Today In Baseball: April 4, 2008

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Friday, April 4, 2008All Times Eastern

No data available for this date.

Away	Home	Time (ET)	Away Probable	Home Probable
White Sox	Tigers	1:05 p.m.	Contreras (0-0)	Robertson (0-0)
Giants	Brewers	2:05 p.m.	Sanchez (0-0)	Villanueva (0-0)
Astros	Cubs	2:20 p.m.	Sampson (0-0)	Hill (0-0)
D-Backs	Rockies	4:05 p.m.	Owings (0-0)	Redman (0-0)
Mariners	Orioles	7:05 p.m.	Washburn (0-0)	Trachsel (0-0)
Rays	Yankees	7:05 p.m.	Sonnanstine (0-0)	Kennedy (0-0)
Phillies	Reds	7:10 p.m.	Kendrick (0-0)	Fogg (0-0)
Pirates	Marlins	7:10 p.m.	Morris (0-0)	Olsen (0-0)
Red Sox	Blue Jays	7:15 p.m.	Wakefield (0-0)	Marcum (0-0)
Mets	Braves	7:30 p.m.	Maine (0-0)	Hudson (0-0)
Royals	Twins	8:10 p.m.	Bale (0-0)	Baker (0-0)
Nationals	Cardinals	8:15 p.m.	Perez (0-0)	Looper (0-0)
Indians	Athletics	10:05 p.m.	Byrd (0-0)	Duchscherer (0-0)
Dodgers	Padres	10:05 p.m.	Kuroda (0-0)	Germano (0-0)
Rangers	Angels	10:05 p.m.	Gabbard (0-0)	Moseley (0-0)

Today in Baseball History

• 1948 Philadelphia A's manager Connie Mack, who is 84-years-old, challenges Clark Griffith, the 78-year-old owner of the Senators, to a foot race from home plate to first base. The contest ends in a photo finish tie.
• 1974 In front a crowd of 52,000 at Riverfront Stadium on Opening Day in Cincinnati, Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's all-time home run record of 714 by hitting a first-inning two-run homer off Jack Billingham. The Atlanta front office had considered keeping 'Hammerin' Hank' on the bench during road games so the slugger could try to equal the mark in front of the hometown fans, but commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered the Braves to put outfielder into the lineup for at least two of the three games.
• 1988 In a 10-6 victory over the Expos, Kevin McReynolds and Darryl Strawberry hit two home runs apiece helping the Mets to establish an Opening Day record with six homers. The 'Strawman's' second shot, estimated at 525 feet, hits above the dome’s light rim, and is believed to be the longest dinger ever hit at Olympic Stadium.
• 1988 Blue Jay designated hitter George Bell becomes the first player to hit three home runs on Opening Day helping Toronto defeat the Royals 5-3. All of the homers are off Bret Saberhagen.
• 1989 On Opening Day, Tommy John ties record by playing in 26 seasons. The Yankee veteran hurler beats the Twins, 4-2 for his 287th win putting him 19th overall in career wins.
• 1993 At Camden Yards, William Jefferson Clinton becomes the first U.S. president to throw the first pitch of the season from the pitcher's mound.
• 1994 A total of 56,706 fans attend Opening Day making it the largest crowd ever at new Yankee Stadium.
• 1994 President Clinton throws out the first ball and 'El Presidente' Dennis Martinez throws the first pitch as the Indians defeat the Mariners, 4-3 In 11 innings in the first game ever played at Jacobs Field. With Bob Feller, the author of the only Opening Day no-hitter game in major league history in attendance, Mariner southpaw Randy Johnson holds the tribe hitless for the first seven innings.
• 1994 Playing his 2,403rd game at first base, Indian infielder Eddie Murray becomes baseball's all-time leader in games played at that position.
• 1994 On Opening Day at Wrigley Field, Cub rookie Tuffy Rhodes becomes first player to homer in his first three at-bats starting the season. The three solo round-trippers are off Doc Gooden, the winning pitcher in the Mets 12-8 victory.
• 1998 Mark McGwire begins what will be a historic season homering in the fourth consecutive game to tie Willie Mays' National League record for most homers to start a season. Big Mac's three-run blast in the sixth inning helps the Cardinals beat the Padres, 8-6.
• 1999 Opening Day starts in Mexico, making it the first time baseball's first pitch comes outside the U.S. or Canada as the Rockies defeat the National League's defending champs Padres.
• 2001 For the first time since June 7, 1995, the Indians do not have a sellout crowd at Jacobs Field. The streak of 455 games of consecutive full houses is a major league record.
• 2001 Throwing the earliest no-hitter in major league history, Hideo Nomo blanks the Orioles, 3-0 at Camden Yards in his first start in a Red Sox uniform. Second baseman Mike Lansing makes an outstanding play with one out in the ninth to preserve the Japanese-born hurler's second career no-hitter.
• 2003 At Cincinnati’s new Great American Ball Park, Sammy Sosa becomes the first Latin American player and 18th overall to hit 500 career home runs. The milestone is reached in the seventh inning as 'Slammin' Sammy' drives a Scott Sullivan 1-2 pitch into the right-field seats.
• 2003 The Coneheads stage a reunion at Shea Stadium as David Cone returns to the mound after taking a year off and hurls an impressive 5 innings of shutout ball in the Mets, 4-0, victory over the Expos. In memory of one of the founders of this unique idea which started in 1988, the group hangs a banner featuring a picture of Scott Saber, who was killed during the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, smiling in his Conehead.

