Outstanding Opening Day Performances Are No Indication of Long-Term Success
Some went on to great seasons or careers. Some didn't.
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . In 1946, Leon Day threw a no-hitter for the Newark Eagles against the Philadelphia Stars in the Negro National League.
. . . Jack Morris threw 14 straight Opening Days from 1980 to 1993, with the first eleven for the Tigers (overall 3.34 ERA). Tom Seaver has the record with 16 Opening Day starts (2.94 ERA).
. . . In the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Opening Day was held on July 23rd, with the Yankees playing the Nationals in Washington and the Giants playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The other 26 teams started their seasons the next day.
. . . Last week, Austin Wells was the first Yankees catcher to ever lead off on Opening Day. He became the first catcher in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day. And he became the first Yankee to ever hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day.
. . . The indispensable Sarah Langs noted that Paul Skenes, fresh from his Rookie of the Year 2024, is the fastest number one draft pick to get an Opening Day start. Skenes got it just two years after the Pirates made him numerous uno. That bested Mike Moore (number one draft: 1981; first Opening Day start: 1984) and Stephen Strasburg (number one draft: 2009; first Opening Day start: 2012).
. . . According to Umpire Auditor, Opening Day included 186 blown calls by umpires. The average, therefore: around 2.6 blown calls per ump.
Leading Off
Do the Stars Alone Come Out for Opening Day?
No script: outstanding season-opening turns come from Hall of Famers, mere stars, and more modest players alike.
By Dan Freedman
Last Thursday was MLB’s Opening Day. A day of renewal, as teams start the season with a clean slate and great hope for the future. The same is true for the players. While they all start with a .000 batting average, that can only go up from there.
Some players get their seasons off to brilliant starts, having Opening Days for the ages. This year was no exception, although only one player had a truly remarkable game: Kyle Manzardo of the Cleveland Guardians. He walked in his first at bat of the year. But in the top of the fourth, he tripled and scored on a Jhonkensy Noel foul ball down the right field line.
In the sixth inning, Manzardo hit a solo home run. After striking out looking in the eighth, he took advantage of extra innings, hitting a two-run double in the top of the tenth to ultimately win the game for the Guardians. When all was said and done, Manzardo was a single shy of the cycle—which would have been only the second Opening Day cycle in MLB history (more about that below)—with four RBI.
While that was quite a performance for a guy who with 156 previous big league at- bats, no triples, and only 15 runs batted in before Thursday afternoon, it pales compared to some of the greatest Opening Days of all time. Here are just a few, starting with the pitchers:
Walter Johnson (Senators 1926)—The Hall of Fame righthander threw 15 innings, giving up no runs while striking out nine against three walks in the Senators 1-0 win over the Athletics (then in Philadelphia).
Bob Feller (Indians, 1940)—Johnson’s fellow Hall of Fame righthander threw what’s still the only Opening Day major league no-hitter. He struck out eight but issued five walks.
Bob Gibson (Cardinals, 1967)—In the first of his nine straight Opening Day starts, this Hall of Famer threw a complete-game shutout against the Giants, allowing just five hits and striking out 13 without issuing a single walk.
Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers, 2013)— The future Hall of Fame lefthander fell short of Feller and Gibson, allowing four hits, but he handed out no walks while striking out only seven. Kershaw also added his own home run. (At the plate, Feller went 0-for-3 in his gem; Gibson, alas, went 0-for-4.)
Now, for the hitters, including a pair belonging to Detroit:
Gee Walker (Tigers, 1937)—Walker hit for the cycle and went 4-for-4 while also scoring twice in the Tigers’ 4-3 win over the Indians.
Kirk Gibson (Tigers, 1986)—Gibson also went 4-for-4 without cycling: he hit two home runs and drove five home, helping push the Tigers past the Red Sox, 6-5.
Jim Presley (Mariners, 1986)—Presley went 3-for-4 with two home runs and 6 RBIs in a ten-inning, 8-4 win over the Angels.
George Bell (Blue Jays, 1988)—Coming off a 47-homer 1987, Bell rung the Royals for three dingers in a 5-3 Blue Jays win.
Karl (Tuffy) Rhodes (Cubs, 1994)—On Dwight Gooden’s final Opening Day as a Met, Rhodes hit three homers off Doc at Wrigley Field. The bad news: It was not enough, the Cubs falling to the Mets, 12-8.
In 1999, the Dodgers’ Raúl Mondesi (Dodgers, 1999)—He tried his best to match the best previous Opening Days: batting 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBIs, plus a walk. That helped the Dodgers to an 8-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
Corey Patterson (Cubs, 2003)—Patterson went 4-for-6 with two homers and seven RBIs as his Cubs drubbed the Mets, 15-2.
Dmitri Young (Tigers, 2005)—Hold that Tiger? Young went wild, hitting three home runs with five RBI in a 4-for-4 day (plus a hit-by-pitch) as Detroit throttled Kansas City, 11-2.
Matt Davidson (White Sox, 2018)— Davidson crushed three homers in the White Sox’s 14-7 win over the Royals.
Most recently, in 2023, Adley Rutschman (Orioles, 2023)—He went a cool 5-for-5 with a home run, a walk, and four RBIs, as the Orioles edged the Red Sox, 10-9.
Baseball analysts are always quick to downplay “small sample size” assessments, so there is no need to extrapolate anything from any of the above games. Johnson, Feller, Bob Gibson, and (eventually) Kershaw are Hall of Famers, so their Opening Day success is not shocking.
But Walker went on to slash .335/.380/.499 in 1937 for the second-highest OPS of his career, making his only All-Star team. Kirk Gibson’s 1986 turned out to be relatively pedestrian, but Presley’s was the second-best season of his career.
Bell’s 1988, Rhodes’ 1994, Mondesi’s 1999, Young’s 2005, and Davidson’s 2018 were all middle-of-the-road. Patterson’s 2003 was his best. And Rutschman ended 2023 as a Top-10 Most Valuable Player Award vote-getter while winning a Silver Slugger Award.
Long story short, it is best to simply appreciate these great Opening Day performances, as there are absolutely no conclusions that can be drawn from them. There were still 161 games to go after it was done.
PLAY BALL!!
Dan Freedman is an Executive Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at Lionsgate Films. His writing about baseball stems from his unique (?) perspective on the game, his desire for people to love it as much as he does, and how baseball often relates to life. His musings can be found at www.baseballcraziness.com as well as Forbes.com where he is a contributor. Follow him on X/Twitter @dffreedman or write to him @ dan.f.freedman@gmail.com.
Extra Innings
In case you were too busy to catch all the Opening Day action, here are some highlights:
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@gmail.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.