CLICK ON THE ICON TO WATCH THE BROADCAST:

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY APRIL 19

1890      The Brooklyn Bridegrooms, who will later be known as the Dodgers, play their first National League game. The former American Association team loses to the Beaneaters, who will become known as the Braves in 1912, at Boston’s South End Grounds, 15-9.

1900      The Beaneaters score nine runs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings, but the Phillies recover to beat Boston in 10 innings, 19-17. The 36 runs scored in the South End Grounds sets a major league record for most runs scored by two clubs on Opening Day.

1912      At Griffith Stadium prior to the Senators’ 6-0 victory over the A’s, James S. Sherman becomes the first U.S. Vice President to throw the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day. William Howard Taft does not attend the game, due to the death of Archibald Butt, a friend lost in the sinking of the Titanic.

1912      As a result of the rainout on opening day, the Red Sox schedule a two-admission twin bill at Fenway Park, starting at 10:30 a.m. and 3:15 p.m, giving morning fans the chance to see the end of the Boston Marathon, and race watchers the opportunity to attend the afternoon contest. The doubleheader is also washed away, and although a Patriots’ Day game will not become an annual event until 1959, the pairing of the holiday along with the big crowd gathered for the 26.2-mile run almost occurs a half-of-a-century sooner.

1927      Calling the play-by-play in the Tigers’ 8-5 victory over the Indians, Edwin Tyson becomes the first person in club history to broadcast a game. The radio personality will begin the game by saying “Good afternoon, boys and girls, this is Ty Tyson speaking to you from Navin Field”, which will become his familiar refrain on WWJ.

1938      During the first inning, both Dodgers’ Ernie Koy and Phillies’ Emmett Mueller homer in their first major league at-bats. The pair of rookies will collectively hit a total 42 home runs during their nine seasons in the major leagues.

1939      At an informal press conference arranged by Universal Pictures, actress Dorothy Arnold tells wire service reporters that she and Joe DiMaggio are engaged and plan to marry sometime this summer. Upon hearing the news, the somewhat surprised Yankee center fielder makes it clear no ceremony will take place during the baseball season, but the couple will exchange vows in November.

1944      Mel Ott hits the first National League round-tripper of the season, the 464th of his career, helping the Giants defeat the Braves, 2-1. Next season, Master Melvin will become the first National Leaguer to amass 500 career home runs.

1948      The Red Sox become the first team to hit three consecutive homers on Opening Day when Stan Spence, Vern Stephens, and Bobby Doerr all go deep in the second frame. The long ball proves not to be enough with the A’s 5-4 victory over Boston in 11 innings.

1948      Yankee starter Allie Reynolds, thinking the Senators are trying to trick him, refuses to leave second base after he hits his first and only career home run, which is unbeknownst to him because he did not see the ball clear the left field fence. In front of an amused President Truman, New York skipper Bucky Harris finally convinces the skeptical baserunner to round the bases so the Opening Day contest at Griffith Stadium can continue.

1948      The Pirates, wearing their black and gold color scheme for the first time, lose baseball’s traditional opener in Cincinnati, 4-1, in a game that features scuffles between opposing players, an ump, and a photographer, a fan who jumps on the field, and the police. The Bucs, the first team to permanently change their original colors, abandoned the familiar patriotic look of red, white, and blue, choosing instead to use hues that match the Flag of Pittsburgh.

1949      On Opening Day, the Yankees unveil a monument in centerfield honoring the legendary Babe Ruth, eight months after his death. The “Bambino’ joins Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins, who were also awarded posthumously with cenotaphs, the team’s highest honor of all.

1949      In front of 53,000 fans on Opening Day, Johnny Groth hits home runs in two of his first three at bats at Tiger Stadium. The 22 year-old rookie’s performance enables Hal Newhowser and Detroit to beat Chicago, 5-1.

1956      In the first major league game ever played in New Jersey, the Dodgers begin their Jersey City home game experiment with a 10-inning 5-4 victory over the Phillies at Roosevelt Stadium. A sparse crowd of 12,214, limited by inclement weather, sees Brooklyn backstop Roy Campanella tie the score in the tenth inning with his 1000th career hit, a double down the left field line.

1960      A record Opening Day crowd at Chicago’s Comiskey Park enthusiastically greets their American League champs, and the patrons warmly welcome the return of Minnie Minoso to the team after his three-year exile to Cleveland. The 34 year-old outfielder doesn’t disappoint the South Side fans when, in addition to hitting a grand slam in the fourth, he blasts a ninth inning walk-off home run, giving the White Sox a 10-9 victory over Kansas City.

