The Grand Tradition: 15 Fascinating Facts About MLB Opening Day

1. President Taft Launched the Ceremonial Pitch Tradition

In 1910, President William Howard Taft established a enduring baseball tradition when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Senators game. Sitting in the front row, the 300-pound president tossed the ball to star pitcher Walter Johnson, who went on to throw a complete-game shutout. Popular legend long credited Taft with also inventing the seventh-inning stretch during that same game after standing up to relieve his discomfort in the stadium's cramped wooden chairs. While evidence shows baseball fans stretched during games decades earlier, Taft’s high-profile stand certainly popularized the custom nationwide. Since Taft, nearly every sitting U.S. president has tossed an Opening Day pitch at least once while in office.

2. Cincinnati Held the Exclusive Right to Open the Season for Decades

For more than a century, Major League Baseball granted the Cincinnati Reds the permanent honor of hosting the very first game of the entire season. This privilege was awarded because the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings were baseball’s first fully professional, salaried team. The annual tradition became a massive civic event in Cincinnati, featuring an elaborate downtown parade before the game. While modern television broadcast scheduling eventually shifted the absolute first pitch to other locations, the Reds are still guaranteed a home game for Opening Day each year. The town continues to treat the event with the reverence of an official public holiday.

3. Bob Feller Pitched the Only Opening Day No-Hitter in History

Pitching a no-hitter at any point during a major league season is an astonishing feat, but throwing one on Opening Day is virtually unprecedented. On April 16, 1940, 21-year-old Cleveland Indians ace Bob Feller accomplished the impossible against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. In freezing weather with temperatures hovering near freezing, Feller dominated the opposing lineup, striking out eight batters while walking five. Despite the harsh weather and early-season jitters, he did not allow a single hit across nine grueling innings. To this day, Feller remains the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw a no-hitter on Opening Day.

4. The New York Mets Are statistically the Kings of Opening Day

Despite experiencing their fair share of difficult regular seasons over the decades, the New York Mets are statistically the most successful Opening Day franchise in baseball history. Since their inaugural season in 1962, the Mets have compiled the highest Opening Day winning percentage of any team in MLB. After losing their first six season openers in the 1960s, the franchise turned things around and went on an incredible run, winning 36 out of 41 openers between 1970 and 2010. Baseball historians often point to this bizarre phenomenon as one of the sport's most delightful statistical anomalies.

5. Franklin D. Roosevelt Smashed a Press Camera With an Errant Toss

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was an avid baseball fan who threw out eight ceremonial Opening Day pitches during his presidency, the most of any commander-in-chief. However, his toss on Opening Day in 1940 did not go entirely according to plan. Roosevelt unleashed a wildly off-target throw from his box seat that sailed straight into the crowd of assembled media. The ball smashed directly into the lens of a newspaper photographer's expensive camera, shattering the glass. Roosevelt laughed off the incident, signed the baseball for the unlucky photographer, and paid for the damaged equipment out of his own pocket.

6. Tuffy Rhodes Hit Three Consecutive Home Runs on Opening Day 1994

Outfielder Tuffy Rhodes was far from a household name when he took the field for the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day on April 4, 1994. Facing New York Mets superstar pitcher Dwight Gooden at Wrigley Field, Rhodes proceeded to shock the entire baseball world. In his first three at-bats of the game, Rhodes hit three consecutive home runs, driving the Chicago crowd into a frenzy. He became just the second player in MLB history to hit three home runs on Opening Day, following George Bell in 1988. Remarkably, Rhodes went on to hit only five more home runs during the entire remainder of that MLB season.

7. Walter Johnson Pitched Nine Opening Day Shutouts for Washington

Hall of Fame pitcher Walter "The Big Train" Johnson was the undisputed master of Opening Day starting assignments. Over his illustrious 21-year career with the Washington Senators, Johnson was named the Opening Day starting pitcher a record fourteen times. Even more staggering than his appearances was his absolute dominance: Johnson pitched nine complete-game shutouts on Opening Day. His most famous opening effort occurred in 1926, when he pitched a 15-inning, 1-0 shutout against the Philadelphia Athletics. Johnson's record for Opening Day shutouts stands as one of the most unbreakable milestones in modern sports history.

