This Date in Baseball: April 10
April 10
1913 – President Wilson threw out the first ball as the Senators edged the New York Yankees 2-1 in Washington’s home opener. Walter Johnson allowed an unearned run in the first inning, but did not yield another run for 56 consecutive innings.
1959 – Chicago’s Nellie Fox, who went 5 for 7, hit a 14th-inning opening day home run off Don Mossi to beat Detroit, 9-7. The White Sox second baseman did not homer in 623 at-bats the previous season.
1962 –The Houston Colt .45s, in the first major league game played in Texas, beat the Chicago Cubs 11-2 before 25,000. Roman Mejias led Houston’s offense with two three-run homers.
1969 – Tommy Agee of the New York Mets hit a home run into the upper deck in Shea Stadium’s left field. It was the longest home run to reach the seats in the history of the stadium.
1982 – Under icy conditions, the Cleveland Indians opened the season at Municipal Stadium with an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers before 62,443 fans. Five hundred tons of snow had to be removed from the field; the game-time temperature was 38 degrees, with a wind chill of 17.
1990 – Boston’s Wade Boggs tied a major league record for a nine-inning game by drawing three intentional walks.
2000 – Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player to hit 400 career home runs when he connected in the Reds’ 7-5 loss to Colorado. At 30 years, 141 days, Griffey beat the previous mark set by Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years, 248 days old.
2001 – The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game concluded in one hour, 55 minutes, the fastest home game in Arizona history. The Diamondbacks’ Curt Schilling earned his 16th career shutout and 66th complete game in a 2-0 victory. Schilling gave up two hits and struck out 10. Kevin Brown tossed a three-hitter and fanned eight for Los Angeles.