Portal:Baseball/Anniversaries/April 18

Events

 * 1899 - At age 26, Baltimore Orioles manager John McGraw makes his managerial debut with a 5 - 3 victory over the New York Giants.
 * 1923 - The first Major League game is played in Yankee Stadium in front of a paid attendance of 74,217, as the New York Yankees defeat the Boston Red Sox 4 - 1, behind a home run by Babe Ruth, the first in the Stadium.
 * 1939 - The first regular season Brooklyn Dodgers game is broadcast on the radio, as Red Barber calls the action in a 7 - 3 Brooklyn Dodgers loss to the New York Giants.
 * 1950 - Major League Baseball's first opening night game is held at Sportsman's Park as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pirates, 4 - 2.
 * 1950 - Boston Braves rookie Sam Jethroe becomes the Braves' first African American player.
 * 1958 - The Los Angeles Dodgers play their first game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a crowd of 78,672.
 * 1964 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax strikes out the side on nine pitches, becoming the first pitcher in Major League history to achieve the feat twice.
 * 1966 - At the Astrodome, the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers play the first regular season game on AstroTurf as the Dodgers defeat the Astros, 6 - 3.
 * 1982 - The Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros to set a National League record of eleven straight wins to start the season.
 * 1987 - Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt hits his 500th home run off Don Robinson with two outs in the ninth inning to rally the Phillies to an 8 - 6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.
 * 1991 - The first Major League Baseball game is played at the new Comiskey Park in front of a sell-out 42,191 fans, as the Chicago White Sox lose to the Detroit Tigers 16 - 0.
 * 1997 - Texas Rangers pitcher Roger Pavlik becomes the first pitcher in American League history to walk the first four batters of the game.

Births

 * 1869 - George Borchers, pitcher (d. 1938)
 * 1871 - Frank Navin, owner (d. 1935)
 * 1873 - Hughie Hearne, catcher (d. 1932)
 * 1880 - Sam Crawford, outfielder; Hall of Famer (d. 1968)
 * 1887 - Bill Rodgers, infielder (d. 1978)
 * 1888 - Duffy Lewis, outfielder (d. 1979)
 * 1888 - Tommy McMillan, infielder (d. 1966)
 * 1892 - Jack Scott, pitcher (d. 1959)
 * 1893 - William Marriott, infielder (d. 1969)
 * 1895 - Hans Rasmussen, pitcher (d. 1949)
 * 1896 - Rip Conway, infielder (d. 1972)
 * 1899 - Bill Bayne, pitcher (d. 1981)
 * 1917 - Ty LaForest, infielder (d. 1947)
 * 1917 - Nick Polly, infielder (d. 1993)
 * 1922 - Moe Burtschy, pitcher (d. 2004)
 * 1929 - Steve Kraly, pitcher
 * 1942 - Steve Blass, pitcher; All-Star
 * 1942 - Chuck Taylor, pitcher
 * 1945 - Mike Paul, pitcher
 * 1948 - Ron Schueler, pitcher
 * 1951 - Doug Flynn, infielder
 * 1955 - Bobby Castillo, pitcher
 * 1959 - Rich Bordi, pitcher
 * 1959 - Jim Eisenreich, outfielder
 * 1959 - Dennis Rasmussen, pitcher
 * 1963 - Alex Madrid, pitcher
 * 1963 - Pete Stanicek, outfielder
 * 1967 - Brian Dubois, pitcher
 * 1969 - Angelo Encarnacion, catcher
 * 1970 - Rico Brogna, infielder
 * 1970 - Steve Dunn, infielder
 * 1973 - Brady Clark, outfielder
 * 1981 - Brian Buscher, infielder
 * 1983 - Miguel Cabrera, outfielder; All-Star
 * 1983 - Alberto González, infielder
 * 1983 - Mike Parisi, pitcher
 * 1986 - Billy Butler, outfielder

Deaths

 * 1892 - Ned Bligh, catcher (b. 1864)
 * 1893 - Fred Siefke, infielder (b. 1870)
 * 1904 - Charlie Ziegler, infielder (b. 1875)
 * 1913 - Roscoe Miller, pitcher (b. 1876)
 * 1925 - Charlie Ebbets, manager (b. 1859)
 * 1926 - George Haddock, pitcher (b. 1866)
 * 1927 - Pop Smith, infielder (b. 1856)
 * 1930 - Jack Stivetts, pitcher (b. 1868)
 * 1932 - Ike Benners, outfielder (b. 1856)
 * 1937 - Hick Carpenter, infielder (b. 1855)
 * 1953 - Harry Niles, outfielder (b. 1880)
 * 1953 - Cotton Tierney, infielder (b. 1894)
 * 1957 - Bill Sweeney, infielder (b. 1904)
 * 1970 - Tony York, infielder (b. 1912)
 * 1971 - Russ Hodges, broadcaster (b. 1910)
 * 1975 - Jack Burns, infielder (b. 1907)
 * 1979 - Lindsay Deal, outfielder (b. 1911)
 * 1983 - Woody Rich, pitcher (b. 1916)
 * 1990 - John Antonelli, infielder (b. 1915)
 * 1991 - Sheldon Jones, pitcher (b. 1922)
 * 2003 - Lefty Sloat, pitcher (b. 1918)