HOME
What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: April 9, 2026
Davey Lopes, a difficult baserunner to nab on a stolen base attempt and member of the Dodgers’ longstanding infield from 1973-81 that also featured Steve Garvey, Bill Russell and Ron Cey, passes away at the age of 80.
The short (5’9”), somewhat stocky and speedy second baseman debuted in the majors with the Dodgers at age 27 and, a year later, became a mainstay in a Los Angeles infield that would help the team rise to prominence in the 1970s after a brief, post-Sandy Koufax/Don Drysdale malaise, winning three NL pennants. Lopes hit peak in 1978, earning his first of four All-Star spots, landing his lone career Gold Glove, and enjoying a sparkling postseason in which he batted .341 with five homers and 12 RBIs over just 10 games—the last six of those a World Series defeat to the Yankees.
After a lousy 1981 season in which be batted .206 at age 36 and committed six errors for the Dodgers in that year’s World Series—albeit, this time, in triumph over the Yankees—Lopes became the first member of the tightknit Dodgers infield to be let go with a trade to Oakland; his spot was taken over by Steve Sax, who won 1982 NL Rookie of the Year honors.
Lopes stole 557 bases in a 16-year career; three times, he swiped over 40 bags while being caught only four times. In 1975, he stole 38 straight bases without being tagged out, setting a major league mark later broken by Vince Coleman.
After his playing days, Lopes turned to a long career in coaching, most recently as a first-base coach for Washington in 2017. He tried his hand at managing, lasting two-plus forgettable years with Milwaukee from 2000-02.
Could the Colorado Rockies be, gulp, competitive? Granted, the team that looked even worse than their hideous 43-119 record of last year suggested is an average 6-6 after a 9-1 home win over Houston, so it’s certainly premature for Rockies fans to start making World Series reservations in October. But it’s a far better circumstance than where they were at this time last year. The three-game sweep of the Astros is Colorado’s first of the season—matching their entire total for 2025. Furthermore, the Rockies didn’t win their sixth game last season until May 1.
Now the trick is to start convincing Rockies fans that their upbeat start is no mirage. So far, that’s not been happening; the crowd of 15,189 at Coors Field for the Rockies’ win is the lowest for a game at the 31-year-old facility not hampered by COVID-era seating restrictions.
Have you noticed all the lack of scoring taking place in MLB so far this season? We have. Yes, the season has only lasted two weeks and we’re slowly emerging from the short-sample stage—plus, cold weather still lingering from Winter typically depresses hitting numbers in any year. But if you’re a bettor and focusing solely on picking the under so far this year, well, as the Beatles once sang, “Baby, you’re a rich man.”
Things just aren’t looking great for major league hitters. The collective batting average for all players thus far is .234. That figure is on pace for the lowest in a season, ever. Okay, one might argue that there’s more power and walks to help offset that number, right? Wrong. The .688 OPS, if that sticks to the end of the campaign, will be the lowest in 50 years. Where’s the Cactus League when we need it?
Not helping the hitters’ cause thus far has been the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) system instituted for the first time this year in regular season play. Fans and the media alike seem to be good with the system; catchers and pitchers certainly are, too. So far, they’ve combined to challenge questionable calls by the umpires 290 times, with 186 overturns for a 64% success rate. By comparison, batters have called for 263 challenges, with 153 overturns for a 51% success rate. That discrepancy has so far led to a minor handicap for batters, thus likely lowering the overall batting average.
As with any season, the weather will warm, pitching arms will begin to tire out, and hitters’ timing will peak. But those hitters had better start hurrying and playing catch-up with the numbers—because right now, those figures are definitely not in their favor.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
5-1-4-4—Angel Martinez, Cleveland
Is this the sign of a breakout for the 24-year-old Dominican-born center fielder? After a year-plus of major league seasoning struggling to reach base, Martinez had no such problems against the visiting Royals, punching out a double, two singles and his second career grand slam in the Guardians’ 10-2 rout. On top of all of that, Martinez stole his second base of the year.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
6.1-3-0-0-2-2—Sonny Gray, Boston
The skies above Fenway Park were blue, and the Red Sox mound was all Gray as the veteran hurler quieted down the pesky (and very good) Brewers for nearly seven shutout innings in a 5-0 victory. It continues a very solid start for Gray, who’s 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA through three starts so far this season.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1913: Historic Ebbets Field hosts its first regular season game with the visiting Phillies edging the Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers), 1-0. Tom Seaton throws a six-hit shutout to outduel Nap Rucker before a crowd of 10,000.
