April 14, 1969: The Expos Take Down The Cards In Their Inaugural Home Opener

     On April 14, 1969, a regular season Major League Baseball game was  played on foreign soil for the first time as the Montreal Expos kicked off their home schedule at Jarry Park with an exciting  8-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. 29,184 fans packed the stands to witness the historic occasion.

     Larry Jaster got the nod to start the contest for the Expos. One year earlier he had been pitching in St. Louis, then ended up being taken in the expansion draft. The first batter that stood at the plate in Montreal was future Hall of Famer Lou Brock who lined out to second base. The first hit on Canadian soil came off the bat of Curt Flood before Jaster retired the next two. In the bottom of the first Mack Jones hit a 3-run shot off of Nelson Briles to give the Expos their first lead of the day. With the fans still buzzing from the bomb, Jones came up in the second with two men on and legged out a triple to extend the lead to 5-0. Jaster looked to be helping his own cause in the third when he picked up an RBI single to put the squad from Montreal up 6-0. The crowd roared as the Expos took the commanding lead, but they would soon be brought back down to earth.

    Jaster was cruising through the Cardinals lineup until the fourth inning when two errors and a single loaded the bases for the light hitting Dal Maxvill who proceeded to hit a grand slam. Jaster looked to be settling down when he set the next two men down, but the fourth inning implosion wasn't over just yet. Curt Flood laced a single into left, then moved over to third on a balk.Vada Pinson knocked Flood in and the Montreal lead was cut down to 6-5. The next man up was Joe Torre and he crushed a Jaster pitch that gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead. Jaster's day was over and Dan McGinn was the name that the Expos manager Gene Mauch called on. McGinn retired the next batter, but damage had been done.

     Despite the fact that he had already given up six runs Briles was still on the bump for the Cards to begin the fourth inning. He gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the frame. With Mack Jones on his way to the plate Red Schoendienst  was not about to watch him tag Briles again, so he called on Gary Waslewski to put the fire out. Waslewski put Jones on with an intentional walk in hopes of setting up a double play or even a play at the plate, but disaster followed when he fired a wild pitch passed the Cardinals backstop Tim McCarver which brought Maury Wills trotting in to score from third. McGinn not only held the Cardinals batters in check the rest of the game, he also came up with the game winning hit in the seventh. McGinn's big hit was a single that brought third baseman Coco Laboy in to score. Behind McGinn's performance on the mound and at the plate, the fans in Montreal got to witness a win as their newly christened franchise walked away victorious.

You can check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON196904140.shtml

This game garnered international attention with more than 200 reporters on hand. Before the contest political dignitaries along with club officials were announced. The loudest ovation that was heard during the pregame festivities came when Stan "The Man" Musial was introduced to the crowd. Musial was set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame later that same year.

April 13, 1954: Willie's Back

     On April 13, 1954, a sixth inning 425 foot bomb off the bat of Willie Mays led the Giants to a 4-3 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers on Opening Day at the Polo Grounds in New York. Mays had missed the entire '53 season while serving in the military and made it be known that the Giants were going to be a team to reckon with. Coming into the game the Brooklyn club was picked as the odds on favorite to win repeat as Champions of the National League. Mays and company had other ideas as they took the National League Crown by 5 games in what was an MVP campaign for Mays. The Giants then went onto win the World Series.

      The big fly by Mays was the fifth of the contest. The Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella led the second inning off with a solo shot, watched the lead disappear in the third when Alvin Dark hit a two-run dinger. Campanella responded with another solo shot t lead off the fourth. The score stayed knotted at 2 until Hank Thompson gave one a ride into seatland in the bottom of the fifth to give the Giants a 3-2 edge. It was an edge that didn't last long. In the bottom of the sixth, Gil Hodges plated a run with a sac fly and once again the game was tied. This simply set the table for Mays who led the sixth off with his bomb.

     All the runs were charged to Carl Erskine, who at the time owned the World Series strikeout record with 14. It just wasn't his day. He did complete the inning before being replaced by Clem Labine, while Sal Maglie held onto the lead for the Giants. Maglie didn't make it easy. In the seventh he retired one man before loading the bases. Marv Grissom took over on the bump and was able to retire both Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson in succession. It was the biggest threat as Grissom held the Dodgers in check until the final out was recorded.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1195404130.shtml

April 12, 1958: Bob Pettit Leads The Hawks To The Top Of The Mountain

     On April 12, 1958, with a 110-109 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Finals the St. Louis Hawks were crowned Champions of the NBA. The Celtics fought an admirable battle, but they could not stop Bob Pettit who knocked down record setting 50 points in the contest. When the final buzzer sounded the fans in St. Louis rushed the floor as Pettit was carried off by his teammates.

