1883 American Association Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1883 American Association Debuts

Willie Mays played his first Major League game on May 25, 1951, and went 0-for-5 at the plate. He started his career 1-for-25 and told his manager, "I can't do it, Mr. Leo. You better bench me."

Casey Stengel played his first Major League game on July 27, 1912, and went 4-for-4 at the plate. He commented later in his life, "I broke in with four hits and the writers promptly decided they had seen the new Ty Cobb. It took me only a few days to correct that impression."

Both Mays and Stengel would continue their Major League careers down separate paths of greatness, but each still had to appear in that memorable first Major League game. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present what Cubs broadcaster Steve Stone once described as, "His first Major League debut."

"You never forget your first hit in the Major Leagues. It was in my third at bat. That was kind of a relief. You could start off 0-for-34." - Ralph Kiner

American Association Debuts 1883
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
n/a	George Baker	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-24-1883	24
n/a	Phil Baker	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-01-1883	26
n/a	Frank Devin	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-09-1883	23
n/a	Bob Emslie	1883 Baltimore Orioles	07-25-1883	24
n/a	Bill Gallagher	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-02-1883	0
n/a	Charlie Ingraham	1883 Baltimore Orioles	07-04-1883	23
n/a	Bill Loughlin	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-09-1883	0
n/a	Jerry McCormick	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-01-1883	21
n/a	Dave Oldfield	1883 Baltimore Orioles	06-28-1883	18
n/a	Billy Reid	1883 Baltimore Orioles	05-01-1883	25
n/a	Rooney Sweeney	1883 Baltimore Orioles	07-25-1883	24
n/a	Pop Corkhill	1883 Cincinnati Red Stockings	05-01-1883	25
n/a	Ren Deagle	1883 Cincinnati Red Stockings	05-17-1883	24
n/a	Bill Mountjoy	1883 Cincinnati Red Stockings	09-29-1883	24
n/a	Podge Weihe	1883 Cincinnati Red Stockings	08-06-1883	20
n/a	Ed Dundon	1883 Columbus Colts	06-02-1883	23
n/a	Jim Field	1883 Columbus Colts	06-02-1883	20
n/a	Pete Fries	1883 Columbus Colts	08-10-1883	25
n/a	Bill Kuehne	1883 Columbus Colts	05-01-1883	24
n/a	Bill Schwartz	1883 Columbus Colts	05-03-1883	19
n/a	John Valentine	1883 Columbus Colts	05-03-1883	27
n/a	Jack Jones	1883 Louisville Eclipse	08-13-1883	24
n/a	Tom McLaughlin	1883 Louisville Eclipse	07-17-1883	23
n/a	Walter Prince	1883 Louisville Eclipse	08-07-1883	22
n/a	George Winkleman	1883 Louisville Eclipse	08-04-1883	24
n/a	Steve Brady	1883 New York Metropolitans	07-23-1883	32
n/a	Ed Kennedy	1883 New York Metropolitans	05-01-1883	27
n/a	Dave Orr	1883 New York Metropolitans	05-17-1883	23
n/a	Charlie Reipschlager	1883 New York Metropolitans	05-02-1883	29
n/a	Jersey Bakley	1883 Philadelphia Athletics	05-11-1883	19
n/a	Al Hubbard	1883 Philadelphia Athletics	09-13-1883	22
n/a	Charlie Mason	1883 Philadelphia Athletics	07-04-1883	30
n/a	Norm Baker	1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys	05-21-1883	19
n/a	Bob Barr	1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys	06-23-1883	0
n/a	Wes Blogg	1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys	06-20-1883	0
n/a	Bill Morgan	1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys	08-06-1883	27
n/a	Henry Oberbeck	1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys	05-07-1883	24
n/a	John Ewing	1883 St. Louis Browns	06-18-1883	20
n/a	Jack Gorman	1883 St. Louis Browns	07-01-1883	0
n/a	Charlie Hodnett	1883 St. Louis Browns	05-03-1883	0
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1883 American Association Debuts

1883 N.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American Association during the 1883 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Ray Jansen (four for five in his first game), Aubrey Epps (three for four in his first game) and Ed Irvin (two for three in his first game) all finished their career with lifetime batting averages which were greater than their career fielding percentages.

When Christy Mathewson made his Major League debut the newspaper wrote, "The untried semi-professional possessed great speed and plenty of confidence in himself, but could not control his curves."

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