Major League Baseball's Opening Day is something special. The pageantry is unlike that of any other North American sport.
The day has produced some legendary performances, too, including a no-hitter, a cycle, and some unexpected home run hitters. But those are far from the only memorable moments in MLB Opening Day history.
Here's a look at our top 10 Opening Day performances to date.
10. Adley Rutschmann (2023)
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The most recent Opening-Day performance to make this list, Rutschmann's second year in the bigs began the greatest opening performance by a catcher in 102 years.
The Baltimore Orioles backstop went 5-for-5 with a home run, a walk and four RBIs in a 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox. Rutschmann became the 13th player and first catcher since 1901 to pick up five hits on Opening Day.
9. Juan Marichal (1966)
Marichal became the first native of the Dominican Republic to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame when he joined the ranks in 1983. And he was famous for setting the standard from the top, winning six games in 10 Opening Day starts with two complete games, two shutouts with a 1.73 earned-run average.
His best came against the Chicago Cubs in '66 when he pitched one of those complete games, giving up just five hits with no walks and 13 strikeouts for the San Francisco Giants.
8. Jim Presley (1986)
Presley made just one All-Star Game in his eight-year MLB career and it came in 1986 when he started the season with a bang. The Seattle Mariners' third baseman went 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBI while also being hit by a pitch.
Seattle trailed by two runs in the ninth inning when Presley hit his first homer, a two-run shot that sent the game to extra innings. In the 10th, he picked up four more RBI with a walk-off grand slam.
7. Raul Mondesi (1999)
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Mondesi's final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers resulted in a career high in home runs (33) and RBIs (99) for the cannon-armed right fielder. Against the Diamondbacks in Arizona's second MLB season, Mondesi went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a walk and six RBI.
Like Presley, he hit a game-tying shot in the ninth inning, though Mondesi's was a three-run job. And, like Presley, Mondesi went yard again in extra innings, hitting a two-run walk-off.
6. Walter Johnson (1926)
Johnson is considered one of the best five pitchers who ever played baseball. On some lists, he's the absolute best. In 1926, things were coming to an end as Johnson made his final Opening Day start at age 38. You could say it went well.
Johnson pitched all 15 innings, giving up six hits, three walks, and striking out nine against the Athletics. He played just one more season and was inducted in the first-ever Baseball Hall of Fame class in 1939.
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5. Pedro Martinez (2000)
Martinez was coming off his second Cy Young Award in 1999 with the Boston Red Sox and would go on to win it a third time at the end of the 2000 season as he registered a career-high 11.7 WAR, helping in part by his Opening Day performance.
Martinez threw seven innings of two-hit ball without giving up a walk and striking 11 against the Seattle Mariners, who had just moved on from Ken Griffey Jr. and had just opened Safeco Field. Martinez's 2000 Cy Young Award was unanimous later that year.
4. Dmitri Young (2005)
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Young is one of four players who have ever hit three Opening-Day home runs. His came in 2005 with the Detroit Tigers in a game against the Kansas City Royals that saw Young go a perfect 4 from 4 from the plate with the three jacks, five RBIs and a hit-by-pitch.
3. Bob Gibson (1967)
Gibson started nine straight Opening Day games for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1967 to 1975. His first was hist best as he went up against Marichal and the San Francisco Giants.
Gibson pitched a complete game in the Cardinals' 6-0 win while he gave up just five hits, no walks, and struck out 13 batters, including the first five of the game. The Cardinals would go on to win the World Series with Gibson picking up WS MVP honors.
2. Gee Walker (1937)
The Detroit Tigers carried four eventual Hall of Famers in their Opening Day lineup for 1937. Walker was not one of them, but he had hit .353 with 55 doubles the year before.
With that much danger around him, Cleveland had to pitch to Walker, and he took advantage, hitting for the only cycle in MLB history that day. He hit the homer first, the triple second, the double third, and ended his day with a single in the seventh inning.
1. Bob Feller (1940)
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Feller tops the list as the only player to throw an Opening Day Major League Baseball no-hitter. MLB added statistical totals from the Negro Leagues in 2024, however, providing for another in the league's record books. Feller's was the first, though, as he made it through with five walks and eight strikeouts.
"In the second inning," Feller said, "I loaded the bases. Someone in the bullpen was warming up and the manager was getting ready to walk out to the mound. But I managed to strike out the last hitter on a full count."
