April 15
1918 — Babe Ruth pitched a four-hitter for Boston in the season opener and drove in two runs in a 7-1 win over Philadelphia.
1937 — The Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 3-0 to take the Stanley Cup in the fifth and final game.
1947 — Jackie Robinson plays his first major league game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He goes 0-for-3, but scores the deciding run in a 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. He is the first black player to appear in the majors since 1884.
1952 — The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 to capture the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings holds the Canadiens to two goals in the four-game sweep.
1984 — Ben Crenshaw wins the Masters by two strokes over Tom Watson.
1991 — Magic Johnson sets an NBA record for career assists in a 112-106 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Johnson, who needed nine assists to break Oscar Robertson’s record of 9,887, gets 19.
1993 — Sparky Anderson earns his 2,000th victory as a manager as the Detroit Tigers rally to beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2.
1993 — Andre Dawson becomes the 25th player to hit 400 home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.
1995 — Glen Rice scores 56 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 123-117 victory over the Orlando Magic.
1998 — The first-ever AL-NL doubleheader is held in New York’s Shea Stadium. The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels 6-3 and the New York Mets edge the Chicago Cubs 2-1.
2000 — Cal Ripken becomes the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits when he lines a clean single to center off Twins reliever Hector Carrasco. He reaches the milestone with his third hit in a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins and becomes the seventh player in major league history to get 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
2005 — Top-ranked Roger Federer’s 25-match winning streak ends when French teenager Richard Gasquet saves three match points before capturing a third-set tiebreaker at the Monte Carlo Masters. Federer’s 35-1 record this year is the best start on the men’s tour since John McEnroe was 39-0 in 1984.
2005 — Two-time Olympic champion Steven Lopez of the United States wins his third world taekwondo title, capturing the welterweight gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Ali Tajik of Iran.
2007 — Kobe Bryant scores 50 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 109-98 win over Seattle, giving him 50 or more for the 10th time this season. It’s the third-highest total in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 45 times with 50 or more in 1961-62, and Chamberlain’s 30 times the following season.
