April 1, 1996: Umpire John McSherry dies of a heart attack while officiating at the Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. He was 51 years old, and listed at 325 pounds. The game was called and postponed.
McSherry had just begun his 26th season as a National League umpire (the 2 Leagues have had a combined umpiring crew since 2000), and was one of the most respected "men in blue." He officiated in 12 postseasons, including the 1977 and 1987 World Series, plus 3 All-Star Games.
Opening Day is a big deal in Cincinnati, perhaps more so that in any other Major League Baseball city. Because it was home to the 1st openly professional baseball team, the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings -- the current Reds team dates to 1882 -- it was traditional for them to start the day before the rest of the National League teams, and have a parade before the game.
Reds owner Marge Schott was a Cincinnati native, and loved the Opening Day tradition. She expressed concern that the children in the stands saw a man die, which was a reasonable concern. But she made it sound like the tradition was more important than a man's life, saying, "Snow this morning, and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me."
Eventually, the controversies, including several incidents of bigotry, piled up, and the other MLB team owners forced her to sell the team in 1999. She died in 2004.
The game was restarted the next day, with the statistics already tallied thrown out. The Reds won, 4-1.
McSherry was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York – the same cemetery as Babe Ruth.
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April 1, 1996 was a Monday. These other MLB games were played that day:
* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Shea Stadium. Todd Hundley and Bernard Gilkey hit home runs for the Mets; John Mabry and Willie McGee for the Cards.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-8 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Barry Bonds went 0-for-3.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. It took the Pirates 3 pitchers, starting with 6 2/3rds innings from Paul Wagner, to pitch a 3-hit shutout against a weak Marlin team.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Mark Grace singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. For the Padres, Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4 with a walk, and Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 with a walk.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-6 at... Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada. The extra stands that the Raiders demanded at the Oakland Coliseum, known as "Mount Davis" for their owner, Al Davis, weren't quite finished, so the A's had to play their 1st 6 "home games" of the season on the road, at the 9,000-seat Cashman Field, home to a Class AAA team.
* The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were snowed out at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The game was made up the next day, and the Yankees won, 7-1. Making his debut as the Yankees' regular shortstop, Derek Jeter hit his 1st major league home run, and made a fancy defensive play. Bernie Williams also hit a home run, and David Cone was the winning pitcher.
* The Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals were rained out at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The game was made up the next day, and the Orioles won, 4-2. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
* The Philadelphia Phillies and the Colorado Rockies opened the season against each other at Coors Field in Denver the next day, as scheduled, and the Rockies won, 5-3.
* The California Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers opened the season against each other at Milwaukee County Stadium the next day, as scheduled, and the Brewers won, 15-9.
* One game was played the night before, as ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball season-opener. The Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4, but did draw 2 walks. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-6, his single driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Randy Johnson struck out 14 batters in 7 innings, but was not involved in the decision.
Football was out of season. No games were scheduled in the NBA, but the Final of the NCAA Tournament was held, at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at what was then known as the Continental Airlines Arena. Kentucky beat Syracuse, 76-67.
This is the only time the NCAA Final Four has ever been held in New Jersey, and the only time it's been held in the New York Tri-State Area since 1950. And it's the last time the Final Four has been held in a venue with fewer than 40,000 seats. I have a separate entry for this event.
There were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal.
* The Florida Panthers beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-2 at the Miami Arena.
* The Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators played to a tie, 1-1 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
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