1960      Making his debut in pinstripes, Roger Maris goes 4-for-5 batting leadoff in the Yankees lineup. The right-fielder’s 11 total bases, including two home runs and a double, contribute to the Bronx Bombers’ Opening Day 8-4 victory over Boston at Fenway Park.

1961      At Comiskey Park, Bill Veeck employs eight Little People to work in the stands during the White Sox home opener against Washington. The Chicago owner’s hiring decision is a response to complaints that fans sitting in the box seats couldn’t see over the vendors.

1963      Willie Mays becomes the all-time National League right-handed home run leader when he connects for his 371st career round-tripper, a fourth-inning solo shot off Chicago’s Larry Jackson in the Giants’ 5-1 victory at Candlestick Park. The San Francisco center fielder surpasses Gil Hodges, who established the mark last season.

1968      Nolan Ryan makes quick work of the Dodgers when he strikes out the side on nine pitches in the top of the third inning of the Mets’ 3-2 loss at Shea Stadium. The 21 year-old New York fireballer, who will also accomplish the feat with the Angels in 1972, strikes out 11 batters in 7.1 frames, including Claude Osteen, Wes Parker, and Zoilo Versalles, the victims of his immaculate inning.

1969      Ken Harrelson, along with Dick Ellsworth and Juan Pizarro, is traded by the Red Sox to the Indians for Joe Azcue, Vicente Romo, and Sonny Siebert. The 27 year-old ‘Hawk’ decides to retire, but reluctantly returns to the game following conversations with commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who will later say, “the loss of Ken Harrelson would be a tragedy for baseball”.

1972      The demolition of Crosley Field begins when two year-old Pete Rose, Jr. pulls a lever that sends a wrecking ball into the side of the former home of the Reds. The left field terrace area will become a parking lot, but is still distinguishable due to its slope and proximity to York Street.

1972      Sparky Lyle becomes the first reliever to come into a game with a signature entrance song when the Yankee Stadium PA system plays Pomp and Circumstance as the closer approaches the mound. Although the southpaw secures the last out of the team’s 3-2 victory over Milwaukee, the New York relief pitcher feels the song, selected by PR man Marty Appel to signify the end of the game much as the Edward Elgar’s march signals the end of an academic accomplishment, adds more pressure to his closer role and asks the public relations department to put the tradition on hold.

1979      After a 6-3 loss to the Orioles in New York, Goose Gossage sustains a sprained ligament in his left thumb as a result of a clubhouse brawl with Yankee teammate Cliff Johnson. The reliever will be out of action until mid-July, and Johnson, due to the altercation, will be traded to the Indians in June for southpaw Don Hood.

1979      The Mets trade Tim Foli, along with minor league prospect Greg Field, to the Pirates in exchange for second baseman Frank Taveras. Foli, appearing in 133 games, will play a major role in the club’s world championship this season, batting .291 and providing solid defense at shortstop for the Bucs.

1981      At the Kingdome, the A’s establish a major league record by winning eleven consecutive season openers when they post a 6-1 victory over the Mariners. The Opening Day winning streak will be extended to 12 next season with a 3-2 walk-off victory over California at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

1987      Thanks to Rob Deer’s three-run homer to tie the score and Dale Sveum’s two-run winning shot, the Brewers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning, beating the Rangers, 6-4. The Milwaukee victory sets an American League record as they win their 12th straight game to start the season.

1987      In the 4000th game in franchise history, the Mets drop a 4-2 decision to St. Louis at Busch Stadium. The reigning World Champs, who started as an expansion team in 1962, have won exactly half of their last 1000 games, posting a 500-498-2 record during the span that began on July 19, 1980.

1996      In the eighth, the Rangers fall one run short of setting a modern major league mark, scoring 16 runs in one inning in their 26-7 rout of the Orioles. In 1952, the Red Sox tallied 17 times in the seventh frame in a 23-3 rout of Detroit at Fenway Park.

1997      At Shea Stadium, the Cubs lose their 13th consecutive game to match the longest losing streak in the franchise’s 122-year history. Reliever Turk Wendell, wearing #13, is tagged with the loss when Chicago is defeated by New York, 6-3.

1997      In the first major league game ever played in Hawaii, the Cardinals edge the Padres, 1-0, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The three-game set, known as Padres Paradise Series, find the hosts dropping two of three contests to the Redbirds.

1998      Equaling their largest margin of victory when keeping an opponent scoreless, the Mets rout Cincinnati at Cinergy Field, 14-0. Outfielder Bernard Gilkey crosses the plate in the first, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth inning, becoming only one of four players in franchise history to score five runs in one game.

