1884 National League 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."
"There is no Major League record held by a rookie. It's revealing to see just how far the rookie marks are below the single season marks. This is a testament to how difficult the game is to learn and play." - Luke Salisbury in The Answer is Baseball (1989)
National League Debuts

1884

n/a Bill Annis 1884 Boston Beaneaters 05-01-1884 27
n/a Marty Barrett 1884 Boston Beaneaters 06-24-1884 23
n/a John Connor 1884 Boston Beaneaters 07-26-1884 23
n/a Daisy Davis 1884 Boston Beaneaters 05-06-1884 25
n/a Tom Gunning 1884 Boston Beaneaters 07-26-1884 22
n/a Jim Manning 1884 Boston Beaneaters 05-16-1884 22
n/a Gene Moriarty 1884 Boston Beaneaters 06-18-1884 21
n/a Chub Collins 1884 Buffalo Bisons 05-01-1884 26
n/a Ed Coughlin 1884 Buffalo Bisons 05-15-1884 22
n/a Bones Ely 1884 Buffalo Bisons 06-19-1884 21
n/a George Myers 1884 Buffalo Bisons 05-02-1884 23
n/a Billy Serad 1884 Buffalo Bisons 05-05-1884 0
n/a Joe Brown 1884 Chicago White Stockings 08-16-1884 25
n/a Mike Corcoran 1884 Chicago White Stockings 07-15-1884 25
n/a George Crosby 1884 Chicago White Stockings 05-22-1884 26
n/a John Hibbard 1884 Chicago White Stockings 07-31-1884 19
n/a Tom Lee 1884 Chicago White Stockings 06-14-1884 22
n/a Tom Lynch 1884 Chicago White Stockings 08-05-1884 21
n/a Sy Sutcliffe 1884 Chicago White Stockings 10-02-1884 22
n/a Joe Ardner 1884 Cleveland Blues 05-01-1884 26
n/a Ernie Burch 1884 Cleveland Blues 08-15-1884 27
n/a George Fisher 1884 Cleveland Blues 08-09-1884 28
n/a Pit Gilman 1884 Cleveland Blues 09-18-1884 20
n/a John Harkins 1884 Cleveland Blues 05-02-1884 25
n/a John Henry 1884 Cleveland Blues 08-13-1884 20
n/a Sam Moffet 1884 Cleveland Blues 05-15-1884 27
n/a Willie Murphy 1884 Cleveland Blues 05-01-1884 20
n/a George Pinkney 1884 Cleveland Blues 08-16-1884 25
n/a Bill Smith 1884 Cleveland Blues 09-17-1884 19
n/a Guerdon Whiteley 1884 Cleveland Blues 08-07-1884 24
n/a Dave Beadle 1884 Detroit Wolverines 06-17-1884 20
n/a Frank Brill 1884 Detroit Wolverines 06-23-1884 20
n/a Harry Buker 1884 Detroit Wolverines 06-11-1884 0
n/a Frank Cox 1884 Detroit Wolverines 08-13-1884 26
n/a Ed Gastfield 1884 Detroit Wolverines 08-13-1884 19
n/a Bill Geis 1884 Detroit Wolverines 07-19-1882 24
n/a Charlie Getzien 1884 Detroit Wolverines 08-13-1884 20
n/a Frank Jones 1884 Detroit Wolverines 07-02-1884 25
n/a Henry Jones 1884 Detroit Wolverines 08-20-1884 27
n/a Dick Lowe 1884 Detroit Wolverines 06-26-1884 30
n/a Frank Meinke 1884 Detroit Wolverines 05-01-1884 20
n/a Edward Santry 1884 Detroit Wolverines 08-07-1884 0
n/a Walt Walker 1884 Detroit Wolverines 05-08-1884 24
n/a Harry Weber 1884 Detroit Wolverines 05-30-1884 22
n/a Fred Wood 1884 Detroit Wolverines 05-14-1884 18
n/a Chief Zimmer 1884 Detroit Wolverines 07-18-1884 23
n/a Ed Begley 1884 New York Gothams 05-03-1884 20
n/a Jim Brown 1884 New York Gothams 04-17-1884 23
n/a Sandy Griffin 1884 New York Gothams 05-26-1884 25
n/a Bill Loughran 1884 New York Gothams 06-06-1884 22
n/a Charlie Manlove 1884 New York Gothams 05-31-1884 21
n/a Alex McKinnon 1884 New York Gothams 05-01-1884 27
n/a Henry Oxley 1884 New York Gothams 07-30-1884 26
n/a Danny Richardson 1884 New York Gothams 05-22-1884 21
n/a Hezekiah Allen 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-16-1884 21
n/a Ed Andrews 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-01-1884 25
n/a Bill Conway 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 07-28-1884 22
n/a Paul Cook 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 09-13-1884 21
n/a John Crowley 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-01-1884 22
n/a Mike DePangher 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 08-08-1884 25
n/a Charlie Ferguson 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-01-1884 21
n/a Jim Fogarty 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-01-1884 20
n/a Lou Hardie 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-22-1884 19
n/a Joe Kappel 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-26-1884 27
n/a Joe Knight 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-16-1884 24
n/a Jim McElroy 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 05-26-1884 0
n/a Sparrow Morton 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 07-15-1884 0
n/a Con Murphy 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-1884 20
n/a Shadow Pyle 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 10-15-1884 22
n/a Ed Sixsmith 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-1884 21
n/a Gene Vadeboncoeur 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 07-11-1884 24
n/a Bill Vinton 1884 Philadelphia Phillies 07-03-1884 19
n/a Charley Bassett 1884 Providence Grays 07-22-1884 21
n/a John Cattanach 1884 Providence Grays 06-05-1884 21
n/a Ed Conley 1884 Providence Grays 07-19-1884 20
n/a Miah Murray 1884 Providence Grays 05-17-1884 19
1884 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1884 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Five-for-five debuts? Believe it or not it has happened twice: On June 30, 1894 Fred Clarke of the Louisville Colonels and on May 16, 1933, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made their Major League debuts and both went five-for-five at the plate.

Did you know that Future hall of famer Addie Joss made his Major League pitching debut on April 26, 1902 and tossed a one hitter?
     

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