Category: April

April 9: Take it inside

APRIL 9, 1965 | HOUSTON, TEXAS – Baseball goes indoors for the first time. The Houston Colt .45s (today’s Houston Astros) played the New York Yankees in an exhibition game at the Harris County Domed Stadium, the first domed baseball stadium in the world.

The Yankees won 2-1 in 12 innings. Mickey Mantle hit the first-ever indoor home run. President Lyndon Johnson, a Texas native, was among the 47,878 fans at the game.

The Harris County Domed Stadium name was soon changed to the Astrodome – the so-called eighth wonder of the world.

An architectural marvel, the Dome presented unanticipated challenges. It was built to allow sunlight to come through a series of clear plastic panels in the roof, thus allowing real grass to be planted. It didn’t work. The grass grew okay, but the players couldn’t see fly balls because of the tremendous glare each panel produced. The panels were painted over to block the sun, but of course the grass wouldn’t grow. Necessity being the mother of invention. Artificial grass was invented to put down on the field, hence the name Astroturf.

Astroturf became widespread in baseball and football stadiums for indoor and outdoor sports in the 1970s. Thankfully, many teams have gone back to real grass, including the Houston Astros. Today, those who want artificial turf can at least install something that looks and feels like grass. The most popular being FieldTurf. It all starts on this date in 1965 when baseball goes indoors for the first time.

Contributing Sources:
The Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas, April 10, 1965

April 8 – Aaron passes Ruth

APRIL 8, 1974 | ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Henry Aaron saved the best for the home town crowd. Four days after tying Babe Ruth‘s career home run record of 714 on the road in Cincinnati, Hammerin Hank broke the record before hysterical Atlanta Braves‘ fans at Fulton County Coliseum. He hit the 715th home run of his career off Los Angeles Dodger hurler Al Downing. April 8, 1974 Aaron passes Ruth.

Aaron would go on the hit 755 home runs for his career. He hit the last 22 playing in the city where he made his major league debut. He played the 1975 and 1976 seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The term "home run" was originally a descriptive one. In the early days of baseball, fences were generally farther out than they are today. The batter had to literally run home before being tagged out to hit a "home run."

Babe Ruth held the career home run record for 53 years, the longest of any player. Here’s a list of the career home run record breakers and total home runs the new record-holder finished that year with.

Year  Player       HRs 
2007 Barry Bonds   762
1974 Henry Aaron   733
1921 Babe Ruth     162
1895 Roger Connor  124
1889 Harry Stovey  89
1887 Dan Brouthers 74
1885 Harry Stovey  50
1883 Charley Jones 33
1882 Jim O'Rourke  24
1881 Charley Jones 23
1879 Lip Pike      20
TOP TEN CAREER HOME-RUNS
1.  Barry Bonds     762
2.  Henry Aaron     755
3.  Babe Ruth       714
4.  Alex Rodriguez  696
5.  Willie Mays     660
6.  Ken Griffey Jr, 630
9.  Albert Pujols   615
7.  Jim Thome       612
8.  Sammy Sosa      609
10. Frank Robinson  586

The term “home run” was originally a descriptive one. In the early days of baseball, fences were generally farther out than they are today, so hitting a ball over the fence was rare. Inside-the-park home runs were more common because outfielders had more ground to cover. The batter had to literally run home before being tagged out to hit a “home run.” With home run number 715 on this date in 1974, Aaron passed Ruth. On only one of the 755 home runs did Aaron have to run as fast as he could.

Contributing sources:
Henry Aaron in the Hall of Fame
Career home run record holders

April 7 – The “screen” monster

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO LOS ANGELES FOR OPENING DAY, APRIL 7, 1958. It used to be common for football games to be played in baseball ballparks like Wrigley Field. Wrigley was the home of the Chicago Bears from 1921 to 1970. What you rarely saw was baseball played in football venues like the Los Angeles Coliseum Field. What the Dodgers had to do to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on this date in 1958 is why.

