It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics.
Last week, we took a long look at Tidbits surrounding MLB’s workhorses … players with 700 or more plate appearances in a season. See that post by clicking here. This week, we’re answering a trivia question loaded with “firsts.”
Name the player, who hit:
- The first MLB pitch he saw in, of course, his first MLB plate appearance, for a pinch-hit home run;
- Which came in his team’s first game of the season (in other words, Opening Day);
- Which was also the franchise’s first-ever pinch “hit” and, of course, it’s first-ever pinch-hit four-bagger; and
- Came in the franchise’s first-ever regular-season contest.
The answer is coming right up, along with a look at the other players whose first-ever MLB plate appearance resulted in an Opening Day pinch-hit home run.
Statistical Coincidence.
The Roundtable loves coincidences. Three players have hit pinch-hit home runs in their first MLB plate appearance on Opening Day (their team’s first game of the season). All three connected for that dinger on the first MLB pitch they ever saw.
Now, let’s answer that multi-qualifier trivia question. The answer is:
Al Woods … Toronto Blue Jays, April 7, 1977
Al Woods was drafted and signed by the Twins in the Second Round (secondary Phase) of the June 1972 Draft. In 1973, as a 19-year-old, he hit .302-2-10 at for the Low-A Geneva Twins of the New York-Pennsylvania League. In four seasons in the Twins’ minor-league system (1973-76), he went .287-32-211, with 30 steals in 390 games.
Then – after a .284-6-74, 13-steal season at Triple-A Tacoma, he was the Blue Jays’ 15th selection in the 1976 MLB Expansion Draft – setting the stage for Opening Day 1977. Note: The photo in the post notification/teaser (photo of a Twins Opening Day) provided a very obscure hint in that Woods began his professional career in the Twins’ organization and played his final MLB game in a Twins’ uniform.
The Blue Jays’ first-ever game came on April 7, versus the White Sox, in front of 44,649 fans at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Left-hander Ken Brett started on the mound for Chicago and the left-handed swinging Woods was on the bench for the Blue Jays.
In the fifth inning, Toronto had a 5-4 lead and righty Francisco Barrios was on the mound for Chicago (having relieved Brett in the fourth). With a runner second on one out, Woods was sent to the plate to pinch hit for right-handed swinging RF Steve Bowling. In this first-ever MLB plate appearance, Woods smacked the first pitch he saw from Barrios for a two-run home run (and a bit of a unicorn was born). Woods stayed in the game in RF, had two more plate appearances and struck out looking both times. (Side note: Woods was not the Blue Jays’ first-ever pinch-hitter: Jim Mason walked in a fourth-inning pinch-hit appearance. Woods’ homer , while the Blue Jays’ first-ever pinch “hit” and first-ever pinch-hit homer, was not the team’s first-ever home run. Starting 1B Doug Alt had gone deep in the bottom of the first. The Blue Jays won their inaugural game 9-5.
Woods went on to a seven-season MLB career (1977-82, 1986 … Blue Jays, Twins), hitting .271-34-196 in 618 games. His best season was 1980, when he went .300-15-47 in 109 games for Toronto.
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The two other players who hit Opening Day pinch-hit homers in their first MLB plate appearance were Eddie Morgan (1936 Cardinals) and Chuck Tanner (1955 Braves)
Eddie Morgan … Cardinals, April 14, 1936
Eddie Morgan made his MLB debut (as a 21-year-old) with the Cardinals on Opening Day 1936 – following a 1935 .347, 13-home run season (in 112 games) with the Class-B Bloomington Bloomers. (Now, there’s an unfortunate team name.) While he didn’t start the (home) game versus the Cubs, Redbirds’ manager Frankie Frisch gave the rookie a chance to play – pinch-hitting Morgan (for pitcher Bill McGee) in the bottom of the seventh, with a runner on second, no outs and Saint Louis trailing 12-3. Morgan hit the first pitch he saw from Lon Warneke for a two-run homer to right-center. ( The Cardinals eventually lost 12-7.)
The home run would be Morgan’s only roundtripper in a two-season MLB career (1936 Cardinals, 1937 Dodgers), in which he went .212-1-8 in 39 games. While he did not play in the majors after 1937, Morgan continued to toil in the minor-leagues through the 1950 season. In all, he played 1,692 minor-league games.
Chuck Tanner, Braves … April 12, 1955
Chuck Tanner made his MLB debut on April 12, 1955 (with the Braves hosting the season opener versus the Reds) – after a .323-20-101 season (155 games) with the Double-A Atlanta Crackers in 1954. Tanner’s might have been the most meaningful appearance among the three-players noted in this post. He came in with one out and no one on base in the bottom of the eighth inning (pinch-hitting for Warren Spahn), with the Braves trailing 2-1. Tanner tied the game with a home run on the first pitch he saw from Gerry Staley; and the Braves went on to win 4-2.
Tanner got in 97 games in his rookie campaign, hitting .247-6-27. (He made it to the majors at age 26, after nine minor-league campaigns … hitting .300+ in eight of them.) By the time he reached the Braves, Tanner had more than 1,000 minor-league games under his belt – playing for eight different minor-league teams at six different levels. (Tanner began his professional career as a 17-year-old.)
Tanner, an outfielder, went on to play in eight MLB seasons (1955-62 … Braves, Cubs, Indians, Angels), going .261-21-105 in 396 games.
A student of the game, Tanner (known as an optimistic leader … nicknamed Mr. Sunshine), went on to a 19-season career as a major-league manager (1970-88 …. White Sox, Athletics, Pirates, Braves) – putting up a 1,352 – 1,381 record and leading the 1979 Pirates to a 98-64 regular-season record and a World Series Championship. He also managed in the minor-leagues … 1963-70).
“The greatest feeling in the world is to win a major-league game. The second-greatest feeling is to lose a major-league game.”
Chuck Tanner, July 15, 1985, Sporting News
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