For many baseball fans, two of most magical words are “Opening Day”.
Opening Day is one of the first signals of the changing of the seasons as it pertains to sports and the weather. As you already know, MLB “officially” opened the 2024 campaign last week overseas with the Korea Series pitting the Dodgers and Padres.
However, this week’s stateside openers will be the true beginning of the season for many of us.
Memorable MLBbro Opening Day Moments
As we prepare for that, today we take a look back at some of the most memorable Opening Day moments in MLBbro history. Needless to say, the overall history of the game will play a huge part of this retrospective as we look back in chronological order
1. April 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers breaking MLB’s modern day color barrier. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Boston Braves. He would be named Rookie of the Year at season’s end.
2. April 11, 1967: St. Louis’ Bob Gibson strikes out 13 Giants en route to a 6-0, five-hitter against San Francisco. Gibson, who outdueled future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, would help lead the Redbirds to their second World Series title in the last four years when they outlasted the Boston Red Sox in 7 games.
3. April 4, 1974: In his first at-bat that season against the Reds’ Jack Billingham, Hank Aaron hits his 714th career homer. The three-run shot ties him with Babe Ruth. Four days later at Atlanta, the Hammer connected off Al Downing of the Dodgers to become baseball’s all-time home run king.
4. April 8, 1975: Frank Robinson becomes MLB’s first Black manager with a bang. In the lineup as Cleveland’s designated hitter, Robinson stepped to the plate against the Yankees’ Doc Medich, got a 2-2 fastball low and away and ripped it over the left-field wall for a solo shot. The Indians won 5-3 as Robinson’s homer was his eighth career Opening Day homer, an MLB record at the time.
5. April 8, 1994: Subbing for an injured Glenallen Hill, Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes hit 3 home runs off of New York’s Dwight Gooden and had four hits on the day. Still, the legendary Mets pitcher and his team managed to win the game 12-8. Rhodes hit just 5 more home runs the entire season. He became a legend in the Japanese league by hitting over 464 career dingers and tied the single-season record of 55 home runs in 2001.
6. April 2, 1996: Starting in his first Opening Day at shortstop, New York’s Derek Jeter hits his first career homer off Cleveland’s Dennis Martinez. The solo shot that led off the fifth inning put The Yankees up 2-0 en route to a 7-1 win. The Captain would be named AL Rookie of the Year and helped lead the Bronx Bombers to their first World Series title since 1978.
7. April 4, 2005: Detroit’s Dmitri Young became the third player in MLB history to hit three homers on Opening Day (joining the aforementioned Tuffy Rhodes and George Bell) in the Tigers’ 11-2 win against the Kansas City Royals. At the time, “Da Meat Hook” was also the fourth player to hit three homers in a game at spacious Comerica Park.
8. April 6, 2009: Ken Griffey Jr. tied an MLB record with his eighth career Opening Day homer. “The Kid” had a solo home run and a walk in his first game with Seattle since 1999, helping the Mariners to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. At the time, it was Junior’s 612th career homer. He tied the aforementioned Frank Robinson and Adam Dunn for the Opening Day record shot.
9. April 5, 2010: In his MLB debut, Atlanta native and Braves No. 1 prospect Jason Heyward homered on the first swing of his career. The three-run shot off Chicago’s Carlos Zambrano created what is considered to be one of the loudest roars heard during the history of Turner Field.
10. March 30, 2023: One year removed from breaking Roger Maris’ AL record of 61 homers, New York Aaron Judge goes deep in his first at-bat of the season. Tabbed as the Yankees’ 16th captain, “The Judge” belted MLB’s first dinger of the year, powering a Logan Webb sinker over the center-field wall at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees cruised to a 5-0 over the San Francisco Giants.
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