1998      The Devil Rays become the first expansion team to ever be four games over .500 at any point during their inaugural season when they improve their record to 10-6 with a 6-0 victory over Anaheim. Tampa Bay will finish the season with a 63-99 record, finishing last in the American League East.

1999      A sore back puts ‘Iron Man’ Cal Ripken, Jr. on the disabled list. It is the first time the Oriole infielder has been on the DL during his 19-year career.

2000      Veteran hurler Orel Hershiser ties a major league mark, equaled by 19 others, hitting four batters in one game. Astro Richard Hidalgo also ties a modern major league record by getting hit three times in a game, twice by Hershiser and a third time by Dodger reliever Matt Herges.

2002      Mariners’ third baseman Jeff Cirillo ties the major league record for consecutive errorless games at the hot corner by playing his 99th contest without a miscue. The previous mark was established by John Wehner, a journeyman infielder with the Dodgers, Pirates, and Marlins who needed more than eight seasons to accomplish the feat.

2004      A’s right-hander Justin Duchscherer, after faking a throw to third base before throwing to first, is called for a balk by umps Paul Emmel and Mike DiMuro as the result of stepping toward home plate before beginning his pick-off move. The Oakland hurler’s mound miscue ends the 14-inning contest, giving the Mariners a 2-1 balk-off victory at Safeco Field.

2005      David Wright’s seventh inning grand slam at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park establishes a club record for home runs hit in a game. The Mets go deep seven times (Reyes-2, Diaz-2, Piazza, Wright, and Mientkiewicz) when they rout the Phillies, 16-4.

2009      For the third successive day, the Marlins rally from behind in the top of the ninth inning to complete a sweep of the three-game series against the Nationals. The last team to win three consecutive times after trailing in the ninth inning were the 1998 Tigers, who came back in dramatic fashion in a trio of mid-September contests to beat Toronto and Minnesota.

2009      Daniel Cabrera reaches base safely for the first time in his six-year career when he walks on four straight balls thrown by Florida’s Hayden Penn. Prior to receiving the free pass, the Diamondbacks’ right-hander had previously struck out in all of his 18 major league at bats, setting a major league mark for consecutive strikeouts.

2012      En route to an 11-4 victory in Washington, Jose Altuve, Brian Bogusevic, and Matt Downs all collect three-baggers in Houston’s five-run first frame. It is the first time in franchise history the Astros hit three triples in one inning.

2013      After stealing second base, Jean Segura attempts to swipe third, but when the play ends the Brewers shortstop is standing on first as he aborts his journey to third and mistakenly thinking he is automatically out when he finds teammate Ryan Braun occupying second base, he heads for the dugout before taking refuge at first upon realizing he is still safe. Two pitches later, the bewildered Milwaukee baserunner is thrown out trying to steal second base again to become the first player to have stolen second and then is caught stealing the same base in the same inning.

2013      According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Matt Harvey becomes the first pitcher in modern major league history to win his first four games while giving up less than a total of ten hits. The 24 year-old Mets right-hander easily outduels his mound opponent, Washington’s former phenom, Stephen Strasburg, prompting the Citi Field crowd to start chanting, “Har-vee’s be-tter, “Har-vee’s be-tter.”