1965: The Houston Astrodome, baseball’s first indoor facility, debuts with an exhibition game between the Astros and Yankees. Mickey Mantle, who describes the cutting-edge facility as something that “reminds me of what I imagine my first ride would be like in a flying saucer,” becomes the first player to hit a home run in the new stadium with a sixth-inning blast to center off Turk Farrell. The Astros win in 11 innings before a packed house, 2-1.
1968: All scheduled games on Opening Day are postponed so baseball can observe a national day of mourning for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., slain five days earlier in Memphis.
1974: The Padres, who looked certain to relocate to Washington before the season, are on their way to suffering their fourth straight one-sided defeat, and their first at home, to start the year—and new owner Ray Kroc isn’t happy. With his team trailing the Astros in the eighth inning, 9-2, Kroc storms the P.A. booth, grabs the mic and proceeds to trash his players in full earshot of the team and 40,000 fans. Padres players are so infuriated by the rant that they consider boycotting the next game before Kroc apologizes.
1993: The Colorado Rockies play their first home game in front of 80,227 at Mile High Stadium, the team’s headquarters until Coors Field is built in 1995. Not surprisingly, the high altitude will figure in the final score with the Rockies scoring an 11-4 rout over the visiting Montreal Expos.
2009: Nick Adenhart, a promising young pitcher for the Angels, is killed in a car accident in Orange, California just hours after throwing six shutout innings against Oakland in his first appearance of the year. He and two others are struck and killed by a car driven by a man with a suspended license and an alcohol blood level three times the legal limit. The Angels dedicate the season to the 22-year-old Adenhart, leaving his jersey hanging in his locker room stall for the balance of the season.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Giants second baseman and three-time batting champ Luis Arraez (29)
David Robertson (41), reliever of 881 appearances and 179 saves; 2011 All-Star
Hal Morris (61), solid, left-handed contact hitter who produced .304 batting average over 13 seasons
Kirk McCaskill (65), 12-year pitcher of 106 wins
Born on this date:
Nate Colbert (1946), three-time All-Star first baseman; early slugging star for the Padres; collected five home runs and 13 RBIs in a 1972 doubleheader
Claude Passeau (1909), reliable wartime pitcher for the Cubs after frustrating tenure with awful Phillies teams; four-time All-Star; career 162-150 record, 3.32 ERA
Fred Frankhouse (1904), 13-year pitcher with 106-97 record
Wade Johnston (1898), Negro League outfielder from 1922-33, posting career .303 batting average
Hippo Vaughn (1888), five-time 20-game winner for the Cubs; 1918 NL ERA titlist; two-time league leader in innings pitched; 1-2 record, 1.00 ERA in three 1918 World Series starts; lost 10-inning game in 1917 to Reds and Fred Toney after both pitchers threw no-hit ball for nine innings
Doc White (1879), Deadball Era pitcher for the White Sox with 189-156 record; 1906 AL ERA titlist; 1907 league leader in wins
Shameless Link of the Day
What happened in baseball 10 years ago this month? Find out here.
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
To Whom It May Concern
We are proud of what we have built at This Great Game, but we also admit it is not perfect. Occasionally, fans from all walks of life check in and point out errors, and we are grateful to these external editors. Our site is all the better because of you.
Also, we have had many folks chime in on our various lists in the Lists and Teams sections, many of them disagreeing with some of our choices. Since all lists are made to be argued, this is to be expected. If your arguments are respectful, we will respond in kind and join in a civilized debate—and we’ll often see your viewpoints, since no list should qualify as The Gospel. But if your responses contain the sort of vitriol found so often these days in social media circles, you’re going to get ignored. So please, respond respectfully, engage in polite conversation with us, and enjoy the site!