8. Snowball Fights Once Forced an Opening Day Forfeit

Because the Major League Baseball season begins during early spring in northern cities, inclement weather has frequently derailed Opening Day plans. One of the most infamous weather-related incidents occurred on April 11, 1907, when the New York Giants played the Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds. Heavy snow covered the field prior to the game, but groundcrews cleared enough turf for play to begin. Late in the game, angry spectators in the bleachers began hurling packed snowballs at the field and umpires. When the crowd refused to stop, umpire Bill Klem officially forfeited the game to Philadelphia, marking the only weather-prompted fan forfeit in Opening Day history.

9. The 1950 Yankees Overcame a Nine-Run Deficit Against Boston

Opening Day is often unpredictable, but few games match the chaotic comeback pulled off by the New York Yankees on April 18, 1950. Playing against their bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park, the Yankees found themselves trailing 9-0 early in the contest. Driven by a powerful lineup featuring Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, the Bronx Bombers mounted a relentless offensive surge. The Yankees scored fifteen unanswered runs across the middle innings, stunning the Boston crowd. New York ultimately won the wild game 15-10, completing the largest comeback victory in Opening Day history.

10. A German Immigrant Popularized Hot Dogs at the Ballpark

The iconic link between baseball Opening Day and hot dogs was forged in the late 19th century by a German immigrant named Chris von der Ahe. Von der Ahe was the eccentric owner of the St. Louis Browns (who later became the Cardinals) in the 1880s and 1890s. Recognizing that fans loved salty snacks while watching baseball, he began selling grilled sausages in milk-bread buns at his stadium to boost his team's draft beer sales. The combination of cheap frankfurters and cold beer proved an immediate hit with fans on Opening Day. Within a decade, ballpark franks became an indispensable staple across every stadium in the major leagues.

11. Dwight D. Eisenhower Skipped Opening Day to Play Golf

Throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day has long been viewed as an easy political photo opportunity for American presidents. However, President Dwight D. Eisenhower caused a media firestorm in April 1953 when he declined his invitation to attend the Washington Senators' season opener. Instead of heading to the ballpark, Eisenhower chose to spend the afternoon playing a round of golf in Augusta, Georgia. The public backlash from passionate baseball fans and sportswriters was swift and harsh. Realizing his political misstep, Eisenhower quickly rescheduled and threw out the ceremonial pitch at a Senators game later that same week.

12. Hank Aaron Tied Babe Ruth’s Home Run Record on Opening Day

One of the most momentous hits in baseball history occurred on Opening Day on April 4, 1974. Atlanta Braves superstar Hank Aaron entered the season opener against the Cincinnati Reds sitting on 713 career home runs—just one shy of Babe Ruth's legendary record. In his very first at-bat of the season, Aaron crushed a three-run home run off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham into the outfield stands. The historic swing tied Babe Ruth at 714 home runs, setting the stage for Aaron to break the record four days later in Atlanta. It remains the most famous milestone swing ever recorded on the first day of a season.

13. Ronald Reagan Swapped the Presidential Box for the Broadcast Booth

Before launching his political career, Ronald Reagan worked as a popular sports broadcaster in Iowa during the 1930s, re-creating Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts from telegraph wires. On Opening Day in 1988, President Reagan revisited his broadcasting roots at Wrigley Field. After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch from the field, Reagan walked up to the broadcast booth to join legendary announcers Harry Caray and Steve Stone. The sitting president stayed in the booth to call the entire first inning on live television, displaying his natural broadcasting charm and deep knowledge of the game.

14. Madison Bumgarner Hit Two Home Runs as a Pitcher on Opening Day

Pitchers hitting home runs was always a rare treat in baseball, but San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner made history on Opening Day in 2017. Facing the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 2, 2017, Bumgarner displayed his formidable offensive skills alongside his elite pitching. He hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, and then crushed another solo shot in the seventh inning. Bumgarner became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to hit two home runs on Opening Day. His extraordinary display of hitting power remains one of the most unique single-game achievements by a starting pitcher.

15. Grassroots Campaigns Have Petitioned to Make It a National Holiday

For millions of fans across the United States, Opening Day already feels like an unoffical national holiday. Over the past two decades, formal grassroots efforts have repeatedly tried to make that status official. In 2014, Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith led a high-profile White House petition campaign sponsored by Budweiser to declare MLB Opening Day an official federal holiday. The petition successfully gathered over 100,000 signatures, requiring an official response from the Obama administration. While the federal government declined to create a new official holiday, the effort highlighted the unique, cultural place baseball holds in American life.