Portal:Baseball/Anniversaries/April 15

Events

• 1909 - Before an Opening Day crowd of 30,000 at the Polo Grounds, New York Giants pitcher Red Ames hurls a no-hitter for nine innings against the Brooklyn Superbas, surrenders a hit with one out in the tenth, then loses the game 3 - 0 in the 13th. The Giants outfield has no putouts.
• 1915 - New York Giants pitcher Rube Marquard no-hits the Brooklyn Robins, winning 2 - 0.
• 1942 - Hiram Bithorn becomes the first Puerto Rican to play in Major League baseball.
• 1947 - Brooklyn Dodgers rookie Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play Major League baseball in the 20th century.
• 1954 - The Baltimore Orioles play their first game after moving from St. Louis.
• 1954 - Milwaukee Braves rookie Hank Aaron collects the first Major League hit.
• 1958 - The first Major League game is played in California as the San Francisco Giants defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8 - 0 at Seals Stadium in front of 23,448 fans.
• 1968 - At the Astrodome, the New York Mets and Houston Astros play the longest game in National League history, a six-hour and six-minute contest, in which each team had 79 at-bats and 11 hits, that ends in the 24th inning when Bob Aspromonte's grounder goes through the legs of shortstop Al Weis.
• 1972 - Oakland Athletics outfielder Reggie Jackson sports Major League baseball's first mustache since Frenchy Bordagaray in 1936.
• 1977 - Hank Aaron becomes the first player to have his uniform number retired by two teams as the Atlanta Braves retire his No. 44 during a pre-game ceremony; the Milwaukee Brewers had previously retired Aaron's number.
• 1983 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Milt Wilcox is one out away from a perfect game when pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston singles, and Wilcox settles for a 6 - 0 one-hitter over the Chicago White Sox.
• 1987 - Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Juan Nieves throws the first no-hitter in team history, winning 7 - 0 against the Baltimore Orioles.
• 1993 - Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson earns his 2,000th victory.
• 1993 - Boston Red Sox veteran Andre Dawson became the 25th player to hit 400 home runs.
• 1997 - The 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking Major League baseall's color barrier is celebrated before 54,047 at Shea Stadium during a game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. U.S. President Bill Clinton and Jackie's widow, Rachel Robinson, both speak during the 35-minute presentation, and acting Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig announces that Robinson's number 42 will be retired in perpetuity for every team.
• 2000 - Baltimore Orioles infielder Cal Ripken, Jr. collects his 3,000th hit.

Births

• 1862 - Sy Sutcliffe, catcher (d. 1893)
• 1864 - Hub Collins, infielder (d. 1892)
• 1867 - Cinders O'Brien, pitcher (d. 1892)
• 1877 - Ed Abbaticchio, infielder (d. 1957)
• 1886 - King Cole, pitcher (d. 1916)
• 1893 - Jack Sheehan, infielder (d. 1987)
• 1894 - Red Gunkel, pitcher (d. 1954)
• 1897 - Walt Lynch, catcher (d. 1976)
• 1910 - Eddie Mayo, infielder; All-Star (d. 2006)
• 1915 - Joe Hoover, infielder (d. 1965)
• 1917 - Elmer Gedeon, outfielder (d. 1944)
• 1931 - Ed Bailey, catcher; All-Star (d. 2007)
• 1940 - Willie Davis, outfielder; All-Star
• 1940 - Woodie Fryman, pitcher; All-Star
• 1945 - Ted Sizemore, infielder
• 1949 - Ray Bare, pitcher (d. 1994)
• 1950 - Dick Sharon, outfielder
• 1956 - Barry Cort, pitcher
• 1960 - Mike Diaz, infielder
• 1968 - Billy Brewer, pitcher
• 1969 - Jeromy Burnitz, outfielder; All-Star
• 1972 - Ricky Otero, outfielder
• 1974 - Reynaldo Garcia, pitcher
• 1977 - Paul Phillips, catcher
• 1978 - Milton Bradley, outfielder; All-Star
• 1978 - Tim Corcoran, pitcher
• 1980 - Yoel Hernández, pitcher
• 1982 - Michael Aubrey, infielder
• 1985 - John Danks, pitcher
• 1985 - Aaron Laffey, pitcher

Deaths

• 1937 - Emmett McCann, infielder (b. 1902)
• 1957 - Jack Coombs, pitcher, manager (b. 1882)
• 1957 - Ernie Padgett, infielder (b. 1899)
• 1957 - Rube Schauer, pitcher (b. 1891)
• 1961 - Nick Cullop, pitcher (b. 1887)
• 1961 - Jess Doyle, pitcher (b. 1898)
• 1970 - Ripper Collins, infielder; All-Star (b. 1904)
• 1971 - Mickey Harris, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1917)
• 1975 - Dutch Schliebner, infielder (b. 1891)
• 1976 - Floyd Newkirk, pitcher (b. 1908)
• 1983 - Bill Sarni, catcher (b. 1927)
• 1992 - Ralph Weigel, catcher (b. 1921)
• 1999 - Bernie Snyder, infielder (b. 1913)
• 2007 - Charlie Marshall, catcher (b. 1919)