Early agate
ON THIS DATE
April 16
1940 – Bob Feller of Cleveland defeats the White Sox 1-0 in the only opening day no-hitter in major league history, at Chicago.
1953 – Danny O’Connell’s three-run homer in the fifth inning broke up a slugfest and gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 14-12 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the home opener at Forbes Field. The Pirates had 27 hits. The game draws only 16,220 fans on a rainy 40-degree day.
1958 – Arnold Palmer edges Doug Ford by one stroke to win the Masters.
1959 – Jim Garry and Ed Hepe, both of McDonald High School’s coaching staff, are appointed head football and basketball coach, respectively, by the Fort Cherry Joint Board. Fort Cherry, merging McDonald, Hickory and Midway high schools, will make its WPIAL debut in the 1959-60 school year.
1958 – Los Angeles’ Dick Gray, a third baseman from Jefferson, goes 3-for-6 with a home run as the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 13-1.
1966 – Roberto Clemente hits a home run and Manny Mota has a two-run triple as the Pittsburgh Pirates get a rare win over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2. The loss ends St. Louis’ 18-game winning streak at Forbes Field.
1973 – The WPIAL accepts six schools from the Class A Catholic League, adding South Hills, Bishop Boyle, Serra, Greensburg Central Catholic, Quigley and Penn Academy. The move is considered a death blow to the Catholic League.
1974 – Jerry Chambers resigns as wrestling coach at Trinity High School.
1977 – Trinity’s Gene Roach sets the meet record in the pole vault at the Canon-McMillan Relays. Roach clears 14-0 3/4 to break the record of 13-8 3/4 that was set in 1968.
1983 – Washington High School’s Brian Davis breaks the school record and wins the long jump at the Tri-State Track Coaches Meet in Mt. Lebanon. Davis’ leap of 23-1 breaks the 21-year-old school record and 12-year-old meet record.
1985 – Pittsburgh’s Jose DeLeon strikes out 14 New York batters in eight innings, but the Mets score in the ninth against John Candelaria and beat the Pirates 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium.
1992 – Behind two first-place and two second-place finishes by Megan Ferrara, Ringgold High School wins the team title at the Washington County Coaches Girls Track Meet. Ferrara wins the long jump and 300 hurdles and is the runnerup in the triple jump and 200 dash.
1994 – Wind gusts of 60 mph topple four light towers at The Meadows and causes the postponement of two racing cards.
April 17
1955 – Roberto Clemente, a 20-year-old rookie from Carolina, Puerto Rico, makes his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in right field at Forbes Field.
1959 – Trinity High School’s Mark Opatt throws a no-hitter and strikes out 12 in the Hillers’ 5-0 baseball victory over host Canonsburg.
1964 – The New York Mets lose their first game at Shea Stadium, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hits the first homer at Shea and scores the winning run on a ninth-inning single by Bill Mazeroski.
1978 – Joe Montana, who quarterbacked Notre Dame to college football’s national championship, is named the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner.
1991 – John Smiley pitches a one-hitter and Jeff King hits a two-run homer to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-0 win over the New York Mets. Kevin McReynolds’ one-out double in the second inning is the only Mets hit. Smiley retires the final 23 Mets in order.
1999 – The Pittsburgh Steelers select Louisiana Tech wide receiver Troy Edwards with the 13th pick in the NFL draft.
1999 – Trinity’s Ben Junko wins two long-distance races and takes second in the 800 but Canon-McMillan wins the boys team title at theWashington-Greene County Coaches Track Meet.
2005 – Winning pitcher Danielle Claassen tosses a two-hitter and J.C. Timko smacks a double and triple as Chartiers-Houston (8-0) remains undefeated with a 3-1 win over West Greene in Section 2-A. It is West Greene’s first section loss.
2006 – Sidney Crosby scores three assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 win over the New York Islanders to become the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. The 18-year-old becomes the seventh NHL rookie to reach the 100-point mark.
2012 – Cameron Grimes throws a four-hit shutout as Carmichaels defeats previously unbeaten Jefferson-Morgan 10-0 in a Section 2-A softball game.