Granny Was A Young Man: Some Opening Day Notables
For baseball fans, there is truly nothing better than opening day. It often marks the beginning of summer and the end of the winter blues. Every team is in first place, fans haven’t had a chance to write off any rookies or free agent acquisitions, and, as they say, “hope springs eternal.” While it’s only the first game, some eye-opening things can definitely still happen.
COMING OUT SWINGING
For some players, a spring worth training can lead to results right away to start the season. For example, Dmitri Young (2005), Tuffy Rhodes (1994), and George Bell (1988) all started the season by clubbing three homeruns. For Young, it was a sign of things to come, as he would club 21 homers in 2005, propelling him to a 112 OPS+ for Detroit (league average is 100). As for Rhodes, he would scuffle the rest of the season, only hitting 5 more homeruns and finishing with an OPS+ of 84 in the strike-shortened 1994. Bell, fresh off of winning the American League MVP, continued that dominance on opening day, but cooled off the rest of the season, finishing with 24 homers, a far cry from his 1987 total of 47. The most RBI for one player on opening day is 7, accomplished twice, by Brant Alyea in 1970 and Corey Patterson in 2003.
NOT EXACTLY “HITTING” THEIR STRIDE
After grinding through spring training and locking down a spot with his respective team, a player obviously hopes to start the season on a high note and keep that going. That clearly isn’t always the case, however. Five times in MLB history, a player has had 7 at bats on opening day without collecting a single hit. The interesting part is that the two most recent occurrences of this “feat” came in the same game, with Casey Kotchman and Colby Rasmus both walking away hitless in 7 at bats while opposing each other. Rasmus’ Blue Jays would defeat Kotchman’s Indians that day 7–4 in a 16 inning game on opening day.
In 1996, White Sox catcher Ron Karkovice had a particularly tough opening day. While Karkovice was never known for his bat (career OPS+ of 81), he certainly had an opening day he’d like to forget. The White Sox faced the Mariners on opening day of 1996, with the Mariners rolling out a diminutive left-hander named Randy Johnson. Karkovice would make 5 trips to the plate that day, in which he struck out all 5 times, with 3 of those strikeouts coming at the hands of The Big Unit. Karkovice is the only MLB player to strike out 5 times on opening day.
A TALE OF TWO OUTINGS
For a pitcher, getting the ball on opening day is considered a huge honor. You have been chosen as the proverbial “ace” of your team, and your manager is looking upon you to start the season on a positive note. This decision can either make the manager look really good or really bad, depending on the pitcher’s performance. One guy that made his manager proud on opening day was Lon Warneke in 1934. “The Arkansas Hummingbird” would lead the Cubs to a 6–0 victory over Cincinnati that day, hurling a complete game shutout. Warneke would strike out 13 batters, while only allowing 1 hit and 2 walks, which would total up to a Game Score of 96, the best in Opening Day history. Warneke would go on to win 22 games that year and appear in his second all-star game.
Warneke is great example of coming out the gates strong, while Twins hurler Brad Havens got his team off to a horrific start in 1983. Havens took the ball on Opening Day, but didn’t receive the ball back from the catcher very often, as he was battered by the Detroit Tigers. Havens only lasted 1.1 innings, surrendering 7 hits, 3 walks, and 8 earned runs on his way to a game score of 7, the worst performance among starting pitchers on Opening Day. It was sign of things to come for Havens, as he was battered by the American League in 1983, giving up 12.3 hits per 9 innings on his way to an 8.18 ERA over 16 appearances.
YOU CALL IT AGE, THEY CALL IT EXPERIENCE
While baseball is often considered a “young man’s game,” some of the more “experienced” players in the MLB have turned some head on Opening Day. Jack Quinn (age 47 yrs, 287 days), Charlie Hough (age 46 yrs, 90 days), and Phil Niekro (46 yrs, 7 days) are the three oldest pitchers to start an Opening Day game. The fourth-oldest, Tommy John (45 yrs, 317 days), became the oldest starter to win a game on Opening Day in 1989, as he scattered 10 hits over 7 innings to beat the Twins. He would later become most famous for the surgery with his namesake, but his pitching exploits certainly should not go unrecognized.
When it comes to position players, anything that relates to old age in the MLB generally points toward Julio Franco. Franco (45 yrs, 227 days) became the oldest player to start an Opening Day in 2004, when he started at first base for the Braves. In 1994, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield (42 yrs, 184 days) became the oldest player to hit a homerun on Opening Day, when he hit a homerun off of Angels starter Mark Langston.
WHO ARE YOU CALLING “GRANNY?”
Opening Day can provide an opportunity for Major League Baseball to showcase its young talent as well. In 1945, shortstop Granville “Granny” Hamner, already in his second big league season, started for the Phillies and became the youngest position player to start an Opening Day at the tender age of 17 years and 356 days. The youngest player to hit a homerun on Opening Day was Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who, at the ripe age of 19 years and 204 days, took Red Sox legend Luis Tiant deep.
The youngest pitcher to start an Opening Day was Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter, who went toe-to-toe with Twins great Mudcat Grant in 1966. Hunter (20 yrs, 4 days) pitched admirably, throwing a complete game, but the Twins won the game 2–1 behind 9 strong innings from Grant. The youngest pitcher to start and win an Opening Day is somebody that not only transformed a pitching staff; he started a craze in Los Angeles.
FERNANDO MANIA
In 1981, a chubby pitcher from Mexico by the name of Fernando Valenzuela (20 yrs, 159 days) made his first career start on Opening Day for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and threw a five-hit shutout against the Houston Astros. This Opening Day start would not just be the start of an incredible stretch of starts; it would be the start of season-long revolution surrounding the young hurler. Valenzuela would follow Opening Day by also winning his next seven starts in dominating fashion. Over his first 8 starts of 1981, Valenzuela threw 7 complete games, with 5 of those being shutouts, and posted a miniscule ERA of 0.50. With his unusual delivery and mythical screwball, “Fernando Mania” was in full bloom in 1981, and Valenzuela was able to parlay that into a Rookie of the Year award, a Cy Young award, and a World Series title in that historic season.
OTHER NOTABLES
In 1985, Dwight “Doc” Gooden (20 yrs, 144 days) started Opening Day for the Mets and gave up 3 earned runs over 6 innings in a Mets victory. Normally, this wouldn’t be notable, expect for that in 35 starts, the 3 earned runs allowed would be tied for the second-most allowed by Gooden in his historic 1985 season. Gooden would win the National League Cy Young that year behind his league-leading 268 strikeouts and 1.53 ERA.
In 1916, the Red Sox rolled out a young hurler to face Nap Lajoie and the Philadelphia A’s on Opening Day. The young man (21 yrs, 66 days) pitched brilliantly, throwing 8.1 innings, giving up no earned runs, and striking out 6 to pick up the win. He displayed the type of talents that would make you want a keep a player around; the type that you certainly would not want to hand over to your rivals. What was the young pitcher’s name? George Herman “Babe” Ruth.
(All statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com)
