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.
Mookie Betts had an exceptional 2023 season and while he didn’t get the opportunity to win a third World Series title, he still ended the season as one of the league’s best.
Betts is looking to become the second player in MLB history to win an MVP award in both the American and National League. The last player to do so was MLBbro great Frank Robinson. There’s no question that Betts will be a Hall of Famer when his career is done, and he’ll continue to rack up awards and accolades and represent for the Black Knights of baseball.
The 31-year-old appeared in over 150 games and made an impact at the plate and in the field, continuing to build on his record-breaking career. Betts hit .307 which was his highest average dating back to 2018 when he hit .346. He also hit a career-high 39 Bro bombs.
Mr. Versatility: Mookie Plays OF and Infield
While he was one of the best hitters on his team and in the league, his defense is what separated him from the rest of the crowd. You can make a strong case that Betts was more valuable to his team on defense than any other player in the league. He appeared in 70 games at second base and 12 at shortstop. The Dodgers needed someone, and Betts took on the challenge and exceeded.
We all know how exceptional of a right fielder Betts is, but he could be an everyday middle infielder if he wanted to. He only made five errors this season playing all three positions.
Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run of the 2022 season in a 9-8 Yankees win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. While his fellow MLBbro Giancarlo Stanton’s walk-off grand slam was bro bombing at its best, Judge is closing in on Roger Maris and that’s simply the stuff of legends.
Despite Ohtani’s numbers, all eyes are on the MLBbro of the Year and his chase for the all-time American League home run record currently held by Yankees icon, Roger Maris. Judge is only two homers away from tying Maris’ 61 dingers and his Tuesday night homer has already placed him in the annals of slugger royalty, along with Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.
On Sunday, he added yet another conversation to the news cycle, hitting his MLB-leading 58th and 59th home run against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Besides powering the Yankees to a 12-8 win over Milwaukee, his 4-5 performance at the plate has now put him in serious contention for the Triple Crown with a few weeks left in the season. Judge would be only the second Black player to win the Triple Crown in MLB history and the first since Frank Robinson in 1966.
Right now, our MLBbro is not only dominating major league pitching, but he’s also become the face of baseball. Judge can no longer be put in a box of just being a power player that puts the ball in the seat. These days, he’s has shown the ability to hit the ball all over the park. Yes, Aaron Judge is not just a home run hitter…he’s a professional hitter period!
His production has been historical. He leads all of MLB in homers and RBI by a large margin. As of Tuesday, Judge is just two RBI shy of 130 on the season. According to MLB Network, no player has had more than 133 RBI in a season since Chris “Crush” Davis in 2013. Judge currently leads the American League in batting average (.316), RBI and homers.
Despite all of the hoopla, the MLBbro MVP is still focused on what matters and that’s winning baseball games. He shared his thoughts on his goals via ESPN.
“It’s not too difficult if your main focus and your main objective is to go out there and win a game,” Aaron Judge said. “The numbers, they’re just numbers. I’m focused on doing what I can to be a good teammate and help the team win. If that means hitting a homer, it means hitting a homer, but it’s never been my focus.”
Up until last weekend, any talk about Triple Crown winners was surrounding St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt who is the odds-on favorite to take the National League MVP crown. But now it’s Judge who is in the driver’s seat to become only the 11th player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish this feat since the RBI became a statistic in 1920.
Just look at the potential greats Aaron Judge could be joining if he keeps up this pace…
2012: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (American League)
1967: Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox (American League)
1966: Frank Robinson. Baltimore Orioles (American League)
1956: Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees (Led American and National Leagues)
1947: Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox (American League)
1942: Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox (Led American and National Leagues)
1937: Joe Medwick, St. Louis Cardinals (National Leagues)
1934: Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees (Led American and National Leagues)
1933: Jimmy Foxx, Oakland Athletics (American League)
1925: Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals (Led National and American Leagues)
1922: Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals (Led National League)
The history wouldn’t stop there for our MLBbro. If Judge wins the Triple Crown, he would become the third player in Yankees history to achieve the feat along with Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle. That would place the Yankees at the top of the list for the most Triple Crown winners in MLB history, breaking a tie with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.
But no matter how loudly MLBbro.com or any other media outlets boasts Judge’s accomplishments, our MLBbro is not listening…
“It’s all noise,” Judge said. “I got a job to do on the field and I’m focused on doing that. We got a long way to go. There are quite a few games left this month and the playoffs ahead of us. So I’m staying locked in on that.”
“I’ll tune it out, I try to stay off all that stuff as much as I can, because it’s really no good. You have a bad game, they’re gonna say some things. You have a good game, they’re gonna say some things. So I try to stay off it throughout the year and just focus on what I gotta do here and focus on helping this team and listen to the opinions from my teammates and coaches. Those are the ones that matter to me.”
When pressed about the personal satisfaction of hitting his 60th homer, Judge said, “Getting a chance to play baseball in Yankees Stadium
Check back with Aaron Judge on his performance this year after the season, he’s busy right now!
When you speak of MLBbro legends, Frank Robinson is part of an exclusive group. His name is all over the MLB record books. Rob Parker remembers this titan of the game who was also a manager.
Recent Comments