By the numbers: Breaking down the magic of baseball’s Opening Day

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Baseball fans everywhere patiently await Opening Day as soon as the World Series is over. Once Walker Buehler recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series to secure the championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball fans began looking forward to March 2025.

While we could discuss the details about Opening Day and the ensuing season, it's important to dig a bit deeper into the numbers behind the success and nostalgia of the day. Let's unpack some of the most interesting records, statistics, trends and more around baseball's first pitch.

Best Opening Day winning percentage

New York Mets (.651)

The New York Mets have the best Opening Day winning percentage in the league. They're an impressive 41-22 on Opening Day in their franchise's history. This becomes even more remarkable when you realize the Mets lost the first eight Opening Days in franchise history, beginning in 1962. Since that eighth consecutive loss, they're an impressive 41-14.

The Mets open the season with a game against the Houston Astros on March 27. A victory over Houston and, presumably, Framber Valdez, would move the Mets to 42-22, good for a .656 winning percentage. A loss would drop them to 41-23, good for a .640 winning percentage.

Highest attendance

74,420: Cleveland Indians (April 7, 1973)

The record for the highest attended Opening Day in league history was set on April 7, 1973, for the contest between the hosting Cleveland Indians and the rival Detroit Tigers. This record was set more than 50 years ago and stands to this day.

Cleveland opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run home run from Chris Chambliss. Nine innings of one-run baseball tossed by Cleveland starter Gaylord Perry would be enough to bring the win home for the Indians. Perry made opening day starts for five different teams during his illustrious big-league career.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest capacity stadium at 56,000. It's unlikely this record will ever be broken, unless there's a new hosting place for an Opening Day baseball game.

Number of Opening Day no-hitters

1: Bob Feller (April 16, 1940)

Throughout the history of the game, only one pitcher has tossed a no-hitter on Opening Day. Cleveland Indians ace Bob Feller made history on April 16, 1940, by tossing a no-hitter to defeat the Chicago White Sox on opening day. And Feller practically needed to throw the no-hitter to secure the victory.

Cleveland would secure the victory by a final score of 1-0. Feller walked five batters and struck out eight across his nine innings of work. To this day, Feller's no-hitter remains the only opening day no-hitter in baseball history. It's been nearly 90 years since his historic day.

Most home runs on Opening Day

8: Frank Robinson/Adam Dunn/Ken Griffey Jr.

In Opening Day history, three players have recorded eight home runs: Frank Robinson, Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr.

Robinson homered for four different teams on Opening Day and held the record for most home runs until Griffey Jr. and Dunn tied him with eight apiece.

With the state of the league, this record is in jeopardy. Players like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and many others could contend for this record, possibly hitting double-digit opening day dingers. Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Tyler O'Neill are the active leaders with five opening day homers apiece.

Oldest pitcher to start on opening day

46 years old: Nolan Ryan

One record that will likely stand the test of time is Nolan Ryan's record as the oldest pitcher to ever start on Opening Day. Ryan was 46 years old when he toed the mound as the starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers in 1993.

The New York Yankees used 45-year-old Tommy John as their Opening Day starter in 1989. Justin Verlander is the oldest active player in the league at 42 years old. He's seemingly on his way out of baseball as he struggles to find a spot in the league. The 42-year-old will not be starting for the San Francisco Giants to open the season.

The odds of baseball seeing a 46-year-old pitcher again are slim. The odds that this hypothetical 46-year-old starts on Opening Day are as close to zero percent as you can get.

Most hits on Opening Day

31: Pete Rose

It would only make sense that baseball's all-time hit king, the late Pete Rose, would also be the all-time record holder for most hits on Opening Day. Across Rose's legendary 24-year career, the switch-hitter recorded an impressive 31 hits on the first day of baseball.

Rose had at least one hit in 17 different Opening Days with 11 of those contests being multi-hit games. Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is the active leader in hits on opening day, but the former MVP only has 18.

Most RBIs on Opening Day

21: Adam Dunn

Adam Dunn slugged eight home runs on Opening Day, which heavily helped him register a staggering 21 RBIs on opening day as well. In 2005, Dunn drove in five runs during a multi-home run performance.

This record is well within reach of being broken, though. St. Louis Cardinals infielder Nolan Arenado has 14 career opening day RBIs. If Arenado can pop off a few solid games over the next few years, this record could be in reach.

