitch at the first major league game played at Fenway Park, Ted Kennedy tosses the ceremonial first pitch for the Red Sox at a season opener. The sellout crowd enthusiastically cheers the 77-year-old long-time U.S. Senator, diagnosed last spring with a malignant brain tumor, when he tosses the ball from in front of the mound to a nearby Jim Rice, a newly elected member of the Hall of Fame.

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2010 According to its annual report, Forbes Magazine estimates the Yankees' value to be worth approximately $1.6 billion, nearly twice as much as any other major league franchise. The World Champs, who moved into a new ballpark last season, made $441 million in net revenue after adjustments for its payment to baseball's revenue-sharing program and the costs of financing its new stadium.

2012 In his 1,000th major league game, Prince Fielder, with his two homers off Josh Beckett in the Tigers' 10-0 rout of Boston at Comerica Park, ends the day with 232 career round-trippers. The Detroit first baseman's dad, Cecil, also had the exact total of big-league home runs after playing in the same number of games.

Prince Cecil

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2012 Octavio Dotel, playing for his 13th team, breaks a major league record he previously shared with Mike Morgan, Matt Stairs, and Ron Villone. The 39-year-old Tiger reliever, who throws 1.1 scoreless innings against Boston, has also appeared with the Mets, Astros, A's, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, and Cardinals.

2015 Tyler Olson's first big league outing takes only five seconds when he throws just one pitch, inducing Erick Aybar to ground into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play in the top of the ninth in the Mariners' 2-0 loss to the Angels at Safeco Field. The 25-year-old rookie southpaw is most likely the first hurler in history to retire two hitters throwing only one pitch in his major league debut.

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On April 7 in Baseball History...

• • 1958 - The Dodgers erect a 42-foot screen in left field at the Los Angeles Coliseum to cut down on home runs. Left field is only 250 feet down the line.
    
  • 1963 - A public stock offering of 115,000 shares in the Milwaukee Braves is withdrawn after only 13,000 shares are sold to 1,600 new investors.
    
  • 1969 - Bill Singer of the Dodgers is credited with the first official save as Los Angeles defeats Cincinnati, 3-2.
    
  • 1970 - Major league baseball returns to Wisconsin as the Brewers play their first game in Milwaukee, losing to California 12-0 before a crowd of 37,237.
    
  • 1971 - The dismissal of Curt Flood's suit against baseball is upheld by a three-judge U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
    
  • 1973 - Cleveland sets day-game and opening-game records as 74,420 fans watch the Indians beat the Tigers, 2-1.
    
  • 1977 - Al Woods hits a pinch home run in his first major league at bat as the Toronto Blue Jays are 9-5 winners in their Exhibition Stadium debut against the White Sox.
    
  • 1978 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upholds an earlier court decision in support of Commissioner Kuhn's voiding of attempted player sales by A's owner Charlie Finley in June 1976. Finley's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court will be rejected on October 2.
    
  • 1979 - In the earliest no-hitter in major league history, Ken Forsch of the Astros shuts downs the Braves, 6-0. Ken and Bob Forsch, who hurled a no-hitter in 1978, are the first brothers to pitch no-hit games.
    
  • 1983 - Major League Baseball, ABC, and NBC agree to terms of a six-year television package worth $1.2 billion. The two networks will continue to alternate coverage of the playoffs, World Series, and All-Star Game through the 1989 season with each of the 26 clubs receiving $7 million per year in return. The last package gave each club $1.9 million per.
    
  • 1984 - Tigers right-hander Jack Morris no-hits the White Sox 4-0 at Comiskey Park, walking six and striking out eight.
    
  • 1986 - On Opening Day at Tiger Stadium, Boston's Dwight Evans achieves a major league first by hitting a home run off Jack Morris on the first pitch of the entire season. Detroit's Kirk Gibson later hits two home runs of his own to lead the Tigers to a 6-5 victory.
    
  • 1987 - Atlanta's Rick Mahler ties the N.L. record with his third Opening Day shutout. He beat the Phils 6-0 on three hits.
    
