Greatest moments in 'Opening Day' history

Opening Day falling on July 23 and 24 this season marks a unique moment in MLB history. But a lot of MLB history has happened on July 23 and 24 -- just not Opening Day history.

Here are the greatest, most memorable and weirdest baseball moments to take place over the years on the same dates as Opening Day 2020.

July 23

2019: Yankees and Twins play the game of the year
Everyone knew this was the game of the year the second it ended. The Bronx Bombers vs. the Bomba Squad in a postseason preview/wild 10-inning slugfest at Target Field. In a game full of huge home runs, late rallies, lead changes and momentum swings, the Yankees finally prevailed, 14-12, on Aaron Hicks' game-saving Superman catch in deep left-center field with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.

2012: Mariners trade Ichiro to the Yankees
Ichiro was (and is) a Mariners franchise icon, so how could anyone imagine him in another team's uniform? But after a decade in Seattle, the last-place Mariners dealt their longtime star to the Yankees, giving him a shot at playing in the postseason for the first time since his rookie season in 2001. So Ichiro put on the pinstripes. He eventually made it back to the Mariners to finish up career.

2009: Buehrle's perfecto
Mark Buehrle had already thrown one no-hitter when he took the mound for the White Sox on July 23, 2009. This time, the quick-working, junkballing lefty was perfect. Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in MLB history and became the 24th pitcher to throw multiple no-hitters. DeWayne Wise made one of the greatest catches you'll ever see, given the stakes -- robbing Gabe Kapler of a home run over the left-center-field wall to save the perfecto in the ninth inning.

2000: Pedro's masterpiece
Pedro Martinez's 2000 season is probably the greatest pitching season of all time -- he went 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA and 284 strikeouts against a powerhouse American League where the average ERA was 4.92. And on July 23, he pitched arguably his finest game of the year. Pedro shut out the AL Central champion White Sox with 15 strikeouts, including Frank Thomas twice. It was one of two 15-K shutouts Martinez threw that year; he did it to the Orioles on May 12.

1976: Sadaharu Oh's 700th home run
Great baseball moments don't just happen in the Major Leagues. Japanese legend Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in his career in Nippon Professional Baseball, and on July 23, 1976, he hit No. 700 for the Yomiuri Giants. Oh's milestone home run came almost three years to the day after Hank Aaron joined the 700 home run club on July 21, 1973, and 42 years after Babe Ruth hit his 700th homer on July 13, 1934.

1962: Jackie Robinson inducted into Hall of Fame
As MLB celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues this year, Opening Day falls on the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's induction into the Hall of Fame.

"We have been up in cloud nine since the election," Robinson said in his Hall of Fame speech that day. "I don’t ever think I’ll come down."

1960: Jimmy Piersall's dance
Here's a weird one. On July 23, 1960, the Indians' Jimmy Piersall -- known for a career of zany antics -- was facing his old team, the Red Sox, at Fenway Park, when he broke into a dance in center field to distract Ted Williams during an at-bat. Piersall was ejected. Afterwards, he explained himself: "I knew Ted didn't like any movement when he was batting."

1942: Leon Day's 18 K's
On July 23, 1942, two Hall of Famers faced off when Negro League ace Leon Day took the mound for the Newark Eagles against Roy Campanella and the Baltimore Elite Giants. Day went on to set a Negro National League record with 18 strikeouts that day -- and he got Campanella three times.

1902: McGraw's first Giants win
John McGraw and Connie Mack were the managerial titans of baseball's early days. McGraw won 2,583 games, 10 National League pennants and three World Series championships in 31 years at the helm of the New York Giants, and it all started on July 23, 1902, when he won for the first time as their manager, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers (who were the Superbas back then).

July 24

2004: Red Sox-Yankees rivalry ignites
This game might have been the turning point of Boston's curse-shattering season. The Sox-Yankees rivalry reignited on a midsummer Saturday at Fenway -- Jason Varitek and A-Rod brawled, Boston rallied to win 11-10 on Bill Mueller's walk-off home run off Mariano Rivera, the Red Sox stormed back to make the postseason, and the rest is history.

1988: Tom Seaver Day at Shea
On July 24, 1988, the Mets celebrated Tom Seaver, The Franchise, and retired his No. 41. Seaver, who won three Cy Young Awards and led the 1969 Miracle Mets to the team's first World Series championship, thanked Mets fans as he took the mound in his pregame ceremony: "If you'll just allow me to say it in my own special way. And if you know me, and you know how much I love pitching, this is a special way."

1983: The Pine Tar Incident
In one of the most infamous incidents in MLB history, George Brett's go-ahead home run at Yankee Stadium was disallowed due to excess pine tar on his bat. A furious Brett was called out, and the Royals lost the game -- until their protest was upheld, Brett's home run was reinstated and the game resumed from that point. The Royals won once and for all, 5-4.

1973: Mays' final All-Star Game
Willie Mays played in 24 All-Star Games in his legendary career, tied for the most of any player with fellow all-time greats Hank Aaron and Stan Musial. The Say Hey Kid played in every single Midsummer Classic from 1954 until his final Major League season 20 years later. A 42-year-old Mays took his last All-Star Game at-bat on July 24, 1973.

1966: Mantle ties Gehrig
On July 24, one Yankees legend equaled another on the all-time home run list. Mickey Mantle slugged the 493rd homer of his career to deep right field at Yankee Stadium, tying his predecessor Lou Gehrig. Mantle finished his career with 536 home runs, second to Babe Ruth on the Yankees' all-time list.

1964: Barry Bonds' birthday
Barry Bonds was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, Calif. Fifty-six years later, he's MLB's all-time (762) and single-season (73) home run king.

1938: Ruth wins a home run derby … retired
Once the Sultan of Swat, always the Sultan of Swat. On July 24, 1938, a 44-year-old retired Ruth (hired as first-base coach by the Brooklyn Dodgers that year) won a pregame home run distance contest against real, active players at St. Louis' Sportsman's Park. Ruth's home run was measured at 430 feet, chronicled by The New York Times as "landing in the second car tracks on Grand Avenue." The Babe beat Cardinals Hall of Famers Ducky Medwick -- the runner-up at 425 feet -- and Johnny Mize, among others. He won a $50 grand prize.

1931: Babe Herman's second cycle
One cycle is a rare feat by itself. Dodgers star Babe Herman had already done that once in 1931, on May 18. Two months later, he did it again. Herman became the first player in the modern era to hit for the cycle twice in the same season (Cincinnati Red Stocking Long John Reilly and St. Louis Brown Tip O'Neill did it in the 1800s). He's since been joined only by Aaron Hill in 2012 and Christian Yelich in 2018.