Portal:Baseball/Anniversaries/April 18

Events

• 1899 - At age 26, Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw makes his managerial debut with a 5 - 3 victory over the New York Giants.
• 1923 - The first Major League game is played in Yankee Stadium in front of a paid attendance of 74,217, as the New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 4 - 1, behind a home run by Babe Ruth, the first in the Stadium.
• 1939 - The first regular season Brooklyn Dodgers game is broadcast on the radio, as Red Barber calls the action in a 7 - 3 Brooklyn Dodgers loss to the New York Giants.
• 1950 - Major League Baseball's first opening night game is held at Sportsman's Park as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pirates, 4 - 2.
• 1950 - Boston Braves rookie Sam Jethroe becomes the Braves' first African American player.
• 1958 - The Los Angeles Dodgers play their first game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a crowd of 78,672.
• 1964 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax strikes out the side on nine pitches, becoming the first pitcher in Major League history to achieve the feat twice.
• 1966 - At the Astrodome, the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers play the first regular season game on AstroTurf as the Dodgers defeat the Astros, 6 - 3.
• 1982 - The Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros to set a National League record of eleven straight wins to start the season.
• 1987 - Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt hits his 500th home run off Don Robinson with two outs in the ninth inning to rally the Phillies to an 8 - 6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.
• 1991 - The first Major League Baseball game is played at the new Comiskey Park in front of a sell-out 42,191 fans, as the Chicago White Sox lose to the Detroit Tigers 16 - 0.
• 1997 - Texas Rangers pitcher Roger Pavlik becomes the first pitcher in American League history to walk the first four batters of the game.

Births

• 1869 - George Borchers, pitcher (d. 1938)
• 1871 - Frank Navin, owner (d. 1935)
• 1873 - Hughie Hearne, catcher (d. 1932)
• 1880 - Sam Crawford, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1968)
• 1887 - Bill Rodgers, infielder (d. 1978)
• 1888 - Duffy Lewis, outfielder (d. 1979)
• 1888 - Tommy McMillan, infielder (d. 1966)
• 1892 - Jack Scott, pitcher (d. 1959)
• 1893 - William Marriott, infielder (d. 1969)
• 1895 - Hans Rasmussen, pitcher (d. 1949)
• 1896 - Rip Conway, infielder (d. 1972)
• 1899 - Bill Bayne, pitcher (d. 1981)
• 1917 - Ty LaForest, infielder (d. 1947)
• 1917 - Nick Polly, infielder (d. 1993)
• 1922 - Moe Burtschy, pitcher (d. 2004)
• 1929 - Steve Kraly, pitcher
• 1942 - Steve Blass, pitcher; All-Star
• 1942 - Chuck Taylor, pitcher
• 1945 - Mike Paul, pitcher
• 1948 - Ron Schueler, pitcher
• 1951 - Doug Flynn, infielder
• 1955 - Bobby Castillo, pitcher
• 1959 - Rich Bordi, pitcher
• 1959 - Jim Eisenreich, outfielder
• 1959 - Dennis Rasmussen, pitcher
• 1963 - Alex Madrid, pitcher
• 1963 - Pete Stanicek, outfielder
• 1967 - Brian Dubois, pitcher
• 1969 - Angelo Encarnacion, catcher
• 1970 - Rico Brogna, infielder
• 1970 - Steve Dunn, infielder
• 1973 - Brady Clark, outfielder
• 1981 - Brian Buscher, infielder
• 1983 - Miguel Cabrera, outfielder; All-Star
• 1983 - Alberto González, infielder
• 1983 - Mike Parisi, pitcher
• 1986 - Billy Butler, outfielder

Deaths

• 1892 - Ned Bligh, catcher (b. 1864)
• 1893 - Fred Siefke, infielder (b. 1870)
• 1904 - Charlie Ziegler, infielder (b. 1875)
• 1913 - Roscoe Miller, pitcher (b. 1876)
• 1925 - Charlie Ebbets, manager (b. 1859)
• 1926 - George Haddock, pitcher (b. 1866)
• 1927 - Pop Smith, infielder (b. 1856)
• 1930 - Jack Stivetts, pitcher (b. 1868)
• 1932 - Ike Benners, outfielder (b. 1856)
• 1937 - Hick Carpenter, infielder (b. 1855)
• 1953 - Harry Niles, outfielder (b. 1880)
• 1953 - Cotton Tierney, infielder (b. 1894)
• 1957 - Bill Sweeney, infielder (b. 1904)
• 1970 - Tony York, infielder (b. 1912)
• 1971 - Russ Hodges, broadcaster (b. 1910)
• 1975 - Jack Burns, infielder (b. 1907)
• 1979 - Lindsay Deal, outfielder (b. 1911)
• 1983 - Woody Rich, pitcher (b. 1916)
• 1990 - John Antonelli, infielder (b. 1915)
• 1991 - Sheldon Jones, pitcher (b. 1922)
• 2003 - Lefty Sloat, pitcher (b. 1918)