"Abyss," anyone?

Is the ABS lowering batting averages to all-time low depths? Are the Rockies, woah, competitive? Those discussions, plus a look back at Davey Lopes, and all the usual best performances, birthdays and on-this-date factoids in today's First Pitch. #MLB thisgreatgame.com

My mlb.tv is flooded with ESPN/ABC commercials.

Black and white head and shoulders portrait of Davey Lopes in a home Dodgers uniform. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Hall of Fame remembers Davey Lopes, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 80.

Manning second base for one of the most famous infields in history, the Dodgers captain and four-time All-Star helped the club win four NL pennants and the 1981 World Series title.

The #Astros' Cam Smith swings and misses at the first three pitches, yet ends up getting a walk.

It's remarkable in any day and age—especially this one—that no one can keep track of a count. Not the umpires, the pitcher, his manager, even the announcers in the booth.

With four singles and a double today in an 11-7 win against the #Cardinals, the #Rays' Yandy Diaz becomes the first player in TB history with multiple five-hit games.

The #Athletics struck out 50 times in getting swept in their season-opening series at Toronto.

That's the most K's they racked up over any three-game stretch in franchise history, and the most by any MLB team to start a season.

This Great Game | The Online Book of Baseball Today's baseball news, what happened on this date, player birthdays, the best hitters and pitchers of the day, and new and updated pages.

Our look back on a day full of openers, impressive debuts and unexpected firsts, bests and worsts among 11 Opening Day games. thisgreatgame.com

Tyler O'Neill has hit a home run in six straight Opening Day games. He's batting sixth for the #Orioles today at Baltimore against the #Twins in a bid for his seventh straight.

Paul Skenes is done after 2/3 of an inning, 37 pitches and five runs allowed thanks to two defensive lapses from CF O'Neil Cruz. #Pirates #Mets

Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt are all shorter for 2026 MLB season New York must be shrinking.

Here's one side effect of the new ABS system: Players are now being honest about their height. www.yahoo.com/sports/artic...

A first look at “The Ballpark and Beyond,” release date May 26.

Proving that the Cactus League can sometimes impersonate baseball’s 1930 season, there were a total of 153 runs scored in seven Arizona-hosted games on Thursday—an average of 11 runs per team. Hitters batted .336 with 39 home runs in 541 at-bats.

Arod Carew

Well done, @baseball-reference.com.

A new housing development at TGG's new home base of St. George, Utah has three streets named so far—and these are two of them. I'm guessing that Rockies Way and Devil Rays Drive will be next.

Newsworthy day for #Tigers pitchers past, present and future:

* Mickey Lolich passes away at age 85
* Tarik Skubal has his arbitration hearing
* Framber Valdez signs with Detroit for 3 years, $115m

No pitcher who's played the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates is in the Hall of Fame.

New members of Baseball’s Hall of Fame—if there are to be any—will be announced today. With that in mind, here’s our Opinions piece from three years ago that is more relevant than ever, especially given this year’s relatively weak slate of candidates. thisgreatgame.com/opinion1-23/

Color headshot of Wilbur Wood, circa 1976, in a navy blue Chicago White Sox cap. (Photo: SABR-Rucker Archive)

RIP Wilbur Wood, 84, a Chicago White Sox workhorse in the 1970s and arguably the best left-handed knuckleballer in major league history. Read his SABR bio: sabr.org/bioproj/pers...

Strong typographical concept, but the chiseled look is more evocative of stone than steel

Frankie Frisch had much to do with that spike in the 1920s and 1930s. He ran the Vets committee from 1967-73 and took cronyism to an absurd level.

The most runs scored by the Pirates all year...in the same game they gave up the most.

Donora, PA barely has a population of 5,000, yet is the birthplace of two left-handed slugging, HOF legends both born 49 years apart on the same date—today.

Happy birthday to Stan "the Man" Musial and Ken "the Kid" Griffey Jr.

Saw this game as a young kid vacationing with my parents at Lake Tahoe. A young Al Michaels behind the mic for ABC.

ESPN can't wait for next season.

Today's First Pitch looks back at one the greatest games in baseball history. Check it out.
thisgreatgame.com

Have pitchers gotten wilder?

According to @Stathead, there have been 24 instances of a team throwing three or more wild pitches in a postseason game since 1982.

Before 1982? None.

This Great Game | The Online Book of Baseball Today's baseball news, what happened on this date, player birthdays, the best hitters and pitchers of the day, and new and updated pages.

And...done. thisgreatgame.com