  • 1996 - N.L. umpire Eric Gregg is given a leave of absence following a Sunday night meeting between A.L. president Gene Budig, N.L. president Len Coleman, and umpires union head Richie Phillips. Gregg, listed at 325 pounds but visibly heavier, makes the decision in the wake of John McSherry's sudden death during a game.
    
  • 1998 - On the same day that major league baseball returned to Wisconsin 28 years earlier, National League baseball returned to Milwaukee for the first time in 32 years. It's a complicated story with a happy ending: The Milwaukee Braves were an N.L. team that moved to Atlanta in 1966 the Seattle Pilots, who formed as an A.L. West expansion team in 1969, moved to Milwaukee and played their first game as the Brewers on April 7, 1970. Five years after their team owner became commissioner of baseball, the Brewers became an N.L. club. And on this day they were 6-4 winners over the Expos in their home opener.

Baseball Birthdays on April 7...

• • 1858 - Lockwood, Milo
  • 1873 - McGraw, John "In playing or managing, the game of ball is only fun for me when I'm out in front and winning. I don't give a hill of beans for the rest of the game. The men who loses gracefully, loses easily. Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but once a team of mine is on the diamond, I want it to fight. Namby-pamby methods don't get much in results." - John McGraw in The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball (Frank DeFord, Grove Press Publishing, 03/02/2006, Page 51) [John McGraw Quotes]
  • 1874 - Wilhelm, Harry
  • 1874 - Ganzel, John
  • 1879 - Weaver, Art
  • 1883 - Cooney, Bill
  • 1884 - Daubert, Jake
  • 1885 - Rhodes, Charlie
  • 1886 - Lafitte, Ed
  • 1887 - Ferry, Jack
  • 1893 - Beatty, Desmond
  • 1893 - Low, Fletcher
  • 1894 - Milan, Horace
  • 1894 - Lear, Fred
  • 1902 - Redfern, Buck
  • 1905 - Hassler, Joe
  • 1907 - Hildebrand, Oral
  • 1908 - Hockette, George
  • 1918 - Doerr, Bobby "There is a lot of luck in baseball, and what is luck? Luck is really just a lot of practice and a lot of work. I think it goes back to bouncing the ball off the steps a jillion times and my God, preety soon you have to get pretty good." - Bobby Doerr
  • 1921 - Seward, Frank
  • 1930 - Myers, Richie
  • 1933 - Hicks, Joe
  • 1933 - Del Greco, Bobby
  • 1942 - Phoebus, Tom
  • 1944 - Stoneman, Bill
  • 1948 - Sawyer, Rick
  • 1951 - Oliver, Dave
  • 1951 - Cripe, Dave
  • 1955 - Mitchell, Bobby
  • 1957 - Engle, Rick
  • 1966 - Benavides, Freddie
  • 1969 - Bones, Ricky
  • 1971 - Thompson, Mark
  • 1973 - Tomko, Brett
  • 1975 - Belliard, Ronnie
  • 1977 - Petrick, Ben
  • 1977 - Osting, Jimmy
  • 1978 - Beltre, Adrian

Copyright � 2001-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Around the Horn | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.​

 

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4/8
BIRTHDAYS
1946 Jim "Catfish" Hunter, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (MLB All-Star 1966, 67, 70, 72–1976; World Series 1972–74, 77, 78; AL Cy Young Award 1974; Oakland A's, NY Yankees), born in Hertford, North Carolina (d. 1999)


1949 Jim Lampley, American broadcaster (Monday Night Baseball), born in Hendersonville, North Carolina

1954 Gary Carter Hall of Fame catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1986; Gold Glove Award 1980–82; Montreal Expos, NY Mets), born in Culver City, California (d. 2012)


1973 Alex Gonzalez infielder (Toronto Blue Jays), born in Miami, Florida


1979 Jeremy Guthriel pitcher, 2004-17 (Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and 3 other teams), born in Roseburg, Oregon


1981 Brian Burres born in Oregon City, Oregon


1986 Félix Hernández (Seattle Mariners), born in Valencia

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1934 At Shibe Park, 15,000 fans witness the first legal baseball game between major league teams played on a Sunday in the city of Philadelphia. The Phillies beat the A's in a hometown exhibition game, 8-1.

