Friday Stuff
Ballpark Debuts Edition
This is the time of year when baseball seasons have traditionally begun, so it should come as no surprise that the anniversaries of the first-ever game in many ballparks happen to fall in this week. This week’s edition is going to focus on a few of them, giving the pertinent details and any notable events that took place.
Monday
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, April 6, 1992, Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles
Number of future Hall of Famers playing: 1, Cal Ripken, Jr.
Number of future Hall of Famers on the bench: 1, Mike Mussina (FYI: Jim Thome joined the Indians about six weeks later.)
First Pitch: Rick Sutcliffe
First Hit: Paul Sorrento, a second inning single off Sutcliffe.
First Home Run: None in this game. A day later it was Paul Sorrento again, hitting a grand slam in the first inning off Bob Milacki.
Noteworthy Events: The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by President George H.W. Bush. He did it from the mound, not the stands, and bounced the pitch in the dirt.
Game Summary: This was a pitcher’s duel for the first four innings, as Orioles’ starter Rick Sutcliffe faced off against the Indians’ Charles Nagy. Both pitched well, with Sutcliffe holding Cleveland scoreless through the top of the fifth on just three hits and a walk while striking out three. Nagy matched him for the first four innings, but in the fifth he gave up a one-out walk to Sam Horn, a single to Leo Gómez, and a double to Chris Hoiles. That made the score 1-0 Baltimore, and one batter later Billy Ripken doubled the lead with a sacrifice squeeze to score Gómez. That was all the scoring on the day, as Baltimore won it, 2-0. Both pitchers threw complete games, Sutcliffe’s a five-hit shutout.
