TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

When John McGraw forced the Yankees out of the Polo Grounds, he crowed that they were headed to "Goatville" and would soon be forgotten. He could not have been more wrong.

The Yankees had outgrown their welcome. After co-owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston purchased Babe Ruth from Boston in 1919, the tenant Yankees began outdrawing the landlord Giants in their own park. McGraw, who despised the American League and had just swept the Yankees in the 1922 World Series — holding Ruth to a .188 average and zero home runs — persuaded majority owner Horace Stoneham to banish them. The Yankees responded by building a $2.5 million stadium right across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds.

More than 74,000 showed up for opening day, with another 25,000 turned away at the gates. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Governor Al Smith, and Mayor John Hylan were among the dignitaries. John Philip Sousa led the Seventh Regiment Band to center field as Miller Huggins raised the American flag and the 1922 pennant. Bob Shawkey threw the first pitch in stadium history — a ball, high and inside.

Ruth entered the day carrying the weight of a difficult 1922 season and a humiliating World Series. He told teammates in the clubhouse, "I'd give a year off my life to hit one today." He got his chance in the third inning with two men on. Red Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke left a letter-high curveball over the plate and Ruth drove it several rows deep into the bleachers for a three-run blast, giving New York a 4-0 lead. As he crossed home plate he tipped his cap and smiled broadly at the crowd. Shawkey went the distance, scattering three hits in a 4-1 victory.

The New York Times captured the day perfectly: "The game, after all, was only an incident of a busy afternoon. The stadium was the thing."

McGraw's prediction aged poorly. By October the Yankees were World Series champions for the first time, having defeated his own Giants in six games. Ruth batted .393 during the regular season and demolished Giants pitching in the Series for a .368 average and three home runs.

Virtue, it turned out, was its own reward.

April 18, 1925 — Brooklyn Robins owner Charles Ebbets dies of a heart attack at his Waldorf-Astoria Hotel apartment at the age of 64. Later in the day, his team opens the home season losing to the New York Giants at Ebbets Field, 7 – 0.

April 18, 1939 — The five-year ban on broadcasting games played by the New York major league teams ends when Red Barber, calls Brooklyn’s 7-3 loss to the Giants at Ebbets Field. In 1934, the two National League teams and the Yankees agreed not to air their games on the radio, fearing the exposure would reduce the number of fans attending games. Barber, the future Hall of Fame announcer was brought in from Cincinnati by the team’s new president, Larry MacPhail, who had hired the ‘Ol Redhead’ when he was in a similar post with the Reds.

April 18, 1950 – At the Polo Grounds, 33 year old Sam Jethroe makes his debut becomes the first black to play for the Boston Braves. A former Cleveland Buckeyes star, he goes 2 for 4, including a home run, to lead the Braves to an 11 – 4 beating of the New York Giants. Warren Spahn is the winner. Jethroe will go on to lead the majors with 35 stole bases and become National League Rookie of the Year .

April 18, 1952, the Yankees retired Joe DiMaggio’s famed No. 5 jersey in an on-field ceremony prior to the club’s home opener. The event marked just the third time the Yankees had retired a player’s uniform number, as Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth had been similarly honored in 1940 and 1948, respectively.

April 18, 1958 — The Los Angeles Dodgers play their first game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a crowd of 78,672. Carl Erskine gets the win, besting Al Worthington and the San Francisco Giants, 6 – 5.

April 18, 1960 — Ted Williams becomes the first major leaguer to homer in four different decades when he blasts a pitch from Senators’ right-hander Camilo Pascual 500 feet over the center field wall for the only run in the Red Sox’s 10-1 Opening Day loss at Griffith Stadium. In 1939, the then 20 year-old ‘Kid’ hit the first of his 521 career round-trippers, a first-inning two-run shot off Philadelphia’s Bud Thomas at Fenway Park.

April 18 , 1966 – At the Astrodome, 21,152 fans came out to see the first major league game played on artificial turf. Two future Hall-of-Famers face off. 21-year-old rookie Don Sutton stymies Robin Roberts and the Astros for a 6-3 Dodger win, this is Sutton’s first of his career.

This Week in Baseball April 18, 1978 with Mel Allen what a show with interviews with future hall of famers, clips featuring Joe Morgan, Dodgers, Sparky Anderson, Tom Seaver and Pete Rose

April 18, 1981, the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings start the longest game in professional baseball history. The game is suspended at 4:07 AM the next day, and will be resumed in June. The 33-inning contest will last a total of eight hours and 25 minutes.

April 18, 1981, Tom Seaver of the Cincinnati Reds notches the 3,000th strikeout of his Hall of Fame career. Seaver fans Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals, joining Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Gaylord Perry, and Nolan Ryan as members of the exclusive pitching club.

April 18, 1987, At Three Rivers Stadium Mike Schmidt hits his 500th career home run. Schmidt connects against Don Robinson of the Pittsburgh Pirates, becoming the 14th player in history to reach the milestone. Schmidt’s home run helps the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-6 victory.

TRIVIA

TRIVIA: Who once led the league in home runs the same year that his batting average was barely over the Mendoza Line?

IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!

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 ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA

YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: Only one player has pitched no-nos in both his first and last complete game. Who is he?

Answer: Bill Stoneman

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