1905 American 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)
American League Debuts

1905

n/a Charlie Armbruster 1905 Boston Americans 07-17-1905 24
n/a Ed Barry 1905 Boston Americans 08-27-1905 22
n/a John Godwin 1905 Boston Americans 08-14-1905 28
n/a Myron Grimshaw 1905 Boston Americans 04-25-1905 29
n/a Joe Harris 1905 Boston Americans 09-22-1905 23
n/a Art McGovern 1905 Boston Americans 04-21-1905 23
n/a Hank Olmsted 1905 Boston Americans 07-15-1905 26
n/a Frank Owens 1905 Boston Americans 09-11-1905 19
n/a Pop Rising 1905 Boston Americans 08-10-1905 33
n/a Hub Hart 1905 Chicago White Sox 07-16-1905 27
n/a Jap Barbeau 1905 Cleveland Naps 09-27-1905 23
n/a Nig Clarke 1905 Cleveland Naps 04-26-1905 22
n/a Eddie Grant 1905 Cleveland Naps 08-04-1905 22
n/a John Halla 1905 Cleveland Naps 08-18-1905 21
n/a Nick Kahl 1905 Cleveland Naps 05-02-1905 26
n/a Emil Leber 1905 Cleveland Naps 09-02-1905 24
n/a Howard Wakefield 1905 Cleveland Naps 09-18-1905 21
n/a Hi West 1905 Cleveland Naps 09-08-1905 21
n/a Andy Bruckmiller 1905 Detroit Tigers 06-26-1905 23
n/a Eddie Cicotte 1905 Detroit Tigers 09-03-1905 21
n/a Ty Cobb 1905 Detroit Tigers 08-30-1905 18
n/a George Disch 1905 Detroit Tigers 08-08-1905 26
n/a John Eubank 1905 Detroit Tigers 09-19-1905 33
n/a Gene Ford 1905 Detroit Tigers 05-05-1905 24
n/a Herbie Jackson 1905 Detroit Tigers 08-11-1905 0
n/a Walt Justis 1905 Detroit Tigers 07-12-1905 21
n/a Chris Lindsay 1905 Detroit Tigers 07-06-1905 26
n/a John Sullivan 1905 Detroit Tigers 04-19-1905 32
n/a Frosty Thomas 1905 Detroit Tigers 05-01-1905 23
n/a Hal Chase 1905 New York Highlanders 04-14-1905 22
n/a Jim Cockman 1905 New York Highlanders 09-28-1905 33
n/a Phil Cooney 1905 New York Highlanders 09-27-1905 23
n/a Fred Curtis 1905 New York Highlanders 07-24-1905 24
n/a Frank Delahanty 1905 New York Highlanders 08-23-1905 22
n/a Charlie Fallon 1905 New York Highlanders 06-30-1905 24
n/a Wilbur Good 1905 New York Highlanders 08-18-1905 19
n/a Art Goodwin 1905 New York Highlanders 10-07-1905 28
n/a Ed Hahn 1905 New York Highlanders 08-31-1905 30
n/a Bill Hogg 1905 New York Highlanders 04-25-1905 23
n/a Frank LaPorte 1905 New York Highlanders 09-29-1905 25
n/a Louis LeRoy 1905 New York Highlanders 09-22-1905 26
n/a Joe McCarthy 1905 New York Highlanders 09-27-1905 23
n/a Rube Oldring 1905 New York Highlanders 10-02-1905 21
n/a Harry Barton 1905 Philadelphia Athletics 04-15-1905 30
n/a Jimmy Dygert 1905 Philadelphia Athletics 09-08-1905 21
n/a John Knight 1905 Philadelphia Athletics 04-14-1905 19
n/a Bris Lord 1905 Philadelphia Athletics 04-21-1905 21
n/a Joseph Myers 1905 Philadelphia Athletics 10-07-1905 23
n/a Harry Ables 1905 St. Louis Browns 09-04-1905 21
n/a Jim Buchanan 1905 St. Louis Browns 04-16-1905 28
n/a Charlie Gibson 1905 St. Louis Browns 09-23-1905 25
n/a Ben Koehler 1905 St. Louis Browns 04-23-1905 28
n/a Branch Rickey 1905 St. Louis Browns 06-16-1905 23
n/a Ike Rockenfield 1905 St. Louis Browns 05-05-1905 28
n/a Tubby Spencer 1905 St. Louis Browns 07-24-1905 21
n/a Charlie Starr 1905 St. Louis Browns 04-29-1905 26
n/a Rick Adams 1905 Washington Senators 07-13-1905 26
n/a Harry Hardy 1905 Washington Senators 09-26-1905 29
n/a Punch Knoll 1905 Washington Senators 04-27-1905 23
n/a Moxie Manuel 1905 Washington Senators 09-25-1905 23
n/a Claude Rothgeb 1905 Washington Senators 06-17-1905 25
n/a Shag Shaughnessy 1905 Washington Senators 04-17-1905 22
n/a Denny Sullivan 1905 Washington Senators 04-22-1905 22
n/a Hughie Tate 1905 Washington Senators 09-21-1905 25
1905 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1905 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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."

Did you know that on September 27, 1963 the Houston Colt .45s fielded an all-rookie lineup that included future stars Joe Morgan, Jerry Grote, and Rusty Staub?
     

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