Portal:Baseball/Anniversaries/April 17
Events
- 1892 - In the first Sunday game in National League history, the Cincinnati Reds defeat the St. Louis Browns, 5 - 1.
- 1904 - The Brooklyn Superbas play their first Sunday game at home, beating the Boston Beaneaters, 9-0. To circumvent Sunday Blue Laws, no admission is charged, but fans must buy scorecards to enter the grandstand and box seats.
- 1912 - At the Polo Grounds, the New York Giants and New York Yankees play a charity game to raise money for the survivors of the RMS Titanic, which sunk on April 14. The Giants belt the Yankees, 11 - 2.
- 1923 - In the longest National League opener to date, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies battle to a 14-inning 5 - 5 tie.
- 1932 - New York Giants first baseman Bill Terry ties a National League record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat the Boston Braves, 5 - 0, behind Hal Schumacher's two-hit shutout.
- 1934 - At Ebbets Field, Casey Stengel makes his managerial debut, but his Brooklyn Dodgers lose, 8 - 7, to the Boston Braves.
- 1945 - St. Louis Browns one-armed outfielder Pete Gray makes his Major League debut, going 1 for 4 as St. Louis beats the Detroit Tigers 7 - 1.
- 1947 - In a 12 - 6 win over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn Dodgers rookie Jackie Robinson gets hits first Major League hit, a bunt single off Glenn Elliott.
- 1951 - Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs home opener.
- 1953 - New York Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle cleared the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs.
- 1954 - At Milwaukee County Stadium, utility man Nino Escalera becomes the first African American player to appear in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, hitting a pinch hit single.
- 1955 - At Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Roberto Clemente makes his Major League debut, getting a hit in his first at bat.
- 1955 - Detroit Tigers slugger Al Kaline hits three home runs in Briggs Stadium, including a pair in the sixth inning.
- 1956 - New York Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle hits a pair of tape measure home runs against Camilo Pascual at Griffith Stadium.
- 1960 - The Cleveland Indians trade Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn.
- 1964 - The New York Mets play their first game in Shea Stadium, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 - 3. Pirate Willie Stargell hit the stadium's first home run.
- 1969 - At Connie Mack Stadium, Montreal Expos pitcher Bill Stoneman pitches a 7 - 0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in only the ninth game of the Expos' existence.
- 1976 - At Wrigley Field, Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt hits four consecutive home runs.
- 1983 - Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan becomes only the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 career strikeouts.
- 1988 - After 10 consecutive losses the Atlanta Braves win their first game of the season 3 - 1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Atlanta's 0-10 start is the worst in National League history.
- 2000 - MLB owners vote to approve the $96 million sale of the Kansas City Royals to team chairman David Glass.
- 2001 - San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his 500th home run.
- 2008 - The San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies begin a 6-hour-and-16-minute, 22-inning game involving 15 pitchers and 658 pitches.
Births
- 1820 - Alexander Cartwright Hall of Famer (d. 1892)
- 1852 - Cap Anson, infielder, manager; Hall of Famer (d. 1922)
- 1863 - Charlie Ferguson, pitcher (d. 1888)
- 1864 - Jersey Bakely, pitcher (d. 1915)
- 1869 - John Grimes, pitcher (d. 1964)
- 1870 - Ad Yale, infielder (d. 1948)
- 1879 - Tom Needham, catcher (d. 1926)
- 1891 - Scott Perry, pitcher (d. 1959)
- 1907 - Bobby Stevens, infielder (d. 2005)
- 1917 - Stan Andrews, catcher (d. 1995)
- 1923 - Solly Hemus, infielder, manager
- 1937 - Roberto Peña, infielder (d. 1982)
- 1950 - Pedro García, infielder
- 1954 - Denny Walling, infielder
- 1955 - Tom Runnells, infielder, manager
- 1957 - Dave Huppert, catcher
- 1965 - Craig Worthington, infielder
- 1967 - Marquis Grissom, outfielder; All-Star
- 1969 - Jeff Ball, infielder
- 1971 - Keith Johnson, infielder
- 1972 - Gary Bennett, catcher
- 1979 - Jorge Piedra, outfielder
- 1981 - Ryan Raburn, infielder
- 1984 - Jed Lowrie, infielder
Deaths
- 1898 - Bobby Mathews, pitcher (b. 1851)
- 1912 - Ace Stewart, infielder (b. 1869)
- 1933 - Thomas Griffin, infielder (b. 1857)
- 1946 - Jack Quinn, pitcher (b. 1883)
- 1948 - Pat Deisel, catcher (b. 1876)
- 1970 - Dick Brown, catcher (b. 1935)
- 1973 - Vic Aldridge, pitcher (b. 1893)
- 1973 - Lefty Weinert, pitcher (b. 1902)
- 1980 - Ed Miller, infielder (b. 1888)
- 1983 - Dutch Leonard, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1909)
- 1994 - Walter Wilson, pitcher (b. 1913)
- 1996 - Bill Serena, infielder (b. 1924)