1921 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

1921

n/a Garland Braxton 1921 Boston Braves 05-27-1921 20
n/a Johnny Cooney 1921 Boston Braves 04-19-1921 20
n/a Cy Morgan 1921 Boston Braves 06-08-1921 25
n/a Ray Gordinier 1921 Brooklyn Robins 09-17-1921 29
n/a Carter Elliott 1921 Chicago Cubs 09-10-1921 27
n/a Buck Freeman 1921 Chicago Cubs 04-13-1921 27
n/a Oscar Fuhr 1921 Chicago Cubs 04-19-1921 27
n/a Ollie Hanson 1921 Chicago Cubs 04-27-1921 25
n/a Tony Kaufmann 1921 Chicago Cubs 09-23-1921 20
n/a Joe Klugmann 1921 Chicago Cubs 09-23-1921 26
n/a George Stueland 1921 Chicago Cubs 09-15-1921 22
n/a Red Thomas 1921 Chicago Cubs 09-13-1921 23
n/a Kettle Wirts 1921 Chicago Cubs 07-20-1921 23
n/a Lefty Clarke 1921 Cincinnati Reds 10-02-1921 25
n/a Pete Donohue 1921 Cincinnati Reds 07-01-1921 20
n/a Astyanax Douglass 1921 Cincinnati Reds 07-30-1921 23
n/a Lew Fonseca 1921 Cincinnati Reds 04-13-1921 22
n/a Kenny Hogan 1921 Cincinnati Reds 10-02-1921 18
n/a Denny Williams 1921 Cincinnati Reds 04-15-1921 24
n/a Joe Berry 1921 New York Giants 07-18-1921 26
n/a Joe Connolly 1921 New York Giants 10-01-1921 27
n/a Bill Cunningham 1921 New York Giants 07-14-1921 26
n/a Bud Heine 1921 New York Giants 10-01-1921 21
n/a Butch Henline 1921 New York Giants 04-13-1921 26
n/a Claude Jonnard 1921 New York Giants 10-01-1921 23
n/a Wally Kopf 1921 New York Giants 10-01-1921 22
n/a Jim Mahady 1921 New York Giants 10-02-1921 20
n/a John Monroe 1921 New York Giants 04-16-1921 22
n/a Pat Patterson 1921 New York Giants 04-14-1921 24
n/a Goldie Rapp 1921 New York Giants 04-13-1921 29
n/a Walter Zink 1921 New York Giants 07-06-1921 22
n/a Petie Behan 1921 Philadelphia Phillies 09-16-1921 33
n/a Frank Bruggy 1921 Philadelphia Phillies 04-13-1921 29
n/a Frank Parkinson 1921 Philadelphia Phillies 04-13-1921 26
n/a Lance Richbourg 1921 Philadelphia Phillies 07-04-1921 23
n/a Duke Sedgwick 1921 Philadelphia Phillies 07-12-1921 23
n/a Kiki Cuyler 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-29-1921 23
n/a Johnny Gooch 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-09-1921 23
n/a Bill Hughes 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-15-1921 24
n/a Johnny Mokan 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1921 25
n/a Phil Morrison 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-30-1921 26
n/a Drew Rader 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-18-1921 20
n/a Ray Rohwer 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-13-1921 25
n/a Bill Skiff 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-17-1921 25
n/a Bill Warwick 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-18-1921 23
n/a Rip Wheeler 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-30-1921 23
n/a Mike Wilson 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-04-1921 24
n/a Chief Yellow Horse 1921 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1921 23
n/a Reuben Ewing 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 06-21-1921 21
n/a Walt Irwin 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 04-24-1921 23
n/a Howie Jones 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 09-05-1921 24
n/a Charlie Niebergall 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 06-17-1921 22
n/a Tink Riviere 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 04-15-1921 21
n/a Specs Toporcer 1921 St. Louis Cardinals 04-13-1921 22
1921 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1921 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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?

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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