Most Opening Day games played

23: Pete Rose

Baseball's hit king holds more than just the all-time record for most hits in a career. As already discussed, Rose is the all-time leader in hits on Opening Day. For Rose to record 31 hits on that first day of league play, he would need to play a lot of games. The Cincinnati Reds legend played in 23 Opening Day games across his lengthy 24-year playing career.

This is the kind of record that will likely never be broken. If a player debuts at the age of 20, he will need to play every single opening day until he's 44 years old in order to break Rose's record. It's highly unlikely.

Longest Opening Day game in history

16 innings: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Indians (April 5, 2012)

The longest opening day in MLB history, in terms of innings, was played to open the 2012 season. The Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians matched up in a game at Progressive Field that would take over five hours to complete.

Indians starter Justin Masterson went eight innings of two-hit, one-run, and 10-strikeout baseball for Cleveland, but it wasn't enough to secure the victory as Chris Perez blew the save in the ninth inning. The score was 4-4 after nine full innings and it remained that score until Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia slugged a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the 16th inning.

The Blue Jays took the victory by a final score of 7-4 in the record-breaking 16-inning game. With the new extra inning rules that place ghost runners on second base to start extra innings, it's doubtful we see this record broken.

Opening Day top velocity by year

Over the years, fastball velocity has trended up. But has this same trend been shown on opening day? Let's take a look at what the top fastball velocity (via Statcast) has been on each Opening Day for the past 10 years:

During the first five years of data, there was only one pitcher to eclipse 100 miles per hour on opening day. That same pitcher, Jordan Hicks, would return to this list five years later with a 103.8 MPH fastball to top the entire list.

It's almost a certainty that a pitcher will eclipse 100.0 MPH on opening day this year. Starting pitchers like Jacob deGrom, Paul Skenes, Hunter Greene, and many others regularly throw 100 and 101 MPH fastballs. Pitchers like Mason Miller, Ryan Helsley, Ben Joyce, and a few other closers could even eclipse Hicks' mark of 103.8 MPH.

Opening Day top exit velocity by year

Over the course of baseball history, exit velocity has trended upward until the 2010s. Recently, exit velocity data has been a bit inconsistent because of the league's decision to change and alter the baseballs over the years.

Let's take a look at what the top exit velocity (via Statcast) has been on each Opening Day for the last ten years:

Unfortunately for baseball fans, Giancarlo Stanton is going to begin the season on the injured list which means he won't find his way to the top of the leaderboard for Opening Day.

But young stars like Elly De La Cruz, Oneil Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bobby Witt Jr. could all threaten the 115 MPH mark. Oneil Cruz and Stanton were the only two to register exit velocities over 120 MPH for the entire 2024 season, so it's unlikely we see anybody match Stanton's Opening Day mark from 2019.

Longest season-opening win streak

13: 2023 Rays, 1987 Brewers, 1982 Braves

In 2023, the Tampa Bay Rays broke off 13 consecutive wins to begin the season, tying the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and 1982 Atlanta Braves with the longest win streaks to begin a season in baseball history.

Funny enough, none of these three teams would win 100 or more games during the season in which they won 13 straight to begin the year. The Rays won 99 games, while the Brewers won 91 and the Braves won 89. That's pretty disappointing considering they each began the season 13-0.

Record-setting career moments

714th career home run: Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron entered the 1974 season with 713 career home runs, just one short of tying the legendary Babe Ruth for the most home runs ever hit in a single career.

It took just one at-bat on Opening Day of the 1974 season for Aaron to slug the 714th big fly of his career, tying the Babe for the most all time. Aaron would hit 41 more home runs before hanging up the cleats, ending his career with 755 home runs.

Number of opening day four-home-run games

0

Throughout the history of baseball, there have only been 18 players to slug four home runs in a single game. It was most recently done by Arizona Diamondbacks slugger J.D. Martinez in 2017. Martinez did it a few months after Cincinnati Reds star Scooter Gennett did it in June of 2017. But it's never been done on Opening Day.

Still, there have been four players to hit three home runs in a single game on opening day. It was most recently done by Matt Davidson of the Chicago White Sox. This season, there are plenty of players with the ability to slug four home runs on opening day, but the feat is only getting more difficult as the pitching gets better and better at the highest level.

Will anybody hit four home runs on opening day this season?