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“Memorable Opening Day Festivities!” Photo Gallery
Dick Groat at a recent Pirates' Opening Day
Gabby Hartnett, Opening Day 1930. Umpire is Ernie Quigley.
Opening Day LA Coliseum, 1958
Opening Day festivities
Opening Day 13 Apr 1967 at Shea Stadium
Opening Day
Opening Day at US Cellular, 1981
Opening Day in Cleveland, 1930
Opening Day at Shea Stadium,
Max Carey with Burt Shotton on Opening Day (1932-33)
Opening Day festivities
Players from the Federal League's Chicago Whales on Opening Day
Opening Day, 1969
Opening Day at Tiger Stadium
Cubs on Opening Day, 1969
Opening Day, Polo Grounds
Opening Day 1935 at Wrigley Field
Opening Day 1911 (Colorization by Don Stokes)
Players line up for the Opening Day festivities, April 13, 1962
Opening Day outside Fenway Park, 1956
Opening Day Crosley Field 1956
Opening Day (Colorization by Don Stokes)
Opening Day, Braves Field 1952
Opening Day Ebbets Field, Jackie Robinson's first game, 1947: Johnny "Spider" Jorgenson, PeeWee Reese, Eddie Stanky, Jackie Robinson
Opening Day in Boston, Frank Chance shakes hands with Miller Huggins
Opening Day at Tiger Stadium, 1957 (Yes, that's a tank going across the field!)
Flag raising on Opening Day, April 10, 1915 at Brooklyn
Yankee Stadium Opening Day, 1923
Baseball dignitaries on hand for Opening Day
Opening Day, 1923
Griffith Stadium, Opening Day, 1956
Opening Day outside Comisky Park, 1920
Opening Day with Joe Cronin and Joe McCarthy
Fans on Opening Day
Opening Day, 1923, Miller Huggins visible on far left
Opening Day, 1911
Early photo of Weegham Park, probably from Opening Day
We Made It!!
Happy Opening Day!!
“You always get a special kick on Opening Day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid.” –Joe DiMaggio
For old-time baseball fans like us, if there’s a better day of the year than Opening Day, I’m not sure what it is!
In the featured photo above, we see a scene from Opening Day, 1946, at Wrigley Field
Check out the photo montage I’m calling “Memorable Opening Day Festivities!” It features scenes from various Opening Days over the decades. I think you’ll enjoy it!
Just to put you in the right frame of mind on this wonderful day, here’s a few words about Opening Day I found on Wikipedia. I think we can all agree with the sentiment:
“For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth. Writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book titled, “Why Time Begins on Opening Day.” Many feel that the occasion represents a newness or a chance to forget last season, in that all 30 of the major league clubs and their millions of fans begin with 0–0 records.”
And here’s a little bit of Opening Day trivia:
- In 1907, the New York Giants forfeited their game at the Polo Grounds to the Philadelphia Phillies, 9–0, after rowdy fans threw snowballs.
- Twelve U.S. Presidents have thrown the first ball of the season. On April 14, 1910, William Howard Taft became the first U.S president to do so.
- In 1940, Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller threw a no-hitter to open the season against the White Sox. It remains the only no-hitter in Opening Day history.
- Harry S. Truman threw Opening Day first pitches with both his right and left arm in 1950.
- Ted Williams was a .449 hitter in openers, with three home runs and fourteen RBI during 14 games and had at least one hit in each game.
- On April 4, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 714th career home run on Opening Day at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.
- In 14 season openers for the Washington Senators, Walter Johnson pitched a record nine shutouts.
- The Louis Cardinals were the first major league team to open their home season with a night game, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–2 at Sportsman’s Park on April 18, 1950.
- Hall of Famer Tom Seaver has been a starting pitcher for the most Opening Day games in major league history, doing the honors 16 times.
- The longest Opening Day game was played on April 5, 2012 between the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays. The game, played at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, ended with the Blue Jays beating the Indians, 7–4, in 16 innings.
Let’s get it on! Good Luck to all baseball fans! Let’s hope your favorite team does better than expected!
Gary Livacari
We’d love to hear what you think about this or any other related baseball history topic…please leave comments below.
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