Opening day. The Astros spoil the Padres first home game of 1974 beating them 9-5. This is also the debut of the radio mascot The Chicken who would go on to appear at more then 520 games in a row. After a legal battle with the radio station he would go on to appear all over the country as a independent mascot. The success of the Chicken would help lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports especially Baseball. His impact is such that The Sporting News editors named him as one of the Top 100 most powerful people in sports in the 20th century.

4-9-74 Astros at Padres Chicken Debut stub