Today in MLB History April 17th

1820: Alexander Cartwright, considered by many the 'father' of the national pastime is born in New York City. This pioneer banker, who is given credit for establishing three strikes for an out and three outs for each half inning, will be elected into the Hall of Fame in 1938 after a review of his journals reveals his many contributions in developing and promoting the sport of baseball.

1892: In the first Sunday game in National League history, Cincinnati defeated St. Louis 5-1.

1904: Not charging admission but requiring fans to buy a scorecard, the Brooklyn Superbas are able to play their first Sunday game in spite of the Blue Laws.

1929: Babe Ruth The next day, in his first at bat against Red Ruffing, the Babe will hit a home run. Rounding second base, he'll doff his cap to Claire in the stands.

1934: At Ebbets Field, Casey Stengel makes his managerial debut, but his Dodgers lose 8-7 to the Braves.

1947: The Dodgers win 12-6 over the Braves at home as Jackie Robinson gets his first major league hit off Glenn Elliot.

1951: In his first major league game, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4 as the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-0.....Golf great Sam Snead tees off from home plate and hits the center field scoreboard at Wrigley before the Cubs home opener.

1953: Mickey Mantle hits the longest home run in Griffith Stadium history, a 565-feet shot off Chuck Stobbs of the Washington Senators. The Yanks win 7-3.

1960: On Easter Sunday, Frank Lane brings A.L. batting champ Harvey Kuenn to Cleveland and sends co-home run champ Rocky Colavito to Detroit. Colavito, an unparalleled fan favorite in Cleveland, will hit 173 home runs before returning to the Tribe on January 20, 1965. Kuenn will be traded to the Giants after one season.

1964: The New York Mets lost their first game at Shea Stadium, 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell hit the first homer at Shea.

1968: The A's debut at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum by losing 4-1 to Baltimore. During the game, the dirt covering a shallow metal dome under the pitching mound, is kicked aside exposing the steel frame, so the mound is covered between innings.

1969: Bill Stoneman of Montreal pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in only the 10th game of the Expos' existence.

1976: Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs and added a single in an 18-6, 10-inning victory over the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Hitting .167 going into the game, Schmidt connected twice off Rick Reuschel. once off Rick's brother, Paul, and once off Darold Knowles. He drove in eight runs.....At George Steinbrenner’s insistence, Thurman Munson is named Yankee captain. The relucant backstop is the first player to assume the role since Lou Gehrig was honored with position in 1935.

1979: At Oakland, only 653 fans show up to watch the A's beat the Mariners 6-5.

1983: Nolan Ryan ans seven Expos in a 6-3 Houston win to become only the second pitcher to record 3,500 career strikeouts.

1988: After ten consecutive losses the Braves win their first game of the season 3-1 over the Dodgers.

1989: Kent Tekulve pitches two shutout innings in the Reds 3-2, ten-inning win over the Dodgers to pass Hoyt Wilhelm as the major leagues' all-time leader in relief appearances with 1,019.

1993: Three Orioles end up on third base after Chad Curtis traps a line drive in center with the bases loaded. Angels catcher John Orton walks over to the bag and tags all three runners. Only one is entitled to the bag and the double play ends the inning. California third baseman Rene Gonzales observes, Harry's Radiator was the last team I was on where I saw something stupid like that happen.

2006: In front of 36,867 Shea Stadium patrons, Pedro Martinez becomes the 103rd pitcher in major league history to win 200 games as the Mets beat the Braves, 4-3. The Dominican ace has only loss 84 contests at the time of reaching the milestone putting him only behind Bob Caruthers (74), Whitey Ford (79) and Lefty Grove (83).