Before MLB’s transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers could play the first official major league game west of St. Louis they had to erect a 42-foot screen in left field because the foul pole was only 201 feet away – about the distance normally seen in slow-pitch softball. Straight away left was only about 250 feet.

On the other hand, because the Coliseum is rectangular, straight away right was 440 feet from home. 

There was a distinct advantage playing in the mammoth coliseum. It held a lot of people. Game 5 of the 1959 World Series between the Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox still holds the record for the biggest crowd to watch a major league baseball game – 92,706.

The Dodgers spent four seasons (1958-1961) in, at the time, the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams waiting for Dodger Stadium to be completed.

As much as Dodger fans poured into the Coliseum with the screen monster, they liked the new Dodger Stadium more when it opened in 1962. A major league attendance record (at the time) was set with 2,755,184 fans.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE: 
The Coliseum revisited

April 6 – DH is born

APRIL 6, 1973 | NEW YORK, NY. The designated hitter (DH) was born on this date in 1973. The New York Yankees’ Ron Blomberg became the first major league baseball player to be in the starting lineup without playing in the field. He also became the first DH to reach base and drive in a run. Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox walked him with the bases loaded in the top of the first. Blomberg later singled.

The game changed significantly that day, many believe for the worse. Hundreds of American League pitchers would go through entire careers without picking up a bat. Hundreds of designated hitters would seldom pick up a glove. The DH has since trickled down to amateur baseball. Many high school and college pitchers don’t bat.

Purists were, and remain, appalled for several reasons, the least of which being, baseball used to be one of the few sports that required every participant be able to do everything with professional proficiency; run, hit, throw and catch.

In other sports, the National Football League for example, an offensive tackle can make it to the Hall-of-Fame without ever throwing a football in a game, or catching one for that matter. Dennis Rodman probably went whole NBA seasons without attempting a 3-pointer, let alone making one.

DID YOU KNOW: The DH was first suggested by the National League in 1928, but the American League rejected it [see Dec 12 story].

The same is now true in baseball, except for the National League. Pitchers go through entire careers without ever hitting or running the bases. A player who is mostly a DH does not have to be proficient at catching or throwing.

Supporters of the Designated Hitter say it initiated a re-birth of baseball. Attendance boomed after the DH was enacted in the early 1970’s, until the players’ strike of 1994. However, average attendance is higher in the National League, which has never had the DH, than the American League, where the DH was born.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
First Designated Hitters
A different way to look at the DH

April 5: ROCKIES, MARLINS JOIN NL

APRIL 5, 1993 | NEW YORK, MIAMI – Two new National League franchises began play on this date in 1993. The expansion Colorado Rockies played their first game on the road at Shea Stadium in New York. They were shut out by the Mets 3-0. The Florida Marlins‘ (The team was known as the “Florida” Marlins until 2012 when they became the Miami Marlins) first game was at home in Miami. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6 to 3 at Joe Robbie Stadium. The  Rockies and Marlins joining the National League was the first NL expansion since 1969.

Since entering the league the Marlins have done remarkably well on the field, but the Rockies have done considerably better at the turnstile. The Rockies set a major league record drawing 4,483,350 fans in their inaugural year, but the Marlins have already won two World Series -1997 and 2003.

The Rockies are one of just four teams to draw over 4-million fans. The others are the Blue Jays, Yankees and Mets. The Rockies probably would have drawn 4 million more often, but the franchise moved in 1995 from 80,000 seat Mile High Stadium where the Denver Broncos NFL teamed played at the time, to Coors Field, which seats 50,227.

The Rockies have drawn over 3 million fans 9 of their first 25 years, including the year they drew over 4-million. The Marlins have only surpassed the 3 million mark once – their first year. They’ve drawn over 2-million 3 times since the Rockies and Marlins joined the National League in 1993.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Baseball-Almanac – Expansion Era
ESPN – Attendance