     After splitting the first two games in St. Louis, the Hawks traveled to Boston where they took the third game. The biggest loss of that contest for Boston was not on the scoreboard as Bill Russell had severely sprained his ankle during the battle. Russell tried his damnedest to contribute from there, but the injury was too much for him to overcome. Still yet, Boston won the fourth game to even the series at two all before St. Louis bounced back with a 102-100 victory in game five. The series was headed back to the Arena in St. Louis where the Hawks would take the crown.

     The sixth and final game of the series had Russell playing with a heavily taped ankle, some newspapers referred to it as a cast, just to give you an idea as to how heavily taped it was. Despite having their leader hampered by injury the Celtics battled back from as much as 10-point deficit and even grabbed a lead early in the final quarter. They simply couldn't stop Bob Pettit who scored 19 of his 50 points in that fourth quarter. Pettit put the Hawks ahead for good with 6 minutes and 16 seconds to go in the game. Then three times after  Pettit put the Hawks in front, the Celtics came within one point of tying the ballgame. Every time that happened Pettit would knock down another basket. Pettit's last basket came with just 16 seconds to go to give St. Louis a 110-107 lead. Bill Sharman knocked down the last two points for Boston before St. Louis' Slater Martin dribbled the ball  as the clock ran to zeroes. The Hawks were Champions.

Check out the box score here: http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/195804120STL.html

April 11, 1989: Hextall Scores!!!!

     On April 11, 1989, Philadelphia Flyers netminder Ron Hextall became the first goalie to score a goal in an NHL playoff game, when he sent the puck flying into an empty net to cap to off an 8-5 victory over the Washington Capitals in Landover Maryland.  In 1997, New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur joined Hextall in the exclusive club when he scored against the Montreal Canadiens in another first-round. The victory gave the Flyers a 3-2 advantage in the series, and they would go onto win the next game, then knock the Penguins out in a seven game battle before meeting the Montreal Canadiens who knocked them out in six games in the Conference Finals.

Watch history be made here:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PLa3q9V9j4

April 10, 1959: Nellie Fox Breaks Out The Big Stick On Opening Day

     On April 10, 1959, on Opening Day in Detroit, White Sox second baseman and future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox began his MVP season by going 5 for 7 which included a game winning home run in the 14th inning to give Chicago a 9-7 victory over the Tigers.

     More than 38,000 fans packed Briggs Stadium in hopes of seeing their hometown boys bring home a winner. They were witnessing a seesaw battle that had the score knotted at 4 until the seventh inning, when one of the Tigers newest additions Larry Doby dropped a line drive with the bases loaded that allowed all three runners to score. Chicago was up 7-4 until the bottom of the eighth when Charlie Maxwell, who had lost in spot in left field to Doby came up big with a pinch hit three-run shot to tie it back up.

     As the battled entered extra frames the Tigers had several opportunities to win the ballgame. Their best shot at victory came in the bottom of the 10th when they loaded the bases with no outs. The White Sox pitcher Gerry Staley picked up an out on a fielders choice at the plate, then induced third baseman Eddie Yost into an inning ending double play. And the beat goes on.

     The two teams went back and forth failing to score a run until that 14th inning rolled around. Don Mossi was on the bump for the Tigers and retired the first two batters he faced in quick succession, before Sammy Esposito lined a single into left. Esposito was only in the game after being called on to pinch-run in the eighth. Then came the hero of the day Nellie Fox who pounced on the second offering by Mossi and knocked it over the wall in right. The Sox still had work to do in the bottom of the inning, and they called on Ray Moore to get the job done. After issuing a leadoff walk, Moore set the next three men down to secure the White Six victory.
   
