MLB Opening Day 2016: Sixteen stats through the years

Though technically Opening Day 2016 was yesterday, there was only three contests on the schedule. Today is when most of the action gets under way. Major League Baseball fans rejoice, for warm weather is just around the corner and the boys of summer are back in action. Here are 16 interesting facts and statistics to help kickstart the 2016 season.

Of the top active career hits leaders, only eight players have over 2000 in their careers and of those, only half were active on an MLB roster 16 years ago today:

(1) Alex Rodriguez (3070) debuted July 8, 1994 with SEA
(3) Adrian Beltre (2767) debuted June 24, 1998 with LAD
(5) Carlos Beltran (2454) debuted September 14, 1998 with KCR
(7) David Ortiz (2303) debuted on September 2, 1997 with MIN

Only a single no-hitter has occurred on Opening Day by a pitcher in Major League Baseball history. It was 76 years ago on April 16, 1940 that a 21-year-old

Bob Feller

made history for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe blanked the Chicago White Sox 1-0 and Feller went on to win 27 games that season, a personal best.

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From 2000-2015, the longest consecutive hit streak by a player on Opening Day lasted 23 games when then Braves shortstop Edgar Renteria began his on April 3, 2006, ending it on May 9. Appearing second on that list is non other than Pablo Sandoval at 20 games. Because of Travis Shaw, Sandoval likely will not have the opportunity to beat his old mark in 2016.

Felix Hernandez is set to start his ninth Opening Day game for the Seattle Mariners. That is the longest active streak for any starting pitcher with a single organization. Second will be Justin Verlander with the Tigers at seven after Tuesday’s game versus the Marlins. Jered Weaver could have tied Verlander, but was bumped in favor of Garrett Richards being the Opening Day starter for the Angels in 2016.

In terms of Opening Day futility by a franchise routinely not having an ace in place, the Colorado Rockies will start Jorge De La Rosa today against the Diamondbacks. It will be his second such honor, meaning that in 24 seasons of existence, the club has started 17 different pitchers on Opening Day. Compare that to the Marlins, which were also an MLB expansion team in the same year (1993) as the Rockies, and they’ve had four fewer different Opening Day starters.

Since 2007, the most strikeouts by a pitcher on a single Opening Day was 12 credited to Felix Hernandez — until yesterday. Though things were dicey for

Chris Archer

in the early go against the Jays, he soon settled down and got his slider working, punching out 12 over only five innings of work. He finished second in the AL last year with 252 Ks.

Apr 3, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer (22) throws a pitch during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Since 2000, the team that eventually went on to win the World Series has gone 7-8 on Opening Day. The Kansas City Royals won their first game of the 2015 season and they won yesterday 4-3 against the defending NL champion Mets.

The Cincinnati Reds are considered baseballs oldest team, founded in 1869 as the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Therefore, MLB has made a point of always allowing them to open their season at home, save for the 1966 and 1990 seasons.

On this day in 1974, Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron homered in his clubs first game of the season at Riverfront Stadium. It was the 714th of his career, tying the Babe for first on the all-time list.

No pitcher in history has been more dominant than Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators on Opening Day. The Big Train started 14 openers for his club in his lifetime, recording nine shutouts. It’s no surprise he is the career leader in that category with 110 in his lifetime.

Since 1999, MLB has had Opening Day regular season games hosted overseas in four different countries; Mexico (1999), Japan (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012), Puerto Rico (2001) and Australia (2014).

You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen. – Joe DiMaggio

Three players have had three home run games on Opening Day. The first to complete the feat was George Bell of the Blue Jays in 1988, followed by Tuffy Rhodes of the Cubs in 1994 and Dmitri Young of the Tigers as recent as 2005.

The most accumulative strikeouts on Opening Day belong to the Big Unit, Randy Johnson, with 107. Tom Seaver, who has the most Opening Day starts in a career, is second with 81.

WWE’s Wrestlemania 32 aired on the same day as MLB’s Opening Day this year. The cheapest ticket listed online for a seat at the event in AT&T Stadium two days prior was $199 USD. In 2015, 1.6 million viewers tuned in to watch Wrestlemania 31. The cheapest ticket to an Opening Day ball game in 2016 was for the Tampa Bay Rays at $21 USD in Tropicana Field. According to ESPN, 2015’s four game slate on Opening Day took on approximately 803,000 viewers.

This marks the third consecutive year of the Los Angeles Dodgers having baseball’s highest payroll at $242.7 million. From 2000-2013, only one other team has held this dubious distinction — the New York Yankees

Next: Top 100 players in MLB history (90-81)

Of all the personalities to come and go through the years of Major League Baseball, no one person has been directly associated with more Opening Days than the legendary Vin Scully. Calling Dodgers games since 1950 when the team was still in Brooklyn, 2016 will mark Vincent Edward Scully’s final season as the soothing and captivating voice behind so many memorable Dodgers moments and seasons.

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