Today in MLB History, April 8th

1934: At Shibe Park, 15,000 fans witness the first legal baseball game between major league teams played on a Sunday in the city of Philadelphia. In a hometown exhibition game, the Phillies beat the A's, 8-1.

1963: The Tigers claim young pitcher Denny McLain from the White Sox for the $25,000 waiver price.....After being promised the Secretary of Labor would intervened to mediate their dispute, the D.C. Stadium striking vendors do not appear at the ballpark and President Kennedy doesn't have to cross a picket line to toss out the ceremonial first pitch. The Senators lose the game 3-1 and JFK's suggestion of playing Tom Brown doesn't pan out as the rookie first baseman fans three times.

1966: At the Astrodome, the Astros and Dodgers play baseball's first game on synthetic grass. Thanks to the Monsanto chemical company, who proposed using an experimental playing surface of nylon grass, the plan to play on an all-dirt field, necessitated by the need to paint the dome's glass panes to reduce the glare which prevented natural grass from growing, was alleviated by the use of 'Astro Turf'.

1968: Opening Day is postponed because of the pending funderal of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

1969: Expansion teams Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Pilots make things look easy by winning their first regular-season games. The Expos win by scoring 11 runs against the Mets to win, 11-10. The Mets have yet to win an opener.

1969: After a long recovery following a 1967 beaning, Tony Conigliaro starts his first game for Boston. His dramatic two-run 10th-inning home run gives the Red Sox a brief lead, and his 12th-inning run wins it.

1974: In the fourth inning of the Braves home opener against the Dodgers, Hank Aaron parks an Al Dowling pitch in the left-center field stands for career home run No. 715, breaking Ruth's once thought to be unapproachable record. With former teammate Eddie Mathews watching as Braves manager, that makes 1,227 home runs for just two players. The Braves win, 7-4.

1975: Frank Robinson, making his debut as the Indians player-manager, homers in his first at bat (as a DH) during a 5-3 win over the Yankees. It is Robinson's eighth Opening Day home run, setting a major league record.

1985: White Sox Opening Day starter Tom Seaver establishes a big league record with his 15th Opening Day assignment. The previous record of 14 was held by Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators.

1986: Facing Nolan Ryan of the Astros, Giant rookie Will Clark homers in his first major league at-bat.

1987: Faced with a storm of public criticism, the Dodgers fire vice president Al Campanis for racially insensitive remarks he made on the April 6 telecast of ABC-TV's Nightline news show. Campanis had said that blacks may lack some of the necessities to be a field manager or general manager.

1989: One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott makes his major league debut but lasts only 4.2 innings in California's 7-0 loss to Seattle. Abbott, who bypassed the minors completely after starring at the University of Michigan, will finish the season 12-12 with a 3.92 ERA.

1993: Carlos Baerga is the first player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The Cleveland second baseman clouts a two-run shot against Yankee southpaw Steve Howe in the seventh inning and finishes the frame with a home run from the left side of the plate against Steve Farr. He has two other hits in the 15-5 rout by the Indians.

1994: Braves lefthander Kent Mercker no-hits the Dodgers, 6-0, in his first career complete game.

2003: In a frigid 35-degree home opener, with the fans chanting his name, Hideki Matsui hit his first major league home run, a grand slam into the right field bleachers. After be greeted with a warm reception in the pre-game ceremonies and a standing ovation after making a great defensive play, Godzilla receives a thunderous applause and curtain call from the sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd after his fifth inning bases-full poke against the Twins.....As a backlash of Canadians' reaction in Montreal last month at the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner due to their opposition of the U.S. war in Iraq, some of the 29,138 patrons at the Cub opener boo as the Canadian national anthem, O' Canada', is performed prior to the Expo game at Wrigley Field.

2005: Jimmy Carter, who was not invited by the current administration to be part of the American delegation to attend today's funeral of Pope John Paul, attends the home opener at Turner Field. The former president and his wife Roslyn, who both stayed for the entire game, enjoy watching the Braves beat the Mets, 3-1.