Today in MLB History April 14th

1910: William Howard Taft becomes the first president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington. Walter Johnson catches it, then pitches the first of his 14 Opening Day games. An easy fly hit into the overflow crowd becomes a ground-rule double, marring a 3-0 Big Train pitching gem.

1915: The Athletics' Herd Pennock comes within one out of pitching the first Opening Day no-hitter. A scratch single by Harry Hopper is the only Red Sox hit in a 5-0 loss.

1917: Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns.

1925: In the first regular-season Cubs game to be broadcast on the radio, Quin Ryan announces the contest from the grandstand roof for WGN. Grover Alexander wins for the Cubs 8-2 over the Pirates and adds a single, double, and home run.....The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one team on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors, four of them by first baseman George Sisler.....Two future Hall of Famers make their major league debuts for the A's in the same game. Lefty Grove starts against Boston and leaves in the fourth after walking four and striking out nobody. He gives up five runs on six hits. In the eighth, Mickey Cochrane pinch-hits for catcher Cy Perkins, singles, and stays in behind the plate while the A's go on to score nine runs in the last four innings to win 9-8 in ten innings. Grove, known as Groves in Baltimore, is also listed that way in the New York Times box score. Grove will become the first pitcher to lead the A.L. in strikeouts and walks in the same year.

1931: At Braves Field, Robin's pitcher Jack Quinn becomes the oldest pitcher to start an Opening Day game. The 47-year old Pennsylvanian gets tagged with the lost as Boston beats Brooklyn, 7-4.

1946: Manager Mel Ott of the Giants hits his 511th and final home run on Opening Day, an 8-4 home victory over the Phillies. The next day Ott will injure his knee diving for a ball and play only occasionally thereafter.

1955: Elston Howard becomes the first black to wear a Yankees uniform. He singles in his first at-bat, against the Red Sox, as the Yanks win 8-4.

1964: Sandy Koufax throws his ninth complete game without allowing a walk as he beats St. Louis 4-0 in his only start as an Opening Day pitcher.

1967: Red Sox rookie Billy Rohr debuts at Yankee Stadium. He startles everyone by taking a no-hitter to the ninth inning, but Elston Howard lines a 3-2 pitch for a single to right-center with two outs. Carl Yastrzemski had kept the no-hitter alive with a spectacular grab of a Tom Tresh drive to deep left field to open the ninth. Rohr wins the game 3-0, but he will pitch only once more for Boston before returning to the minors.

1968: Jim Bunning's first win with Pittsburgh, 3-0 at Los Angeles, is his 40th career shutout and includes his 1,000th N.L. strikeout, making him the first pitcher since Cy Young with 1,000 in each league.

1969: The first major league game outside the United States was played in Montreal's Jarry Park with the Expos defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.

1990: Bret Saberhagen gets the win and Mark Davis earns the save as Kansas City beats Toronto 3-1. It is the first time ever that two reigning Cy Young Award winners have figured in the same victory.....Oriole Cal Ripken begins a streak which leads to a major league record for the most errorless games [95] and total chances [431] by a shortstop.

1991: Nolan Ryan becomes the 12th pitcher to surpass 5,000 innings pitched and gets plenty of hitting help as Texas whips Baltimore 15-3.

1993: The first-ever Australian battery comes from Milwaukee. Left-hander Graeme Lloyd and backstop Dave Nilsson, who make up half of the total number of Australian players to ever make the major leagues, make history in the Brewers' 12-2 loss to the Angels.

1998: Mark McGwire hits three home runs, breaking an eight-game homerless drought, as the Cardinals rout the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-5. After tying Willie Mays' major league record by homering in the first four games of the season, McGwire had not homered since April 4.

2006: Thanks to the outstanding pitching of Brett Meyers, and the Phillies bullpen, Philadelphia beats the Rockies, 1-0. It is the first time Colorado has lost a 1-0 game in the 10 years of playing at Coors Field.