1936 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

1936

16 Emerson Dickman 1936 Boston Red Sox 06-27-1936 21
25 Fabian Gaffke 1936 Boston Red Sox 09-09-1936 23
21 Jim Henry 1936 Boston Red Sox 04-23-1936 25
23 Ted Olson 1936 Boston Red Sox 06-21-1936 23
20 Jennings Poindexter 1936 Boston Red Sox 09-15-1936 25
28 Red Evans 1936 Chicago White Sox 04-24-1936 29
19 Les Rock 1936 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1936 24
12 Larry Rosenthal 1936 Chicago White Sox 06-20-1936 26
8 Joe Becker 1936 Cleveland Indians 05-10-1936 27
9 Bob Feller 1936 Cleveland Indians 07-19-1936 17
31 Jim Gleeson 1936 Cleveland Indians 04-25-1936 24
21 Jeff Heath 1936 Cleveland Indians 09-13-1936 21
17 Paul Kardow 1936 Cleveland Indians 07-01-1936 20
24, 17 Al Milnar 1936 Cleveland Indians 04-30-1936 22
23 Roy Weatherly 1936 Cleveland Indians 06-27-1936 21
31 Bill Zuber 1936 Cleveland Indians 09-16-1936 23
24 Salty Parker 1936 Detroit Tigers 08-13-1936 24
- Birdie Tebbetts 1936 Detroit Tigers 09-16-1936 23
21 Jake Wade 1936 Detroit Tigers 04-22-1936 24
9 Joe DiMaggio 1936 New York Yankees 05-03-1936 21
24 Steve Sundra 1936 New York Yankees 04-17-1936 26
25 Kemp Wicker 1936 New York Yankees 08-14-1936 30
3 Fred Archer 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 09-05-1936 26
16 Red Bullock 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 05-19-1936 24
45 Dick Culler 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 09-19-1936 21
28 Chubby Dean 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 04-14-1936 19
46 Stu Flythe 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 05-31-1936 24
14, 20 Randy Gumpert 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 06-13-1936 18
27 Hal Luby 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 09-10-1936 23
26 Emil Mailho 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 04-14-1936 27
15 Pete Naktenis 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 06-13-1936 22
21 Bill Nicholson 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 06-13-1936 21
3 Jim Oglesby 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 04-14-1936 30
24, 29 Rusty Peters 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 04-14-1936 21
17 Buck Ross 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 05-07-1936 21
- Eddie Smith 1936 Philadelphia Athletics 09-20-1936 22
12 Tony Giuliani 1936 St. Louis Browns 04-18-1936 23
23 Sig Jakucki 1936 St. Louis Browns 08-30-1936 27
14 Harry Kimberlin 1936 St. Louis Browns 07-11-1936 27
21 Joe Bokina 1936 Washington Senators 04-16-1936 26
20 Ken Chase 1936 Washington Senators 04-23-1936 22
20 Bill Phebus 1936 Washington Senators 09-06-1936 27
22 Alex Sabo 1936 Washington Senators 08-01-1936 26
1936 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1936 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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?

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.
     

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