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1947 In an exhibition game against the Indians in Sheffield (AL), second-year player Whitey Lockman breaks his leg while sliding into the second base attempting to break up a double play. Except for two September appearances as a pinch-hitter, including getting a hit in his first at-bat, the Giants' sophomore outfielder misses the rest of the season.

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1953 Bernice Lombardi finds her husband Ernie lying on the bed after the former major league catcher slits his throat with a razor he found in a relative's bathroom. The former Reds' backstop, battling a similar bout of depression that caused his teammate Willard Hershberger to commit suicide in 1940, is given little hope to live but manages to survive his horrific self-inflicted wound.

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1963 The Tigers claim Denny McLain on first-year waivers from the White Sox. The right-hander, the game's last 30-game winner, will win the American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award in 1968, helping Detroit win its first World Series in 23 years.

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1963 In his first major league plate appearance, Pete Rose works out a walk-off Earl Francis in the Reds' 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh at Crosley Field. The eventual all-time hit leader will be held hitless, going 0-for-3, but does score his first major league run when Frank Robinson homers in the bottom of the first inning.

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1963 After being promised the Secretary of Labor would intervene to mediate their dispute, the striking food vendors do not appear at the ballpark, resulting in President Kennedy not having to cross a picket line before tossing out the ceremonial first pitch at D.C. Stadium. The Senators drop a 3-1 decision to the Orioles, and JFK's suggestion of playing Tom Brown doesn't pan out as the rookie first baseman fans three times.
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1964 Five days before the start of the season, right-hander Jim Umbricht, the only pitcher to post a winning record in Houston's first two seasons, loses his well-publicized battle with cancer when he succumbs to malignant melanoma. The popular 33-year-old Colt .45's relief pitcher, whose uniform number 32 will be retired by Houston, underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his leg before the 1963 season, returning to the club to post a 4-3 record along with a 2.61 ERA in 35 games.'

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1966 Thanks to the Monsanto chemical company's experimental nylon playing surface, the Astros and Dodgers play baseball's first game on synthetic grass. The original plan to play all-dirt field, necessitated by the need to paint the Astrodome's glass panes to reduce the glare, which prevented natural grass from growing, is alleviated by the use of 'AstroTurf.'

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1969 In the first game in franchise history, Padres' right-hander Dick Selma collects two hits and strikes out a dozen batters, going the distance in the team's 2-1 victory over the Astros at San Diego Stadium. Ed Spiezio gets the club's first hit, a fifth-inning solo home run, and Ollie Brown's sixth-inning RBI double proves to be the difference.

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1969 Red Sox outfielder Tony Conigliaro, playing his first game since being severely injured, makes a dramatic comeback, connecting for a two-run homer in the tenth inning and scoring the eventual winning run in the top of the 12th in Boston's Opening Day's 5-4 victory. The 24-year-old Revere, Massachusetts native, known as the Pope of Kenmore Square, will experience moderate success during the next two seasons but will never fully recover from the damage sustained in his left retina after being hit by a pitch thrown by Jack Hamilton on August 18, 1967.

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1969 The Pilots make their major league debut, defeating the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, 4-3. Scoring all of their runs in the top of the first inning, Seattle's leadoff hitter Tommy Harper starts the game with the franchise's first hit and then crosses the plate with its first run when Mike Hegan, the next batter, hits the first homer in team history.

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1969 The Royals play their first game in franchise history and join the winner circle along with the other three new clubs making their debuts today. Reliever Moe Drabowsky picks up the win when Kansas City beats the Twins in 12 innings, 4-3.

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1970 As partial compensation for the loss of Curt Flood, who refuses to report to Philadelphia, the Cardinals send minor league prospect Willie Montanez to the Phillies. The former St. Louis outfielder had taken exception to the trade without his consent, ultimately leading to his unsuccessful challenge of the reserve clause to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1974 Braves outfielder Hank Aaron passes Babe Ruth as the all-time home run leader with his 715th, going deep in the fourth inning off Dodger hurler Al Downing in Atlanta's home opener. 'Hammerin' Hank' equaled the Bambino's mark on Opening Day in Cincinnati.

