It's the one day of the year when every team is in first place and optimism reigns supreme. Opening day is baseball's national holiday, a day for calling in sick to work and getting familiar once again with the crack of the bat at the ballpark. History can be made on opening day, too: Hank Aaron hit his record-tying 714th home run on the first day of the 1974 season, Bob Feller tossed a no-hitter to kick off the 1940 campaign, and Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the first pitch of 1947. This is a team-by-team reference to every baseball opening day game played since the National League started in 1876 (and the American League followed in 1901). Each team's entry begins with a chronological list of opening games, noting the opposing team, score, starting pitcher, pitcher of record, and homerun hitters. This is followed by an accounting of the team's overall record, at home record, away record, and record against specific teams. Totals for major statistical categories are given, as well as individual marks for pitching, hitting, and fielding. Appendices list grand slams, overall team and individual opening day records, and year-by-year scores.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Tom Seaver started in 16 of them. Babe Ruth had five hits during one. The Chicago Cubs have won more of them than any other team. Because they are a sign of the dawning of spring, or because they provide for punctuation in a season that spans seven months--whatever the reason, no other sport besides baseball has such a mystique surrounding its opening day. In this volume, Kerr has pulled together all the basic information about what transpired for every team in major league baseball on every opening day. This book answers many questions for fans of a sport that places central importance on statistics and records.
The main body of the work is composed of two sections, one for the American League and one for the National League. Within each section, the teams are treated in alphabetical order. For every team, the reader will find the opponent, final score, starting pitcher, and home runs hit by the team. This is followed by a set of opening day records for the team as a whole and individuals for hitting, pitching, and fielding. Every team has a section, even the Kansas City Cowboys, New York Mutuals, Philadelphia Athletics, Seattle Pilots, and Syracuse Stars, all of whom only existed for a single season before moving on to a different city. At the end of each league's section, opening day individual and team records are given for the league as a whole.
Three valuable appendixes follow the two main sections. The first appendix lists all 23 grand slams hit on opening day, first by team, then chronologically. The second appendix gives individual and team records for opening day for all of Major League Baseball. The final appendix gives all the final scores for every opening day, year by year. A brief bibliography is followed by a comprehensive index that lists every player mentioned in the body of the work.
As a contribution to the statistical mania that feeds baseball fanatics, this volume is valuable and fun. A useful addition to the book would be a franchise history for each team. Only seasoned fans will know that the Washington Senators moved on to become the Texas Rangers in 1972. Also, it would be useful to see franchise records in addition to team records. However, additional details such as these are easy to find in comprehensive baseball encyclopedias such as the Baseball Encyclopedia (10th ed., Macmillan, 1996). Opening Day is highly recommended for any collection that serves baseball fans.
Review
"here's an account and box score of every inaugural game since the birth of the National League" -- USA Today Baseball Weekly
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