Players Born on April 4th

	Player		Year Born	Years Played
	Cameron Maybin		1987	2007
	Casey Daigle		1981	2004-2006
	Jason Ellison		1978	2003-2007
	Eric Valent		1977	2001-2005
	Scott Rolen		1975	1996-2007
	Jeff Sparks		1972	1999-2000
	Guillermo Garcia		1972	1998-1999
	Matt Wagner		1972	1996
	Mark Strittmatter		1969	1998
	Carlos Reyes		1969	1994-2003
	Jim Dedrick		1968	1995
	Brad Komminsk		1961	1983-1991
	John Lickert		1960	1981
	Pedro Hernandez		1959	1979-1982
	Tom Herr		1956	1979-1991
	Leon Hooten		1948	1974
	Ray Fosse		1947	1967-1979
	Mike Epstein		1943	1966-1974
	Ron Locke		1942	1964
	Jim Fregosi		1942	Manager
	Tom Fisher		1942	1967
	Eddie Watt		1941	1966-1975
	Gary Geiger		1937	1958-1970
	Al Kenders		1937	1961
	Ted Wieand		1933	1958-1960
	Tookie Gilbert		1929	1950-1953
	Frank Smith		1928	1950-1956
	Don Hasenmayer		1927	1945-1946
	Gil Hodges		1924	1943-1963

[phils phanatic]

happy birthday scott rolen!

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• Bill Hall homered twice and had a career-high six RBIs to help Milwaukee beat San Francisco 13-4 in its home opener.
• Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks set a franchise record and tied a modern-day National League record by scoring a run in his 17th straight game dating to last season. He went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Weeks is one shy of the modern (since 1900) mark of 18, by the New York Yankees’ Red Rolfe in 1939 and Cleveland’s Kenny Lofton in 2000.

— Chase Utley picked up where he left off last season, driving in three runs with a pair of homers in Philadelphia’s 8-4 victory over the Reds. The power-hitting second baseman is 13-for-22 in his last six games against Cincinnati, with seven homers and 13 RBIs. He hit a two-run homer off Josh Fogg and a solo shot off Jeremy Affeldt for his 100th career homer.
— Micah Owings, Diamondbacks, struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed just one run and two hits over 6 2-3 innings in Arizona’s 8-1 win over Colorado.
— Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers, held San Diego to three hits in seven innings, leading Los Angeles to a 7-1 win in his major league debut.
— Mark Reynolds, Diamondbacks, went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs as Arizona beat Colorado 8-1.
— A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox, drove in five runs with three hits, including a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning to help Chicago beat Detroit 8-5.
— Ramon Hernandez, Orioles, broke out of a hitless funk by going 3-for-4 with a home run in Baltimore’s 7-4 win over Seattle.
— Mike Jacobs, Marlins, homered off reliever Franquelis Osoria leading off the bottom of the ninth to give Florida a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh. Jacobs went 3-for-5 and scored three runs.
— Cliff Floyd, Rays, went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in Tampa Bay’s 13-4 rout of the Yankees.
— Kevin Millar, Orioles, went 3-for-4 with an RBI in a 7-4 victory over Seattle.

[Korrupt]

I regretfully didn't use Owings for his first start, especially at Colorado, because I was afraid of a bad outing. Ended up missing out on a great start, strikeouts, and a win.