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1975 In the season opener at Fenway Park, Tony Conigliaro, who retired four years ago after being traded to the Angels in 1970, plays in the first game of his attempted comeback with the Red Sox. As a designated hitter, the 30-year-old Pope of Kenmore Square will collect only seven hits in 21 games, singling in his first at-bat in Boston's 5-2 victory over the Brewers.

1975 Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in major league history as his Indians defeat the Yankees 5-3. The Tribe's new player-manager hits a home run in his first at-bat as the designated hitter.

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1984 In the Mets' 3-1 victory over Houston at the Astrodome, Mike Torrez's pitch smashes Dickie Thon's face, compromising the promising 25-year-old Houston shortstop's career. The remorseful right-hander's fastball breaks the orbital bone around the left eye, ending the infielder's season and impacting his future as a major leaguer due to problems with depth perception as a result of the injury.

1986 Will Clark homers on his first swing in his first major league at-bat, facing future Hall of Fame right-hander Nolan Ryan. The 22-year-old Giants rookie first baseman's first-inning solo round-tripper contributes to the team's Opening Day 8-3 victory at the Astrodome.

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1986 Jim Presley hits two home runs, helping the Mariners beat the Angels, 8-4, in a dramatic extra-inning comeback Opening Day victory. The Seattle third baseman's two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth off Donnie Moore knots the game at four runs apiece, and his two-out grand slam off Ken Forsch in the following frame ends the Kingdome contest.

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1988 Gary Carter, celebrating his 34th birthday with a 3-for-3 day, including a home run, is doubled off second base after Howard Johnson lines out to right field to end the game on a bizarre play. Shortstop Juan Samuel, who had started throwing the relay from outfielder Chris James back to the mound, tags the Mets' catcher straying off the bag for the final out in the Phillies' 5-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.

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1989 In Anaheim, Olympic hero Jim Abbott makes his major league debut, losing to his childhood hero Mark Langston and the Mariners in an eventual 6-2 Angels defeat to Seattle. The 21-year-old southpaw, who never played in the minor leagues after being drafted in the first round by California of the amateur draft last year, pitches without the use of a right hand.​

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1991 The Reds establish the record for consecutive Opening Day wins when the team beats the Astros at Riverfront Stadium, 6-2, their ninth straight, thanks to a solid outing from Tom Browning, who gives up five hits in 8.1 innings. Cincinnati surpasses the winning streak of eight consecutive lid lifters the Mets put together from 1971 through 1978.

1991 In a 5-4 Opening Day loss to the Brewers at Arlington Stadium, future Hall of Famer Goose Gossage (2008) relieves in a game started by Rangers hurler Nolan Ryan (1999), also an eventual member of Hall of Fame. The matchup marks the first time in major league history that a 300-game winner appears in the same contest with a teammate who has 300 saves.

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1993 Contributing to the Indians' 15-5 rout of New York at Cleveland Stadium, Carlos Baerga becomes the first major leaguer to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning. In the seventh, the Tribe's second baseman, batting right-handed, goes deep off Steve Howe and, later in the frame, connects with a pitch thrown by Steve Farr from the left side of the plate.

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1994 Kent Mercker, throwing his first major league complete game, no-hits the Dodgers, 6-0 at Chavez Ravine. The Braves left-hander was one of the three Atlanta pitchers, along with Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena, to throw a combined no-no against the Padres in 1991.

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1994 Chan Ho Park becomes the first Korean to play in the major leagues when he makes his pitching debut at Chavez Ravine. In one inning of work, the 21-year-old Kongju City native gives up two runs on one hit, walking two and striking out two batters in the Dodgers' 6-0 loss to Atlanta.

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1997 In a 14-8 Mariners victory over the Indians at the Kingdome, M's pitcher Josias Manzanillo, who doesn't wear a protective cup, is hit in the groin by a Manny Ramirez 107 mph line drive. Now a firm believer in using protective gear, the 29-year-old reliever goes on the 15-day disabled list for the surgery needed to repair a tear in his testicles.

1999 After participating in 243 major league games, Jim Abbott finally gets his first at-bat, grounding out to third base in the Brewers' 9-4 loss to St. Louis at Busch Stadium. The 31-year-old southpaw, born without a right hand, signed with Milwaukee in the offseason after spending the first nine years of his career in the American League, where the designated hitter replaces the pitcher in the batter's box.

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