1911 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

1911

n/a Bill Keen 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-08-1911 18
n/a Frank Gilhooley 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-18-1911 19
n/a Bill McTigue 1911 Boston Rustlers 05-02-1911 19
n/a Vic Saier 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-03-1911 19
n/a Hank Severeid 1911 Cincinnati Reds 05-15-1911 19
n/a Gene Paulette 1911 New York Giants 06-16-1911 20
n/a Jack Reis 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-09-1911 20
n/a John Shovlin 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-21-1911 20
n/a Sherry Smith 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-11-1911 20
n/a Pete Standridge 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-19-1911 20
n/a Denney Wilie 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 07-27-1911 20
n/a Ivey Wingo 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-20-1911 20
n/a George Burns 1911 New York Giants 10-03-1911 21
n/a Ed Conwell 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1911 21
n/a Dick Cotter 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 08-17-1911 21
n/a Jimmy Esmond 1911 Cincinnati Reds 04-20-1911 21
n/a Bert Hall 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 08-21-1911 21
n/a Mickey Keliher 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-09-1911 21
n/a Troy Puckett 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-04-1911 21
n/a Milt Reed 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-09-1911 21
n/a Red Smith 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-05-1911 21
n/a Buck Stanley 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 09-12-1911 21
n/a Ensign Cottrell 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-21-1911 22
n/a Gene Dale 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-19-1911 22
n/a Grover Hartley 1911 New York Giants 05-13-1911 22
n/a Claude Hendrix 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-15-1911 22
n/a Brad Hogg 1911 Boston Rustlers 09-01-1911 22
n/a Lee Magee 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 07-04-1911 22
n/a Danny Mahoney 1911 Cincinnati Reds 05-15-1911 22
n/a Reggie Richter 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-30-1911 22
n/a Toots Shultz 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 05-05-1911 22
n/a Fuller Thompson 1911 Boston Rustlers 08-19-1911 22
n/a Fred Toney 1911 Chicago Cubs 04-15-1911 22
n/a Raleigh Aitchison 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-19-1911 23
n/a Rafael Almeida 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-04-1911 23
n/a Art Butler 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-14-1911 23
n/a Jim Clark 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-02-1911 23
n/a Harry Gardner 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-17-1911 23
n/a Armando Marsans 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-04-1911 23
n/a Wally Smith 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-17-1911 23
n/a Harry Spratt 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-13-1911 23
n/a Grover Alexander 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1911 24
n/a Hank Griffin 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-05-1911 24
n/a Scotty Ingerton 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-12-1911 24
n/a Bill Jones 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-20-1911 24
n/a Al Kaiser 1911 Chicago Cubs 04-18-1911 24
n/a Lou Lowdermilk 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-20-1911 24
n/a Jack McAdams 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 07-22-1911 24
n/a Ed McDonald 1911 Boston Rustlers 08-05-1911 24
n/a Hughie Miller 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 06-18-1911 24
n/a Hap Morse 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1911 24
n/a Hank Robinson 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-02-1911 24
n/a Jake Smith 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-03-1911 24
n/a Bert Tooley 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-12-1911 24
n/a Gene Woodburn 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 07-27-1911 24
n/a Mike Balenti 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-19-1911 25
n/a Larry Cheney 1911 Chicago Cubs 09-09-1911 25
n/a Al Humphrey 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-01-1911 25
n/a Herb Juul 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-11-1911 25
n/a Clarence Lehr 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 05-18-1911 25
n/a Larry Lejeune 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 05-10-1911 25
n/a Dan McGeehan 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-22-1911 25
n/a Ernie Ovitz 1911 Chicago Cubs 06-22-1911 25
n/a Bill Schardt 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-14-1911 25
n/a Cy Slapnicka 1911 Chicago Cubs 09-26-1911 25
n/a Herman Young 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-11-1911 25
n/a Jerry Dorsey 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-23-1911 26
n/a Paddy Mayes 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 06-11-1911 26
n/a Otto McIvor 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1911 26
n/a John Quinn 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-09-1911 26
n/a George Zackert 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1911 26
n/a Jud Daley 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-19-1911 27
n/a Walt Miller 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-20-1911 27
n/a Harry Welchonce 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 04-17-1911 27
n/a Hub Perdue 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-19-1911 28
n/a Bert Weeden 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-04-1911 28
n/a Jack Compton 1911 Cincinnati Reds 09-07-1911 29
n/a George Jackson 1911 Boston Rustlers 08-02-1911 29
n/a Barney Schreiber 1911 Cincinnati Reds 05-15-1911 29
n/a Charlie Faust 1911 New York Giants 10-07-1911 30
n/a Roy Radebaugh 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1911 30
n/a Newt Hunter 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-12-1911 31
n/a Judge Nagle 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-26-1911 31
n/a Ed Donnelly 1911 Boston Rustlers 09-19-1911 32
1911 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1911 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

On April 13, 1954, Hank Aaron made his Major League debut and went 0-for-5. However, in his own autobiography Aaron wrote that he went 0-for-4.

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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