April 6, 1996: Major League Soccer debuts, ending North America's 12-year drought without a top-flight soccer league.
MLS had hoped to start a year earlier, within months of the 1994 World Cup on American soil. But, given how other insurgent leagues failed, it was probably for the best that they had an additional year to get their administrative act in order. And the timing was right, after all: They played their season concurrent with baseball, and baseball was in a bad spot at the time, following the Strike of '94. So there was room for another major league sport in fans' hearts.
The 1st game is played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The San Jose Clash hosted Washington-based D.C. United. The game was scoreless until the 88th minute, when Eric Wynalda scored to win it for the Clash, 1-0.
Previously, the San Francisco Bay Area had been represented by the Oakland Clippers, the one and only champions of the National Professional Soccer League in 1967; the San Francisco Golden Gate Gales, who played in the United Soccer Association that year, the league's only season; the Oakland Stompers in the North American Soccer League in 1978; and the San Jose Earthquakes in the NASL from 1974 until that league folded following the 1984 season.
The Earthquakes then played in the Western Soccer Alliance until it folded in 1988. The Western Soccer League was founded in 1989, with a team named the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks. In 1994, they were renamed the San Jose Clash, and were taken into MLS.
They bought the rights to the Earthquakes name in 1999, and won the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003. Like so many other Bay Area teams, they developed a rivalry with the Los Angeles team in their league, the L.A. Galaxy, a rivalry that became known as the California Clásico.
After the 2005 season, the team's owners, upset at being unable to get a soccer-specific stadium -- Spartan Stadium, now CEFCU Stadium, was built for San Jose State University football in 1933 -- moved them, and they became the Houston Dynamo. Rubbing further salt in the Bay Area's wounds, the Dynamo won the MLS Cup in the franchise's 1st 2 seasons in Texas.
But Lewis Wolff, then the owner of the Oakland Athletics, bought the rights to an MLS expansion team, and the 3rd edition of the San Jose Earthquakes began play at Spartan Stadium in 2008. In 2015, they opened Avaya Stadium, an 18,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, now named PayPal Park.
Although D.C. United lost the 1st MLS game, they won the 1st MLS Cup in 1996, and the 2nd in 1997, and the 4th in 1999, and the 9th in 2004. They also won the U.S. Open Cup (America's version of the FA Cup) in 1996 (making them the 1st MLS team to win "The Double"), 2008 and 2013; the Supporters' Shield, as regular-season Champions, in 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007; and the CONCACAF Champions League in 1998.
The next week saw the debuts of these teams:
* On April 13, the lone teams then representing the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas played each other. The Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, 2-1 at the Rose Bowl in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California. The MetroStars, or "Metro" for short, became the New York Red Bulls in 2005.
* Also on the 13th, the Columbus Crew beat D.C., 4-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* Also on the 13th, the Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) beat the Colorado Rapids (Denver's team), 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* Also on the 13th, the Tampa Bay Mutiny beat the New England Revolution (Boston's team), 3-2 at Tampa Stadium. The Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.
* On April 14, the Dallas Burn played the Clash to a scoreless tie at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and then won a shootout, 3-2. The team is now known as F.C. Dallas.
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April 6, 1996 was a Saturday. It was the off-season for football. However, a new Major League Baseball season had just begun, and a full slate of games was played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at the stadium then named The Ballpark at Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium), in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Bobby Witt outpitched Jimmy Key, and the Yankees hit no home runs.
* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0 at Shea Stadium. Danny Darwin pitched 6 innings, and combined with 2 relievers on a 6-hit shutout.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Royce Clayton won the game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning.
* The team then known as the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 1-0 at Joe Robbie Stadium in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. Terry Pendleton won it with a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 10th.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (Now Progressive Field.)
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 8-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Ken Caminiti hit a grand slam in the top of the 13th inning.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the team then known as the California Angels, 8-4 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (The team is now the Los Angeles Angels, and the stadium is now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-1. Since the addition of the "Mount Davis" bleachers to the Oakland Coliseum wasn't yet finished, the A's played their 1st 6 home games of the season, including this one, at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
There were 8 NBA games played that day:
* The New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors, 139-106 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (Now the Rogers Centre.) John Starks scored 37 points.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-88 at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Glenn Robinson, a.k.a. "Big Dog," dropped 32 on the Nets.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 100-99 at The Omni in Atlanta. Vernon Maxwell scored 38 for the Sixers.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 93-89 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland. (It's now the Rocket Arena.)
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 99-95 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-96 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-106 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat their arch-rivals, the Seattle SuperSonics, 95-92 at the Rose Garden in Portland. (It's now the Moda Center.)
And there were 9 games played in the NHL:
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-3 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now the XL Center.) Dave Andreychuk scored 2 goals.
* The New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0 at the Nassau Coliseum. Eric Fichaud recorded the shutout for the Isles, over Dominik Hasek.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Molson Centre. (It's now the Bell Centre.)
* The Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-3 at the Corel Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2 at the Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California.
Also, Arsenal beat Leeds United, 2-1 at Highbury in North London, on a 90th minute goal by Ian Wright.
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