Good morning!
Seeing as I'm writing this well in advance of Opening Day due to out-of-country travel, I hope that this week's theme will somehow galvanize the forces of the universe to see that it is already out of date by the time this posts. The White Sox --unsurprisingly-- weren't able to muster any offense on last year's Opening Day, getting just three hits enroute to a 1-0 loss against the Tigers and eventual Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
Last season's shutout loss meant an end to four straight seasons with a White Sox batter hitting a home run on Opening Day. While those dingers didn't ultimately result in many happy memories --the Sox went 1-3 over those four games-- it's always nice to have something exciting happen in the first game of the season. As the title of this quiz notes, today is all about players who have hit a home run on Opening Day. In all, there are 65 instances dating back to 1915: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the date and the position of the player in question.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- Two players have homered on three separate Opening Days, but no player has done it on four dates.
- Cleveland and Kansas City are the opponents most often victimized by the long ball (11 apiece); the Sox have done it just thrice against Minnesota, but seven times against Detroit.
- Position-wise, first base is the spot with the most home runs (12). Fewest is tied between shortstop and pitcher (1).
All data from stathead.com