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY: APRIL 19

• 1897 – John J. McDermott of New York wins the first Boston Marathon (15 runners, 24.5 miles) with a time of 2:55:10.
• 1898 – Second Boston Marathon won by Ron McDonald of Massachusetts in 2:42:00.
• 1899 – Third Boston Marathon won by Lawrence Brignolia of Massachusetts in 2:54:38.
• 1900 – 4th Boston Marathon won by Jim Caffrey of Canada in 2:39:44.4.
• 1900 – Highest-scoring opening game, Philadelphia Phillies beat Boston Braves 19-17 in 10 innings.
• 1901 – 5th Boston Marathon won by Jim Caffrey of Canada in 2:29:23.6.
• 1938 – 42nd Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson of Rhode Island in 2:35:34.8.
• 1938 – Philadelphia Phillies’ Emmett Mueller and Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ernie Koy both homer in their first at bat.
• 1939 – 43rd Boston Marathon won by Ellison Brown of Rhode Island in 2:28:51.8.
• 1940 – 44th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:28:28.6.
• 1941 – 45th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson of Rhode Island in 2:30:38.
• 1942 – 46th Boston Marathon won by Joe Smith of Massachusetts in 2:26:51.2.
• 1943 – 47th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:28:25.8.
• 1945 – 49th Boston Marathon won by John A Kelley of Massachusetts in 2:30:40.2.
• 1946 – New York Yankees switch from third base to first base dug out.
• 1947 – 51st Boston Marathon won by Yun Bok Soh of Korea in 2:25:39.
• 1947 – Amateur Athletic Union record for a 25-foot rope climb is set in 4.7 seconds.
• 1947 – NHL Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 2.
• 1948 – 52nd Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:31:02.
• 1949 – 53rd Boston Marathon won by Gosta Leandersson of Sweden in 2:31:50.8.
• 1949 – New York Yankees dedicate a plaque for Babe Ruth.
• 1950 – 54th Boston Marathon won by Kee Yong Ham of Korea in 2:32:39.
• 1951 – 55th Boston Marathon won by Shigeki Tanaka of Japan in 2:27:45.
• 1952 – 56th Boston Marathon won by Doroteo Flores of Guatemala in 2:31:53.
• 1953 – Louise Suggs wins LPGA San Diego Golf Open.
• 1954 – 58th Boston Marathon won by Veikko Karvonen of Finland in 2:20:39. Seven-time winner of the Boston Marathon, 65-year-old Clarence Demar, runs his last race at Boston finishing 78th.
• 1955 – 59th Boston Marathon won by Hideo Hamamura of Japan in 2:18:22.
• 1956 – First major league baseball game in New Jersey: Brooklyn Dodgers beat Philadelphia Phillies in Roosevelt Stadium.
• 1956 – 60th Boston Marathon won by Antti Viskari of Finland in 2:14:14.
• 1958 – 62nd Boston Marathon won by Franjo Mihalic of Yugoslavia in 2:25:54.
• 1959 – Louise Suggs wins LPGA Dallas Civitan Golf Open.
• 1960 – 64th Boston Marathon won by Paavo Kotila of Finland in 2:20:54.
• 1960 – Baseball uniforms begin displaying player’s names on their backs.
• 1960 – Comiskey Park’s famed “exploding” scoreboard begins operating.
• 1961 – 65th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:39.
• 1962 – 66th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:48.
• 1964 – Mickey Wright wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Invitational.
• 1966 – In first regular season game at Anaheim Stadium, California Angels lose 3-1 to Chicago Cubs.
• 1968 – 72nd Boston Marathon won by Amby Burfoot of Connecticut in 2:22:17 (first American to win since 1957).
• 1968 – National League owners approve expansion for two new teams.
• 1970 – Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational.
• 1973 – George Steinbrenner replaces Mike Burke with Gabe Paul as New York Yankees’ president.
• 1974 – Baltimore Orioles’ player Al Bumbry hits an inside-the-park homerun against the New York Yankees.
• 1979 – Following a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees’ Goose Gossage and Cliff Johnson brawl, Gossage sustains a sprained ligament in his left thumb.
• 1981 – With a 6-1 opening day victory over the Seattle Mariners, the Oakland Athletics establish a major league record by winning eleven consecutive season openers.
• 1981 – Beth Daniel wins LPGA Florida Lady Citrus Golf.
• 1982 – Rosie Ruiz, marathon race cheater, arrested for forgery.
• 1986 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
• 1987 – Brendon Kuruppu scores 201 on Test Cricket debut (Sri Lanka versus New Zealand).
• 1987 – Jacqueline Blanc sets women’s downhill ski speed record (124.902 mph).
• 1987 – Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Santa Barbara Golf Open.
• 1987 – Los Angeles Clippers end season with a terrible 12-70 record.
• 1987 – Milwaukee Brewers score five runs in 9th to win 6-4 and record 12th straight American League win.
• 1989 – Kevin Elster (New York Mets), sets errorless shortstop mark at 73.
• 1990 – Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76’ers get into a fight accruing $162,500 in fines (an NBA record).
• 1991 – Battle of the Ages: Heavyweight champion Evander Hollyfield beats 42-year old George Foreman in 12 rounds for heavyweight boxing title.
• 1992 – Dottie Mochrie wins LPGA Sega Women’s Golf Championship.
• 1994 – Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10km (11:25.88).
• 1996 – Texas Rangers score 16 in 8th inning versus Baltimore Orioles.
• 1996 – South Africa defeats Pakistan to win the Pepsi Cup in Sharjah.

SPORTS FUN FACT:

1998: Michael Jordan scored 44 points to lead the Chicago Bulls over the Knicks, 111-109, in the final game of the regular season, securing his record 10th N.B.A. scoring title with a 28.7 points-per-game average.

1912      At Griffith Stadium prior to the Senators’ 6-0 victory over the A’s, James S. Sherman becomes the first U.S. Vice President to throw the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day. William Howard Taft does not attend the game, due to the death of Archibald Butt, a friend lost in the sinking of the Titanic.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.

Babe Ruth