MLB owners and players reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement to end a 99-day lockout. Thankfully, the lockout was over. And, yes, baseball is back. The 2021-22 lockout was the first MLB work stoppage since the 1994-95 strike. Back then, 948 games were canceled, in particular, there was no World Series in 1994.
The 2022 MLB opening day is postponed to April 7, but it’s still a complete season with 162 games for each team. Back in 1995, it was a shortened season and each team played 144 games.
The first game of the 1995 season was on April 25, when the Marlins hosted the Dodgers at Joe Robbie Stadium.
Looking at the lineup, Hall of Famer Mike Piazza was batting fourth for the Dodgers and he went 2-for-4 on the 1995 Opening Day. Moreover, Jose Offerman hit the first hit after the lockout and he also scored the first run of the year by Raul Mondesi’s two-run home run. Mondesi’s home run was the first home run of the 1995 season.
Nowadays, there are a lot of strikeouts in baseball games. However, in the first game of the 1995 season, the first strikeout came in the bottom of the second inning. After giving up a solo home run to Terry Pendleton, Ramon Martinez struck out Greg Colbrunn to record the first strikeout of the year. In total, Ramon Martinez tossed 6 innings and punched out 4 batters in that game. He and the Dodgers earned the first win.
On April 7, the 2022 season will begin and the first game of the season will be a matchup between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, played at Yankee Stadium.
What would happen in the first game of the regular season after the lockout?
The Red Sox manager Alex Cora already said that Nathan Eovaldi will take the ball at Yankee Stadium. It will be Eovaldi's 3rd straight Opening Day start. At the same time, the Yankees haven’t officially announced the Opening Day starter, however, Gerrit Cole was the Opening Day starter for the Yankees over the last two seasons and it should be reasonable to believe that the Yankees will let Cole start the first game of the season.
Moreover, Trevor Story just signed a 6-year contract with the Red Sox. In his career so far, Trevor Story hits .350/.409/.600 with 4 RBI in 5 games at Yankee Stadium. It’s worth watching his Red Sox debut at Yankee Stadium.
With Trevor Story, the Red Sox lineup is definitely getting more dangerous. However, we can’t ignore the Yankees lineup. The Yankees acquired former MVP Josh Donaldson and he has a .280/.375/.513 slash line against the Red Sox.
The matchup between the Reds Sox and the Yankees is definitely a great one to start the 2022 season. Fans must be excited about the new season. Moreover, it will be worthwhile to see which pitcher will throw the first strikeout of the season. Meanwhile, these two lineups are pretty dangerous. We might see some home runs in the first game of the season and it will be interesting to see which player will crush the first home run of the season.
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