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Opening Day 2019: 5 historic performances of previous years

By David Salituro

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 28: A general view before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers during Opening Day at Miller Park on March 28, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 28: A general view before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers during Opening Day at Miller Park on March 28, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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As Major League Baseball prepares to kick off the 2019 season on Thursday, here’s a look back at the five best Opening Day performances in history.

Opening Day in baseball conjures up pictures of green grass, the smell of hot dogs and peanuts, of overpriced beer and eternal optimism among all 30 teams.

It’s also a time for fresh beginnings when every player starts out with the same stats and every team has the same record. For the next six months and 162 games, players will get the chance to build up those numbers, but it all starts on Thursday afternoon with Game No. 1.

Twenty-eight teams begin their 2019 MLB season on Thursday—Oakland and Seattle played two games in Japan last week—with a mix of veterans and promising rookies looking to start their careers strong. Opening Day, with all the promise that goes along with it, has been the scene of some remarkable performances over the years. None of them were better than these players, though, some of whom went on to Hall of Fame careers while others enjoyed their one moment in baseball’s spotlight.

Here are the five best Opening Day performances in MLB history.

5) Clayton Kershaw, 2013

Clayton Kershaw has started eight straight Opening Days for the Los Angeles Dodgers—a streak that will end this year—but he was never better than he was in 2013 against the defending World Series champions.

Kershaw shut out the Dodgers’ NL West-rival San Francisco Giants, giving up just four hits and striking out seven. Three of the four hits were infield singles. No Giant even reached second base after the first inning.

Kershaw’s stunning performance on this day wasn’t limited to the mound, however. The game remained scoreless into the bottom of the eighth until Kershaw hit the first pitch from Giants reliever George Kontos deep to center field for a solo home run. The Dodgers added three more runs in the inning to win 4-0. Kershaw became the first pitcher in 60 years to throw a shutout and hit a home run on Opening Day.

Kershaw finished the year with an NL-leading 1.83 ERA, winning his second career Cy Young Award. The Dodgers went on to win the NL West by winning 92 games but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

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