Historic Opening Day acts to savor
by Mark Langill
As Dodger Stadium readies for its 2024 Opening Day celebration with a home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, here is a look at some of the most memorable openers in franchise history. These games range from new facilities and historic debuts to quick starts and on-field surprises.
1890 — A New League
Brooklyn made its National League debut with a 15–9 loss on April 19 at Boston’s South End grounds. After playing in the American Association from 1883–89, Brooklyn decided to leave for what ownership perceived was a more stable league. The decision paid off as the American Association disbanded after the 1891 season.
The team’s 1890 nickname, “Bridegrooms,” was coined after seven Brooklyn players got married around the same time in 1888.
According to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, Brooklyn starting pitcher Bob Caruthers pitched well in the opener until he was struck on the shoulder by a thrown ball while running the bases in the second inning. Boston’s John Clarkson pitched a complete game, allowing four earned runs on 11 hits, six walks, and three hit batsmen.
The attendance, exclusive of “invited guests,” was 3,849.
In an era when the home team had the option of batting first, Boston scored eight runs in the top of the third inning for an 8–3 lead. Brooklyn went ahead 9–8 with six runs in the bottom of the third. Caruthers allowed four runs in the fourth and eventually gave way to reliever Adonis Terry in the fifth.
1913 — A New Ballpark
The dream of Charles Ebbets to build a new home field in Brooklyn was in jeopardy when the team president nearly ran out of funds in 1912. However, a partnership with the contractors, Steve and Ed McKeever, allowed the project to continue after the brothers purchased half of the team. Brooklyn’s 18,000-seat Ebbets Field opened in 1913.
Because of their new ballpark, and lobbying by the Brooklyn Eagle, the Dodgers were able to stage their opener one day ahead of the other teams. Fans arriving at the game by automobile were given a claim ticket and assigned a postgame waiting room as part of a valet service used by local theaters.
The game started at 1:05 p.m. and lasted only 93 minutes as Philadelphia scored an unearned run off lefty Nap Rucker in the top of the first inning. It was the only run in the game in a Brooklyn loss.
1947 — A New Frontier
Studying the boxscore from the Dodgers’ 5–3 victory over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947, wouldn’t give any clues as to why this was arguably the most significant game in Major League history. The game wasn’t a sellout, only a modest crowd of 26,623 attended the Tuesday afternoon opener.
First baseman Jackie Robinson, who went 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored, became the first African American player of the 20th century to appear in the Major Leagues.
Manager Clyde Sukeforth, who replaced the suspended Leo Durocher on the eve of the season, batted Robinson second in the order behind Eddie Stanky. In his first at-bat against right-hander Johnny Sain, Robinson grounded out to third baseman Bob Elliott.
Robinson, learning a new position because Brooklyn already had shortstop Pee Wee Reese and Stanky at second base, was replaced on defense in the ninth inning by Ed Stevens. It was Stevens’ only inning at the position as Robinson became a fixture in Brooklyn’s lineup while winning Rookie of the Year honors.
1955 — Great Expectations
Between 1946 and 1953, the Dodgers won four NL pennants and were in contention until the final day of the regular seasons in 1946, 1950 and 1951. A second-place finish in 1954 under first-year manager Walter Alston dampened the spirits of Brooklyn fans who worried their dynasty might’ve seen its better days.
The Wednesday afternoon opener on April 13 at Ebbets Field brought drizzle and weather that hovered in the 40s. A five-run seventh inning, highlighted by home runs by Jim Gilliam and Carl Furillo, supported Carl Erskine’s 6–1 complete-game victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1955 Dodgers started the season with records of 10–0 and 22–2. Brooklyn wrapped up the NL pennant on Sept.8 with a 17-game lead, the earliest clinching date at that point in history. The Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in seven games for the first and only World Series title in Brooklyn history.
1958 — Westward Expansion
With their respective moves from New York to California after the 1957 season, the Dodgers and Giants renewed their rivalry by playing the first six games of the 1958 season against one another.
