Compiled By PAUL MONTELLA
April 8
1934 -- The Philadelphia Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies played the first legal Sunday baseball game in Philadelphia. The exhibition game was made possible when the state made Sunday baseball a local option and the city approved it in a referendum ballot.
1969 -- The Montreal Expos played their first regular-season game -- the first international contest in major league history -- and defeated the eventual World Series champion New York Mets 11-10 at Shea Stadium. Expos pitcher Dan McGinn hit the expansion team's first home run.
1974 -- In the opener in Atlanta, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career record by hitting his 715th home run off Los Angeles left-hander Al Downing in the fourth inning. The Braves beat the Dodgers 7-4 before a crowd of nearly 54,000.
1975 -- Frank Robinson became the first black manager in major league history by making his debut as player-manager of the Cleveland Indians. He hit a home run in his first at-bat -- as a designated hitter -- to help beat the New York Yankees, 5-3.
1986 -- Jim Presley of the Seattle Mariners hit home runs in the ninth and 10th innings for a come-from-behind 8-4 opening day victory over the California Angels.
1987 -- Pitchers Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton of the Cleveland Indians teamed up to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-3. Niekro recorded his 312th victory and Carlton pitched four shutout innings in relief. It was the first time in modern history that two 300-game winners pitched for the same team in the same game.
1993 -- Carlos Baerga of the Cleveland Indians became the first player in major league history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning. The homers came in the seventh inning of a 15-5 rout of the New York Yankees.
1994 -- Kurt Mercker of the Atlanta Braves pitched the season's first no-hitter, beating the Dodgers 6-0. It was the first complete game of Mercker's career.
2002 -- Craig Biggio hit for the cycle and had four RBIs in Houston's 8-4 win over Colorado.
2009 -- Four Phillies walked with the bases loaded during an eight-run seventh inning and Philadelphia rallied for a 12-11 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
2011 -- Manny Ramirez retired from baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. The slumping Tampa Bay slugger informed Major League Baseball that he would retire rather than face a 100-game suspension. Ramirez served a 50-game ban for violating the drug policy in 2009.
2014 -- Ryan Braun hit three home runs and tied a franchise record with seven RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over Philadelphia 10-4, spoiling the Phillies' home opener. Braun connected twice off Kyle Kendrick, a three-run shot to left in the third and a solo homer in the fourth, snapping the longest homerless drought of his career. He then launched a three-run drive off Brad Lincoln in the eighth.
Today's birthdays: Jeremy Hellickson, 28; Yonder Alonso, 28; Felix Hernandez, 29; Carlos Santana, 29; Chris Iannetta, 32; Jeremy Guthrie, 36.