OPENING DAY 1970
Sing Sing Flirts with No-No
Colts Blank Maroons
CHICAGO (Apr. 1) -- Bill Singer, seeking redemption after a rapid decline from 20-game winner to 20-game loser, to seven months on the DL, spun a masterpiece in his first start in almost a year.  Sing Sing pitched seven innings of no-hit ball before finally conceding a line drive base hit to Mike Hegan to lead off the eighth, and ended the day having anchored a four-hit shutout in a convincing 6-0 drubbing of the rival St. Louis Maroons.  Singer's strong outing was taken as a good omen in the Windy City, for his fate has been closely linked to that of the club in recent years.  The first overall pick in the 1967 draft, the 22-year old Californian went 20-11 with a 3.00 ERA in 34 starts.  And while the Colts missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, they still won a very respectable 87 games.  The following year, Singer suffered a sophomore slump (9-20, 3.86) and took the rest of the club with him, as the Colts suffered their biggest one-season decline and worst winning percentage in club history.  Last year Singer struggled through 10 starts (2-5, 5.18) before fracturing elbow on May 25; the Colts finished last again.  So GM Lance Mueller was ecstatic to see the Sing Sing of old on the hill on Opening Day.  Now if Wilbur Wood, the very next pick after Singer in that '67 draft, would just live up to his potential. . .

Greenhorn Gaffes
Rookies Fail to Impress in Debuts
BOSTON (Apr. 1) -- The consensus of the punditry was that this year's draft class produced the most ready-for-prime time players in years.  The evidence from Day 1 seems to suggest otherwise.  One need only look at the final innings of the season's first two games, in Boston and Washington.  At Fenway, the Superbas scored three runs in the 11th, breaking open a 3-3 deadlock for an apparent victory.  But rookie relievers Fred Scherman (24th overall pick) and Ray Lamb (48th overall pick) gave up four singles and three walks, throwing the game away.   Meanwhile at Griffith Stadium, Gray Sox closer Dick Radatz was choking, loading the bases with one out in the ninth and a 7-6 lead.  The Monuments faithful were on their feat in anticipation of victory, but moments later were silently filing out of the stadium, after Radatz struck out three rookies in a row to end the game.  Ray Fosse, Bernie Carbo, and Joe Rudi each failed not only to bring the tying run home, but even to make contact.  The afternoon wasn't a total bust for Washington's large rookie contingent, however.  Leadoff man Dave Cash had two hits and Rudi cracked a three-run homer.

Boston 7, Brooklyn 6 (11 inn.) The Feds rallied with four runs in the 11th at Fenway, capped by Orlando Cepeda's game-winning single.  Both leadoff hitters, Ollie Brown and Bobby Tolan, homered in the first, and Mickey Mantle put the Bas ahead 3-2 with a two-run shot off Mike Cuellar in the fourth.  But Boston tied it up two innings later when Jim Northrup drove in Cepeda with his first major league hit.  The score held at 3-3 until the top of the 11th, when Brooklyn broke out against Larry Sherry, but rookie relievers Fred Scherman and Ray Lamb could not hold the lead, walking three and giving up four hits.	Manhattan 7, Washington 6 Don Wilson took a 2-1 lead into the seventh, when the Sox exploded for six runs and a 7-2 lead.  Joe Rudi's three-run homer chased Johnny Podres and clawed the Monuments to within a run in the eighth, and Dick Radatz loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, before striking out three straight rookies--Ray Fosse, Bernie Carbo, and Rudi--to end the game.  Carbo also made an error in the game.
Cleveland 3, Detroit 2 The "Toy Cannon" Jimmy Wynn homered Cleveland to victory in his Barons debut as Jim Palmer threw eight four-hit innings.  Andy Etchebarren singled and doubled, and Jose Pagan had two hits and stole a base.  Carl Yastrzemski was 2-for-4 with a homer for the Griffins.	Atlanta 5, Dallas 3 The Toppers chased Texans' ace Gene Conley with four solo homers in three innings, and added a fifth off Gaylord Perry in the eighth.  Winner Steve Carlton fanned eight, and Dallas rookie CF Cesar Cedeno  was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI.
Chicago 6, St. Louis 0 Bill Singer took a no-hitter to the seventh and Tony Perez and Carl Taylor led a 13-hit attack with three hits each as the Colts blanked St. Louis at Comiskey.  Bob Shaw was roughed up by 6 hits and 2 walks and left with a sore elbow in the fourth.	San Francisco 2, Los Angeles 0 Bob Moose fired a six-hit shutout in a pitchers' duel with Fritz Peterson, who struck out nine in a four-hit complete game.  The Spiders struck early with an RBI double by Lee May in the first and a Mike Andrews single in the third.  Harvey Kuenn was 0-for-4 with 2 errors, one costing a run.