April 1, 2001: For the 1st time, a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played in Puerto Rico. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 8-1 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
The 1st at-bat was the Jays' Esteban Loaiza hitting the Rangers' Rusty Greer with a pitch. He was then erased in a double play. But Alex Rodriguez, playing his 1st game for the Rangers after signing a record $252 million contract, singled, and Rafael Palmeiro doubled him home.
That would be the highlight for the Rangers. In the 3rd, Shannon Stewart hit Puerto Rico's 1st regular-season MLB home run. Tony Batista would also hit a home run for the Jays.
Built in 1962, the stadium was named for Hiram Gabriel Bithorn Sosa, the 1st Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues. Light-skinned enough to be considered "white" in that segregated era, "Hi" Bithorn debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1942, and led the National League in shutouts in 1943 with 7, then served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, missing the Cubs' Pennant season of 1945.
He returned to the Cubs in 1946, and pitched with the Chicago White Sox in 1947. His major league record was 34-31, with a 3.16 ERA. In 1951, still in professional baseball, he was murdered by a Mexican policeman who falsely accused him of being a Communist. Bithorn was only 35 years old. The policeman served 8 years in prison.
In 1973, an arena, the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, opened next-door to Bithorn Stadium. This was appropriate, not just because of all that Clemente, who had died a few weeks earlier, did for Puerto Rico, but because he had played for the team that still plays its home games at Bithorn Stadium, Cangrejeros de Santurce (the Santurce Crabbers).
The Expos played 11 "home games" at Bithorn Stadium in 2003, and again in 2004, but between San Juan and Montreal, they were unsuccessful in 3 languages, and were moved to become the Washington Nationals for 2005.
In 2010, Major League Baseball returned to the stadium, as the Florida Marlins faced the New York Mets in a 3-game series during the regular season. Known as the Miami Marlins since 2012, they were to play the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 30 and 31, 2016 in honor of Roberto Clemente Day. However, on May 6, 2016, it was announced that the Puerto Rico games would be postponed due to the Zika virus outbreak, and moved to Marlins Park in Miami.
The Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins played a 2-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on April 17 and 18, 2018. Another series, between the Marlins and the Mets, was scheduled for April 2020, but was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bithorn Stadium has also hosted Caribbean "Winter league" games and World Baseball Classic games.
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April 1, 2001 was a Sunday. This was the 1st game of the MLB season, and no other games were played that day. Football was out of season. There were 10 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 79-78 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Shaquille O'Neal scored 31 points.
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Houston Rockets, 101-98 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 104-93 at the First Union Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia. Allen Iverson scored 37 points.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Boston Celtics, 80-79 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Toronto Raptors, 104-101 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors, 104-87 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Jerry Stackhouse scored 32 points.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 106-99 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix. Ray Allen scored 31 points.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 119-107 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento. Juwan Howard scored 32 points.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 99-95 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland. Terrell Brandon scored 30 points.
* And the Utah Jazz beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 92-73 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver. Karl Malone scored 31 for the Jazz. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis the next season.
And there were 7 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-2 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa. Shane Willis scored the winning goal with 3:42 left in overtime.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals, 2-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Steve Yzerman scored the winning goal, only 11 seconds into overtime.
* The Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks played to a tie, 3-3 at the United Center in Chicago.
* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
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