This Day in Braves History: Atlanta, Washington open Nationals Park

Mar 31, 2023 - 12:00 PM

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Braves Franchise History

2008 - The Braves and the Nationals play the first game ever at Nationals Park with Atlanta falling 3-2 when Ryan Zimmerman hits a walk-off home run off Peter Moylan.

MLB History

1948 - Cardinals pitcher Murry Dickson becomes the first pitcher to throw a nine-inning no-hitter in spring training history.

1966 - Dodgers starters Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax end their dual holdout after 32 days. Drysdale signs on for $105,000 while Koufax gets $120,000.

1972 - MLBPA executive director Marvin Miller completes his canvas of players on the strike issue. In all, 663 players voted in favor of a strike, 10 voted against and two players abstained.

1978 - The Boston Red Sox acquire pitcher Dennis Eckersley and catcher Fred Kendall from Cleveland in exchange for pitchers Rick Wise and Mike Paxton, catcher Bo Diaz and infielder Ted Cox.

1979 - MLB umpires meet in Chicago and vote to reject new contract offers from the American and National leagues.

1988 - MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspends Reds outfielder Eddie Milner for the season after he tested positive for the use of cocaine.

1992 - The Chicago Cubs acquire outfielder Sammy Sosa and pitcher Ken Patterson from the Chicago White Sox for outfielder George Bell.

2001 - Dwight Gooden announces his retirement.

2015 - The Cubs announce that they are reassigning top prospect Kris Bryant to minor league camp despite having an outstanding spring. Bryant will later file a grievance claiming service time manipulation through the Players Association. The Cubs will call him up on April 17 and he will go on to win Rookie of the Year.

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Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.