By Jason Beck
SportsLine Staff Writer

Statistics provide a large part of the magic of baseball. From Mark McGwire's 70 homers to Ted Williams' .406 average in 1941, many of baseball's memorable moments are recognized by simple numbers. Each Wednesday, SportsLine will dive into the numbers and pick out some of the more attractive figures of the week.

Tigers pitcher Brian Moehler wasn't flirting with Opening Day history when he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Monday at Texas. Indians great Bob Feller has the last Opening Day no-no among his many honors. But Moehler was definitely trying to jump the calendar.

To show how expanded playoffs and longer schedules have changed the season, Feller's no-hitter on Opening Day in 1940 didn't come until April 16. Had Moehler held on, he would've had the earliest no-hitter in history according to date, beating out a pair of April 7 performances.

Detroit's Jack Morris no-hit the White Sox at Comiskey Park on that date in 1984, exactly five years after Astros hurler Ken Forsch threw a no-hitter against the Braves.

Morris, not surprisingly, is also the last Tiger to throw a no-hitter.

Here's a look at some other important numbers from the start of the season:

38 -- Home runs hit on Opening Day. All but one game contributed two or more homers. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks launched six homers.

163 -- Strikeouts recorded on Opening Day, an average of 7.4 per team. Again, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks combined to whiff 28 times thanks in large part to Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown. Maybe there's something to this new strike zone after all.

2.7 -- Percentage increase in Opening Day attendance from 1998 to '99.

$1,720,050 -- Average salary of the 830 players on Opening Day rosters and disabled lists this season. It marks a 19.3 percent increase from last season.

Soggy weather helped force a bevy of pitching changes in St. Louis Monday.(AP)

13 -- Pitchers used by the Cardinals and Brewers in Monday night's rain-soaked season opener. Only Brewers right-hander David Weathers pitched more than two innings in the game. The National League record for pitchers used in a game is 15, set twice (Cardinals at Reds, Sept. 7., 1993; Expos vs. Braves, Aug. 27, 1996).

17 -- Number of millionaires on the Yankees' roster.

852 -- Consecutive Dodger games played at Dodger Stadium without a rainout. The season opener went off on time despite stormy weather nearly all day Monday. Chavez Ravine hasn't suffered a rainout since April 21, 1988.

4 -- Pirate left-handers used against the Expos Wednesday, all consecutively. Jason Christiansen followed Chris Peters, who followed Jeff Wallace, who followed starter Pete Schourek, who lasted merely three innings in his Bucco debut. Pittsburgh finished the game with righty closer Rich Loiselle, and Montreal pounced on the opportunity to drive home the game-winning run.

.231 -- Sammy Sosa's batting average at the Astrodome since 1997, not counting his three-strikeout performance in Tuesday's season opener. While he hit .393 (11-for-28) and nailed his 66th home run there last season, he posted a putrid 1-for-24 (.042) effort at Houston in '97. With those wild streaks, he shouldn't be sorry to see the place close.

1-for-22 -- Garth Brooks' final hitting numbers from spring training.

1 -- Home run now separates Braves ace Greg Maddux (3) from former Braves shortstop Rafael Belliard (2) for their careers.