This Day in Orioles History - April 1, 1998

The '98 season started with an Opening Day loss, but things got better quickly

by Matthew Taylor

Monday's loss to Tampa Bay ended a seven-game Opening Day win streak for the Birds. In fact, the O's had won eight of their previous 10 openers headed into the 2008 season. The good news is that in the game following those two Opening Day losses since '98 the Orioles recovered with a victory, beating the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 during the 2000 season and Kansas City in the second game of the 1998 season. The latter game, in which the Orioles defeated the Royals 10-1, was an historic one on multiple counts.

Here's what happened on April 1, 1998:

-Scott Erickson's complete game, one-run performance earned him career victory No. 100. Erickson struck out five and walked one.

-Cal hit the eighth grand slam of his career, a first-inning shot, while Lenny "The ball tipped his bat" Webster enjoyed his first-ever two-homer game as a big leaguer.

-And Ray Miller notched his first victory as O's manager, his first overall victory since 1986 when he was with the Minnesota Twins.