1901 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 a certain amount of fascination to the big league debut of any athlete. Sometimes they are incredible successes. Sometimes they are frenetic failures." - Sportswriter Arthur Daley
National League Debuts

1901

n/a Fred Brown 1901 Boston Beaneaters 05-04-1901 22
n/a Pat Carney 1901 Boston Beaneaters 09-20-1901 25
n/a Fred Crolius 1901 Boston Beaneaters 04-19-1901 24
n/a Daff Gammons 1901 Boston Beaneaters 04-23-1901 25
n/a George Grossart 1901 Boston Beaneaters 06-07-1901 21
n/a John Hinton 1901 Boston Beaneaters 06-03-1901 24
n/a Bob Lawson 1901 Boston Beaneaters 05-07-1901 24
n/a Pat Moran 1901 Boston Beaneaters 05-15-1901 25
n/a Frank Murphy 1901 Boston Beaneaters 07-02-1901 25
n/a Lefty Davis 1901 Brooklyn Superbas 04-18-1901 26
n/a John Gochnaur 1901 Brooklyn Superbas 09-29-1901 26
n/a Hughie Hearne 1901 Brooklyn Superbas 08-29-1901 28
n/a Gene McCann 1901 Brooklyn Superbas 04-19-1901 25
n/a Gene Wright 1901 Brooklyn Superbas 10-05-1901 22
n/a Jim Delahanty 1901 Chicago Orphans 04-19-1901 21
n/a Charlie Ferguson 1901 Chicago Orphans 09-20-1901 26
n/a Bill Gannon 1901 Chicago Orphans 09-09-1901 28
n/a Eddie Hickey 1901 Chicago Orphans 09-03-1901 29
n/a Larry Hoffman 1901 Chicago Orphans 07-09-1901 22
n/a Fred Raymer 1901 Chicago Orphans 04-24-1901 25
n/a Germany Schaefer 1901 Chicago Orphans 10-05-1901 25
n/a Harry Bay 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-23-1901 23
n/a Bill Bergen 1901 Cincinnati Reds 05-06-1901 22
n/a Charlie Case 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-05-1901 21
n/a John Dobbs 1901 Cincinnati Reds 04-20-1901 25
n/a Whitey Guese 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-13-1901 29
n/a Emil Haberer 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-09-1901 23
n/a Chink Heileman 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-08-1901 28
n/a Crese Heismann 1901 Cincinnati Reds 09-25-1901 21
n/a Jerry Hurley 1901 Cincinnati Reds 09-23-1901 0
n/a Charlie Krause 1901 Cincinnati Reds 07-27-1901 27
n/a Barney McFadden 1901 Cincinnati Reds 04-24-1901 24
n/a Pete O'Brien 1901 Cincinnati Reds 09-21-1901 24
n/a Dick Scott 1901 Cincinnati Reds 06-26-1901 18
n/a Len Swormstedt 1901 Cincinnati Reds 09-29-1901 22
n/a Charlie Buelow 1901 New York Giants 06-01-1901 24
n/a Dummy Deegan 1901 New York Giants 08-03-1901 26
n/a Harry Felix 1901 New York Giants 10-05-1901 22
n/a Larry Hesterfer 1901 New York Giants 09-05-1901 23
n/a Jake Livingstone 1901 New York Giants 09-06-1901 26
n/a Jim Miller 1901 New York Giants 09-09-1901 20
n/a Willie Mills 1901 New York Giants 07-13-1901 23
n/a Ray Nelson 1901 New York Giants 05-06-1901 25
n/a Ike Van Zandt 1901 New York Giants 08-05-1901 25
n/a Joe Wall 1901 New York Giants 09-22-1901 28
n/a George Browne 1901 Philadelphia Phillies 09-27-1901 25
n/a Happy Townsend 1901 Philadelphia Phillies 04-19-1901 22
n/a Doc White 1901 Philadelphia Phillies 04-22-1901 22
n/a Lew Carr 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-02-1901 28
n/a Truck Eagan 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-01-1901 23
n/a George Merritt 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-06-1901 21
n/a Terry Turner 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-25-1901 20
n/a Snake Wiltse 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-05-1901 29
n/a Farmer Burns 1901 St. Louis Cardinals 07-06-1901 25
n/a Pete Childs 1901 St. Louis Cardinals 04-24-1901 29
n/a Mike O'Neill 1901 St. Louis Cardinals 09-20-1901 24
n/a Bill Richardson 1901 St. Louis Cardinals 09-20-1901 23
n/a Bob Wicker 1901 St. Louis Cardinals 08-11-1901 23
1901 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1901 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.

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.
     

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