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 Raleigh Aitchison 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-19-1911 23
n/a Grover Alexander 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1911 24
n/a Rafael Almeida 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-04-1911 23
n/a Mike Balenti 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-19-1911 25
n/a George Burns 1911 New York Giants 10-03-1911 21
n/a Art Butler 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-14-1911 23
n/a Larry Cheney 1911 Chicago Cubs 09-09-1911 25
n/a Jim Clark 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-02-1911 23
n/a Jack Compton 1911 Cincinnati Reds 09-07-1911 29
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 Ensign Cottrell 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-21-1911 22
n/a Gene Dale 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-19-1911 22
n/a Jud Daley 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-19-1911 27
n/a Ed Donnelly 1911 Boston Rustlers 09-19-1911 32
n/a Jerry Dorsey 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-23-1911 26
n/a Jimmy Esmond 1911 Cincinnati Reds 04-20-1911 21
n/a Charlie Faust 1911 New York Giants 10-07-1911 30
n/a Harry Gardner 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-17-1911 23
n/a Frank Gilhooley 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-18-1911 19
n/a Hank Griffin 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-05-1911 24
n/a Bert Hall 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 08-21-1911 21
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 Al Humphrey 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-01-1911 25
n/a Newt Hunter 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-12-1911 31
n/a Scotty Ingerton 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-12-1911 24
n/a George Jackson 1911 Boston Rustlers 08-02-1911 29
n/a Bill Jones 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-20-1911 24
n/a Herb Juul 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-11-1911 25
n/a Al Kaiser 1911 Chicago Cubs 04-18-1911 24
n/a Bill Keen 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-08-1911 18
n/a Mickey Keliher 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-09-1911 21
n/a Clarence Lehr 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 05-18-1911 25
n/a Larry Lejeune 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 05-10-1911 25
n/a Lou Lowdermilk 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-20-1911 24
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 Armando Marsans 1911 Cincinnati Reds 07-04-1911 23
n/a Paddy Mayes 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 06-11-1911 26
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 Dan McGeehan 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-22-1911 25
n/a Otto McIvor 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1911 26
n/a Bill McTigue 1911 Boston Rustlers 05-02-1911 19
n/a Hughie Miller 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 06-18-1911 24
n/a Walt Miller 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-20-1911 27
n/a Hap Morse 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1911 24
n/a Judge Nagle 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-26-1911 31
n/a Ernie Ovitz 1911 Chicago Cubs 06-22-1911 25
n/a Gene Paulette 1911 New York Giants 06-16-1911 20
n/a Hub Perdue 1911 Boston Rustlers 04-19-1911 28
n/a Troy Puckett 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-04-1911 21
n/a John Quinn 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-09-1911 26
n/a Roy Radebaugh 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1911 30
n/a Milt Reed 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-09-1911 21
n/a Jack Reis 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-09-1911 20
n/a Reggie Richter 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-30-1911 22
n/a Hank Robinson 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-02-1911 24
n/a Vic Saier 1911 Chicago Cubs 05-03-1911 19
n/a Bill Schardt 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-14-1911 25
n/a Barney Schreiber 1911 Cincinnati Reds 05-15-1911 29
n/a Hank Severeid 1911 Cincinnati Reds 05-15-1911 19
n/a John Shovlin 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-21-1911 20
n/a Toots Shultz 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 05-05-1911 22
n/a Cy Slapnicka 1911 Chicago Cubs 09-26-1911 25
n/a Jake Smith 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 10-03-1911 24
n/a Red Smith 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-05-1911 21
n/a Sherry Smith 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-11-1911 20
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 Pete Standridge 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-19-1911 20
n/a Buck Stanley 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 09-12-1911 21
n/a Fuller Thompson 1911 Boston Rustlers 08-19-1911 22
n/a Fred Toney 1911 Chicago Cubs 04-15-1911 22
n/a Bert Tooley 1911 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-12-1911 24
n/a Bert Weeden 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-04-1911 28
n/a Harry Welchonce 1911 Philadelphia Phillies 04-17-1911 27
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 Gene Woodburn 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 07-27-1911 24
n/a Herman Young 1911 Boston Rustlers 06-11-1911 25
n/a George Zackert 1911 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1911 26
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 the final day of the 1930 season, Dizzy Dean was called up and pitched a three-hitter. In Spring Training the following year, Dean had a fight with catcher Gabby Street and the franchise left him in the Minor Leagues all season long.

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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