     The Opening Day heroics by Fox were something that had to be unexpected to say the least. He had come to the plate 623 times in '58 without connecting on a big fly, then in his seventh at bat of the '59 season he put a charge into it that led to victory. The beginning of that season marked an MVP campaign with Fox and the Sox in  the World Series. While he only hit 35 bombs in his career, Fox was considered to be one of the best defensive players in the game. He took home the first ever Gold Glove Award at the second base position which was something he would do two more times that included the MVP campaign in '59.  Over the course of 19 seasons Fox picked up 2,663 hits. During that time he led the American League in hits four times, had the fewest strikeouts 10 times. My favorite number when it comes to his resume is in 9,232 trips to the plate he only stuck out 216 times. Unfortunately, Fox didn't see the day was enshrined, however, he will live forever as a member of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET195904100.shtml
Fox's career numbers: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/foxne01.shtml
And last but not least, if you would like to know more about the life and career of Nellie Fox you can read about it here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/46572ecd

April 9, 1978: George Gervin Wins The Scoring Title With a Photo Finish

     On April 9, 1978, in a 153-132 loss to the Jazz in New Orleans, San Antonio Spurs big man George "The Iceman" Gervin locked down the NBA scoring title with a 63-point-effort on the final day of the season. Gervin came into the game knowing that Denver's David Thompson had drained 73 points earlier that day, and knew that the only way he would obtain the title was to score at least 59 points. Thompson's Nuggets also lost 139-137 to the Pistons in Detroit. With nothing to gain or lose as far as the playoff picture was concerned, both teams  put the focal point on their stars charge to the coveted title, that capped the season off with a classic shootout that decided the closest scoring race ever.

    At the time Thompson's 73-point-effort was the third highest total in the history of the league; today it sits sixth. He accomplished it by hitting on 28 of 38 from the floor, and converting on 17 of 20 free throws. Thompson scored 53 points in the first half alone, and looked like he might just have locked down the title. Meanwhile, Gervin's coach had a gameplan that was very similar to the game plan that was used by Denver's coach: Get Gervin the Ball.

     Gervin also scored 53 in the first half of his contest; 20 in the first quarter, and another 33 in the second. He, like Thompson was a one man wrecking crew and the ball wasn't done swinging just yet.  Gervin locked down the title by draining his 59th point midway through the third, then knocked down four more points before sitting out the rest of the game. The Spurs coach Doug Moe called Gervin's effort phenomenal and said he he knew that if he would have left him in he would have scored at least 80.

     This was the first of four scoring titles for Gervin who forged a Hall of Fame career. Before he arrived in the NBA, Gervin was named to ABA's All Star squad four times, then later was named to the NBA's All Star squad 9 times. During the 1980 All Star game Gervin took home MVP honors. The Ice Man scored a total of 26,595 points before his career came to a close, and 63 of  them came on this day as he grabbed a hold of the NBA scoring title.

Check out the box score: http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/197804090NOJ.html

April 8, 1986: Jim Presley Kicks Off The Season With a Bang

     On April 8, 1986, with a reported 42,121 fans in the stands at the Kingdome in Seattle, Jim Presley led the Mariners to a dramatic 8-4 Opening Day win over the Angels. The Mariners came into the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-2 before Presley tied it up with a two-run shot off of Donnie Moore that sent the game into extras. In the bottom of the tenth Presley came to the plate with the bases loaded and crushed a walkoff grand slam to win the ballgame.

     The Angels looked like they were going to roll to victory after Bobby Grich led the game off with a home run. Three batters after the long ball by Grich, Reggie Jackson hit a two run shot. Gorman Thomas put the Mariners on the board with a bomb in the fourth, and they picked up another run in the fifth. Seattle's starting pitcher Mike Moore ran into real trouble in the seventh when he hit a man with the bases loaded to extend the Angels lead to 4-2.  Then came the heroics by Presley that sent the fans home happy.
 
     Presley spent 8 years in the big leagues; six of them with the Mariners. In that time he hit .247 along with 135 home runs. 89 of the homers came during a three year window that began in '85 when he hit 28. He followed that season up with 27 in '86 with the first two coming on Opening Day, and hit another 24 in '87. From there his numbers tapered off a bit, but he did swing the stick for several more years. When his career came to a close he turned his attention to coaching. He is currently the hitting coach for the Baltimore Orioles. While Presley's career is not one that led to Cooperstown, it was a career that came with many great memories, which included two bombs on Opening Day in 1986.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA198604080.shtml
Check out Presley's career numbers here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/preslji01.shtml