1942 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."
"Baseball is the sport that cackles back at can't-miss kids. Baseball humbles every player sooner or later. Baseball confers greatness stingily, in its own sweet time. At least that's what the bow-tied essayists and sandlot scouts solemnly tell us." - Johnette Howard in Sports Illustrated
National League Debuts

1942

18 Johnny Barrett 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-14-1942 26
3 Nanny Fernandez 1942 Boston Braves 04-14-1942 23
25 Bert Hodges 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 04-14-1942 24
1 Tommy Holmes 1942 Boston Braves 04-14-1942 25
43 Peanuts Lowrey 1942 Chicago Cubs 04-14-1942 24
2 Willard Marshall 1942 New York Giants 04-14-1942 21
19 Howie Moss 1942 New York Giants 04-14-1942 23
33 Ron Northey 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 04-14-1942 21
6 Connie Ryan 1942 New York Giants 04-14-1942 22
5 Ray Sanders 1942 St. Louis Cardinals 04-14-1942 25
17 Hi Bithorn 1942 Chicago Cubs 04-15-1942 26
28 Bill Burich 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1942 23
32 Earl Naylor 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1942 22
30 Jesse Flores 1942 Chicago Cubs 04-16-1942 27
9 Chico Hernandez 1942 Chicago Cubs 04-16-1942 26
2 Buddy Blattner 1942 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1942 22
19 Cliff Dapper 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-19-1942 22
20 George Diehl 1942 Boston Braves 04-19-1942 24
21 Bill Donovan 1942 Boston Braves 04-19-1942 25
2, 43 Marv Felderman 1942 Chicago Cubs 04-19-1942 26
4 Al Lakeman 1942 Cincinnati Reds 04-19-1942 23
16 Warren Spahn 1942 Boston Braves 04-19-1942 20
11 Clyde Kluttz 1942 Boston Braves 04-20-1942 24
27 Lou Tost 1942 Boston Braves 04-20-1942 30
44 Ewell Blackwell 1942 Cincinnati Reds 04-21-1942 19
12 Joe Abreu 1942 Cincinnati Reds 04-23-1942 28
28 Johnny Sain 1942 Boston Braves 04-24-1942 24
24 Jim Hickey 1942 Boston Braves 04-25-1942 21
12 Bill Peterman 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 04-26-1942 21
33 Chet Kehn 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers 04-30-1942 20
16 Lefty Wallace 1942 Boston Braves 05-05-1942 20
21 Max Marshall 1942 Cincinnati Reds 05-10-1942 28
45 Ed Hanyzewski 1942 Chicago Cubs 05-12-1942 21
31 Les Webber 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers 05-17-1942 27
29 Clyde Vollmer 1942 Cincinnati Reds 05-31-1942 20
4 Huck Geary 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-17-1942 25
28 Frankie Kelleher 1942 Cincinnati Reds 07-18-1942 25
16 Damon Phillips 1942 Cincinnati Reds 07-19-1942 23
16 Hilly Flitcraft 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 08-31-1942 19
19 Bill Voiselle 1942 New York Giants 09-01-1942 23
31 Joe Berry 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-06-1942 37
32 Cy Block 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-07-1942 23
45 Hank Wyse 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-07-1942 24
20 Frank McElyea 1942 Boston Braves 09-10-1942 24
33 Ed Murphy 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 09-10-1942 24
46 Marv Rickert 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-10-1942 21
23 Johnny Wyrostek 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-10-1942 23
30 Ed Freed 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-1942 23
2 Paul Gillespie 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-11-1942 21
- Frank Colman 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-12-1942 24
31 Ducky Detweiler 1942 Boston Braves 09-12-1942 23
6 Andy Lapihuska 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 09-12-1942 19
- Jim Russell 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-12-1942 23
- Harry Shuman 1942 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-14-1942 27
48 Whitey Platt 1942 Chicago Cubs 09-16-1942 22
25 Benny Culp 1942 Philadelphia Phillies 09-17-1942 28
19 Mike Sandlock 1942 Boston Braves 09-19-1942 26
3 Stan Rojek 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers 09-22-1942 23
21 Charlie Fox 1942 New York Giants 09-24-1942 20
2 Jeff Cross 1942 St. Louis Cardinals 09-27-1942 24
1942 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1942 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 Future hall of famer Addie Joss made his Major League pitching debut on April 26, 1902 and tossed a one hitter?
     

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