April 20 in Tigers and mlb history:
1908 - Henry Chadwick dies at age 83 in Brooklyn, New York. A sportswriter and historian, Chadwick was one of the prime movers in the rise of baseball to its unprecedented popularity at the turn of the 20th century. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1938.
1912 - The Detroit Tigers christen their Navin Field with a 6 - 5 win over the Cleveland Naps.
1914 - The 25-player limit is suspended in the American and National leagues. With uncertainty over who has signed with what teams as a result of the creation of the Federal League, it is almost impossible to know how many players may be on the roster at any one time.
1937 - Gee Walker hits for the cycle on Opening Day to lead the Tigers to a 4 - 3 victory over Cleveland. Walker hits the cycle in reverse order: home run, triple, double and single. This game starts a 27 game hitting streak for Walker
1939 - The Boston Red Sox show off their prize rookie Ted Williams before 30,278 in their opener at Yankee Stadium, delayed two days because of rain. After striking out twice, Williams collects a double off New York Yankees pitcher Red Ruffing, who wins 2 - 0. Lou Gehrig makes an error, goes hitless, and lines into two double plays in the only game featuring the two great sluggers. Other notables in what will become a historic box score include Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Red Rolfe, and losing pitcher Lefty Grove. New York scores its first run on a home run by Dickey and its second tally on an error by Foxx. Boston has baserunners in each inning, but Ruffing tosses just the second opening day shutout in Yankees history. Four umpires work the game including third base ump George Pipgras, the starting pitcher for the Yankees in the 1929 opener against Boston. Curiously, his opponent for that day was Ruffing.
1941: The Brooklyn Dodgers become the first major league team to wear protective headgear. Each player's cap features a special plastic lining designed to fend off the effects of beanballs. It is a cautious response to the numerous beanball wars of 1940 that hospitalized Joe Medwick and Billy Jurges, among others. The liners in the caps are thin enough to be hardly noticeable, but most major league players disdain the protection.
1943: The season starts, two weeks later than customary. Stalwarts such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Enos Slaughter and Johnny Mize are gone to military service, among some 60 players who could have been classified as regulars in the 1942 season.
1968 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Jon Warden, the last man to make the team in spring training, makes his third appearance, and wins for the third time in relief, as Detroit beats the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in 10 innings, 4 - 1. Due to a torn rotator cuff injury after being selected by the Kansas City Royals in the expansion draft, the rookie sensation, who will be the only Tiger not to appear in the World Series, will pitch only one season finishing with a 4-1 record and a 3.62 ERA.
1973 - Four months after his death, Pittsburgh Pirates great Roberto Clemente is inducted into the Hall of Fame in a special election.
2006: Julio Franco, at 47 years, 240 days old, becomes the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run. At Petco Park, Franco connects for a two-run, pinch-hit shot off Scott Linebrink that launches the Mets' six-run 8th inning and propells them to a 7 - 2 comeback victory against the Padres. This gives Franco the spot in the record book that had belonged to Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam and a pinch-hit homer, and to have a multi-homer game. He also has four career pinch-hit homers.
Tigers players birthdays:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Lou_Vedder
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/veddelo01.shtml
Lou Vedder 1920.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/harriea01.shtml
Earl Harrist 1953.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Milt_Wilcox
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilcomi01.shtml
Milt Wilcox 1977-1985.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tolmati01.shtml
Tim Tolman 1986-1987.
from Baseball Reference