After a three-game series at San Francisco’s 22,900-seat Seals Stadium — a former Minor League home of the city’s Pacific Coast League Seals — the teams moved to Southern California and played at the cavernous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The makeshift baseball dimensions included a 250-foot distance to left field and 440 feet to the right-field power alley. The Dodgers beat the Giants, 6–5, in front of a record Opening Day crowd of 78,672.
Rookie third baseman Dick Gray, who hit the first home run in Los Angeles history on April 16 at San Francisco, hit the first home run by a Dodger at the Coliseum, a solo shot off lefty Johnny Antonelli in the seventh inning.
1962 — The Grand Opening
A 6–3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for Walter O’Malley’s new baseball palace, the first privately financed ballpark since New York Yankee Stadium in 1923. Johnny Podres, the hero of the 1955 World Series, was given the honor of starting the first game
Outfielder Duke Snider recorded the first hit for the Dodgers, a leadoff single in the second inning. Snider nearly missed the game after burning his fingers the previous day while picking up the tailpipe that had detached from his car while driving to the ballpark. Snider hid the injury from manager Walter Alston by wearing a golf glove at the afternoon workout.
Right-hander Bob Purkey, who scattered two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings, started for Cincinnati because lefty Jim O’Toole cut his finger earlier in the week while pushing his suitcase into the trunk of a car.
1977 — Sinatra and Lasorda
For his first Opening Day as Dodger manager, Tommy Lasorda beamed with pride in the clubhouse while taking his friend and legendary singer, Frank Sinatra, onto the field to sing the national anthem.
It would be a new era for the Dodgers after 23 seasons under low-key Walter Alston, Lasorda’s successor whose teams won four World Series titles and eight National League pennants. Lasorda would become the first National League manager since Gabby Street of the 1930–31 Cardinals to win pennants in his first two seasons.
Staging its first afternoon home opener since 1962, the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants, 5–1, as right-hander Don Sutton pitched a four-hitter.
1981 — Rookie Sensation
Injuries to veterans Jerry Reuss (pulled calf muscle) and Burt Hooton (ingrown toenail) prompted the Dodgers to stop rookie Fernando Valenzuela from pitching batting practice the day before the April 9 season opener against the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium.
In his first Major League start, the 20-year-old Valenzuela pitched a 2–0 complete-game victory. It was the opening chapter of “Fernandomania,” when Valenzuela began the season with an 8–0 record, five shutouts, seven complete games, and a 0.50 ERA in 72 innings.
Valenzuela, whose uniform №34 was retired by the Dodgers in 2023, remains the only Major Leaguer since Boo Ferriss of the 1945 Boston Red Sox to win his first career eight starts.
2013 — Home Run Surprise
During a 4–0 victory at Dodger Stadium, left-hander Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher to record a shutout and hit a home run on Opening Day since Cleveland right-hander Bob Lemon in 1953. He was also the first Dodger pitcher to hit a home run on Opening Day since Don Drysdale in 1965.
The game pitted Kershaw and San Francisco’s Matt Cain, who matched Kershaw with six scoreless innings. In the eighth inning, Kershaw broke up the scoreless game with a 400-foot blast over the center field fence off reliever George Kontos.
It will likely be the only career home run in 847 plate appearances for Kershaw. A career .162 hitter (113-for-698), Kershaw hasn’t batted since the National League adopted the designated hitter in 2022.
2019 — Fireworks Show
The Dodgers gave a rude welcome reception to Arizona pitcher Zack Greinke, who with Los Angeles from 2013–15 went 51–15 with a 2.30 ERA in 92 starts.
In a 12–5 victory at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers set a record with eight home runs on Opening Day, tying their franchise record for the most home runs in any game. The Dodgers hit four home runs apiece off Greinke and reliever Matt Koch.
The Dodgers received two home runs apiece from Joc Pederson and Kiké Hernández. Austin Barnes, Corey Seager, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger also homered.
