April 20, 1969, San Francisco: Giants 3, Padres 2 (box score)
The final game of their inaugural road trip saw the Padres send Tommie Sisk to the mound. The Giants countered with right-hander Bobby Bolin.
After trading single runs early, the Padres and Giants remained deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth. In that inning, with two on and two out, Bolin stepped to the plate and promptly smacked a two-run double to left.
The Padres came back with a run of their own in the eighth. Singles by Al Ferrara, Ed Spiezio, and Tony Gonzalez closed the gap to 3-2, but Ollie Brown grounded to third to end the inning.
In the ninth, Chris Cannizzaro singled to center with two out to give San Diego one last chance. Any hope the Padres had, though, was short-lived; Nate Colbert, batting for Jose Arcia, flied to left to end the game.
Trivia: Colbert hadn’t yet found his groove as a big-league hitter; after making the final out in this game, he owned a .149/.169/.162 batting line over 77 career plate appearances, with 33 strikeouts and just 2 walks.
Elsewhere in the world: Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins played his final concert at the North Park Hotel in Chicago; the jazz legend died a month later at age 64.
Wow. Coleman Hawkins last concert.
This is cool, Geoff. I love the travel to the inaugural games, and even more with all the stuff going on outside baseball.