Game of the Day (4/14/91)

A's 7, Mariners 6. Oakland's Dave Stewart faced Seattle's Erik Hanson. Both right-handers had thrown very well in 1990, and neither of them would ever pitch quite that effectively again.

Of course, since Stewart had just turned 34, this wasn't unexpected in his case. Hanson, however, had not yet seen his 26th birthday.

Game of the Day (4/13/91)

Yankees 9, Royals 8. This is the second American League game to be selected so far in 1991 - and in both of them, Yankee starter Tim Leary has faced a pitcher who would eventually have a halfway credible (though unsuccessful) Hall of Fame case. His opponent this time was Bret Saberhagen, and since it was an odd-numbered year, that makes him a formidable foe.

Game of the Day (4/12/91)

Expos 4, Mets 3 (11). Montreal's Bill Sampen and New York's Ron Darling were relatively close in age; their birth dates were separated by about two and a half years. Despite this proximity, they were at significantly different stages of their careers. Sampen had made his major league debut at age 27 in 1990, and spent most of that year in the bullpen; as a result, this was the fifth start of his major league career. Darling, meanwhile, had been up since 1983, and had been in the Met rotation from the beginning, so his first appearance of 1991 was career start number 225.

Game of the Day (4/11/91)

Giants 11, Padres 9 (10). San Diego's Andy Benes and San Francisco's Mike LaCoss were both right-handed pitchers whose careers would eventually last 14 years and just over 400 games. Benes, however, was beginning just the third season of his career, while LaCoss was playing the opening chords of his swan song.

Game of the Day (4/10/91)

Phillies 8, Mets 7 (10). Philadelphia started Jose de Jesus, who was approaching the end of a relatively brief career, largely because he was on the way to leading the NL in walks in 1991. The Mets countered with a pitcher who would pick up his own league lead this season - eventual strikeout champ David Cone.

Game of the Day (4/9/91)

Mets 2, Phillies 1 (10). New York started Frank Viola; Philadelphia sent Jason Grimsley to the mound. The two were nearly diametric opposites. Viola was a 31-year-old lefty with good control who'd spent nearly a decade in the league, with his highlights including a shutout win in Game 7 of the 1987 World Series and an AL Cy Young award the next year. He was also one of baseball's most durable pitchers, having made at least 34 starts every season since 1983 (a streak that would continue through '92). Grimsley, meanwhile, was a 22-year-old right-hander with virtually no control who'd thrown fairly well in a fractional season of starting duty in 1990, but would go on to regress sharply in '91 before getting sent back to the minors in early June. That was not the last time Grimsley would be shipped back to AAA; he spent all of '92, '97, and '98 in the minors, and eventually made a permanent move to the bullpen. His tumultuous career eventually took him to seven teams, and came to an end after he was investigated for HGH use in 2006.

Game of the Day (4/8/91)

Tigers 6, Yankees 4. Detroit opened its season with Frank Tanana on the mound; the 37-year-old southpaw had once been an ace, but had long since entered the capable-innings-eater phase of his career. He was still a better Opening Day option than New York's Tim Leary, a 32-year-old right-hander who in 1990 had led the AL in losses and wild pitches.