Making their first appearance in the league might have caused some nerves for Joe Mauer and Miguel Cabrera. But neither one showed it, and both made an immediate impact in the home opener between the New York Swats and the defending champion Detroit Rockets. Down 3-0 against Roger Clemens, Joe Mauer hit a solo home run to put New York on the board. Dick Allen’s 2-run homer in the 7th off Bob Feller gave Detroit a 5-2 lead. A 2-out. 2 run double by Joe DiMaggio cut the Rockets lead to 5-4. Tom Henke came in to close in the 9th, but Mauer hit his 2nd solo shot of the game to blow the save and tie things up, leading to extra innings. It was the bottom of the 11th when Cabrera came up with 2 outs and Álex Rodríguez on 2nd. Facing Bullet Rogan, Cabrera drilled one down the line for the walk-off 6-5 win. With the win, the Rockets pick up where they left off, as heavy favorites to repeat with a team of non-Hall of Famers.

Swats @ Rockets – 4/1/23

Bob Gibson gave up 5 home runs, but the Los Angeles Dynamos still had to hold off a Houston Hoots comeback to win on opening day 9-7. Cristóbal Torriente got things started with a solo shot in the 1st. Ralph Kiner and Tony Gwynn added a 2-run homer each in the 2nd, and Todd Helton hit his own solo shot in the 3rd to put LA up 6-0 early. But Houston chipped away at the lead against Sandy Koufax, including a 2-run homer from Eddie Mathews to cut the lead to 6-5 in the 6th. Gibson left after serving up another solo shot, this time to Gary Carter, in the 7th. But a pair of triples from Rogers Hornsby and Chuck Klein tied things up at 7. But Kiner wasn’t done, hitting another 2-run jack off reliever Jesse Haines to put the Dynamos up 9-7. Lee Smith pitched a perfect 9th for the save, as LA took the 1st game of the season. Kiner was 2 for 4 with 4 RBI, making the most of his start. Last season, he didn’t hit a homer as he spent the season on the bench behind starter Frank Robinson. Robinson finished last year hitting just .239, leading LA to try something new this season. Gibson allowed just 8 home runs all of last season.

Dynamos @ Hoots – 4/1/23

Oakland Jacks ace Nolan Ryan started the POPs Season 2 off great. Ryan struck out 8 and walked 4 in a 3-hit shutout. Ryan only hurled one shutout all of last season when he finished 7-5 with a 4.19 ERA for the New York Swats. Meanwhile, the Oakland offense pummeled Gaylord Perry. Mickey Cochrane got the Jacks on the board in the 2nd with an RBI double. They added 3 more runs in the 3rd and then broke things open with a big 6th inning. Eddie Collins hit a bases-loaded double en route to a 5-run inning. Perry finished with 9 hits and 9 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Oakland finished 1 game behind Boston last season at 26-28, so it was just the start they needed.

Splinters @ Jacks – 4/1/23