Compiled By PAUL MONTELLA
By The Associated Press
April 3
1923 -- Expelled "Black Sox" players Happy Felsch and Swede Risberg sued their former club for back salary and $400,000 in damages. They were among eight members of the Chicago White Sox team charged with fixing the 1919 World Series.
1966 -- The New York Mets won the right to sign Southern California pitcher Tom Seaver when commissioner William Eckert pulled their name out of a hat. Eckert had voided Seaver's contract with Atlanta, when the Braves signed him during his college season. Cleveland and Philadelphia were the other two teams that had a chance, matching the Braves' original $40,000 offer.
1985 -- The Players' Association agreed with the owners to expand the 1985 League Championship Series from best-of-5 to best-of-7.
1994 -- The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 in Major League Baseball's first Sunday night opener, which sent baseball into a new era with three divisions and a new playoff format.
1998 -- Milwaukee's Jose Valentin hit three homers and drove in five runs to lead the Brewers to a 7-1 victory over the Florida Marlins.
2000 -- Andres Galarraga made a triumphant return to Turner Field. Out all of last season because of a cancerous tumor in his back, Galarraga celebrated his comeback by hitting a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves over Colorado 2-0.
2000 -- Savannah State's baseball team set an NCAA record for consecutive victories. The Tigers beat Claflin 8-0 and 21-1, extending its streak to 42 and eclipsing the record of 40 claimed by Marietta College of Ohio, a Division II school, last year.
2001 -- Houston's Craig Biggio had five hits to tie a major league record for a season opener as the Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
2006 -- Seattle's Kenji Johjima became the first Japanese catcher to start a major league game and also homered for his first hit in the Mariners' 5-3 loss to Los Angeles.
2008 -- Kansas City the Tigers 4-1 at Detroit to complete a season-opening three-game sweep. It was the first time the Royals started the year with a sweep on the road since 1977.
2011 -- Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz became the first set of teammates to homer in each of the first three games in a season, and Matt Harrison pitched the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Today's birthdays: Jay Bruce 27; Jason Kipnis 27; Ryan Doumit 33; Koji Uehara 39.