Where fore art thou baseball? Do you miss baseball? If you are anything like me, you are. I love baseball, always have, always will, despite all of the problems, scandals, cheating and steroids. The essence of the game remains pure. Opening Day was supposed to be Thursday. We should be knee deep in clutch hits, close plays at the plate and catches at the wall. Instead, there is only silence. That silence to me is deafening. To ease some of the pain, let’s take a look back in history for baseball’s greatest opening day games.
#1. Jackie Robinson, Dodgers, April 15, 1947
This wasn’t just any Opening Day. It was a day that changed baseball, and society at large, forever. Robinson made his major league debut that day, breaking baseball’s color barrier. There is a reason every major league team retired jersey number 42. If you have never really looked into this ground breaking event, you should. It is appropriate that Robinson scored the winning run that day. No matter what happens on opening days in the future, this date stands alone as baseball’s greatest Opening Day game ever.
#2 The No-Hitter, April 16, 1940
If you are the only person that has ever done anything in all of history, you have to take notice. Such is the case with Bob Feller. In only his second season of a hall-of-fame career, Feller took the mound against the White Sox in Chicago. On a typical windy Chicago day, Feller pitched a no-hitter, the only no-no pitched on Opening Day in major league history. Here we are some 80 years later, and it still hasn’t been done since. You have to tip your cap to a once-in-a-lifetime performance such as that.
#3 Babe Ruth, Yankees, April 18, 1923
This game is the classic example of truth being better than fiction. Image the scene: the first game ever played in the original Yankee Stadium. Of course, that stadium is nicknamed the House that Ruth Built. Ruth wasted no time laying the foundation. His three run homer was the difference in a 4-1 win over Boston, the team that had given Ruth away. The Yankees would go on to win the first of their 27 World Championships that season. See, too good to be true, right? But it happened and this game definitely qualifies as one of baseball’s greatest opening day games.
#4 Henry Aaron, Braves, April 4 and 8, 1974
714. Most everyone knows the significance of that number. It was the number of home runs hit by the legendary Babe Ruth. But, on April 4, 1974, that number was tied by another of baseball’s greats: Henry Aaron. And it didn’t take him long to do it. He launched the historic drive in the very first inning in the game in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. But the drama wasn’t done. Four days later at the Braves’ Opening Day game in Atlanta, Aaron broke the record, homering off the Dodgers’ Al Downing. History in the making on two different nights. What more could one ask for?
#5 Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, March 31, 2013
There have been more than a few shut outs pitched on Opening Day, but none were like this game. Kershaw took the mound that day against the rival Giants and pitched a complete game shut out. But as good as he was pitching, it was Kershaw’s bat that won the game. When he came to the plate in the eighth inning, there was no score. Kershaw proceeded to hit the first pitch he saw for a home run. It was his first, and to this day, only, home run of his career. He completed the gem in the ninth to set himself in the pantheon of greatest Opening Day performances.
#6 George Bell, Blue Jays, April 4, 1988
)
Hitting three home runs in a game is rare. It is even more so on Opening Day. It has happened only four times in history. But the first to do something is always special and that honor goes to George Bell. Bell hit all of his homers off Royals’ ace Bret Saberhagen, a two-time Cy Young Award winner. Bell was also almost completely responsible for the Jays 5-3 win, driving in 4 runs. Bell’s performance definitely qualifies as one of baseball’s greatest Opening Day games.
#7 Highest Scoring Game, April 24, 1925
There have been plenty of high scoring games on Opening Day, but nothing like this. The St. Louis Browns took on the Cleveland Indians and they made history. They combined to score the most runs on Opening Day in MLB history. Up 13-9 in the eighth inning, the Browns gave up a dozen runs and went on to lose 21-14. When you see the total, you probably would think the Cardinals and Browns were playing an NFL game. Not so and this remains one of the greatest Opening Day games.
Baseball is definitely being missed as silence rules the diamond. We will get through the struggle. Taking a walk down memory lane of baseball’s greatest Opening Day games helped me and I hope helped you, too. Remember, we are all in this together and we will hear the crack of the bat very soon.
Follow me on Twitter @kevin62wilsea and read this story if you want more baseball content. Also, take a look here if you are into fantasy sports of any kind.
