1943 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

1943

27 Leon Culberson 1943 Boston Red Sox 05-16-1943 23
24 Danny Doyle 1943 Boston Red Sox 09-14-1943 26
15 Ford Garrison 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-22-1943 27
19, 24 Andy Karl 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-24-1943 29
82, 14 Johnny Lazor 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-22-1943 30
15, 81 Lou Lucier 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-23-1943 25
42 Tom McBride 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-23-1943 28
2 Catfish Metkovich 1943 Boston Red Sox 07-16-1943 22
15 Emmett O'Neill 1943 Boston Red Sox 08-03-1943 25
6 Roy Partee 1943 Boston Red Sox 04-23-1943 25
10 Pinky Woods 1943 Boston Red Sox 06-20-1943 23
14 Vince Castino 1943 Chicago White Sox 06-24-1943 25
12 Guy Curtright 1943 Chicago White Sox 04-21-1943 30
34 Don Hanski 1943 Chicago White Sox 05-06-1943 27
37 Gordon Maltzberger 1943 Chicago White Sox 04-27-1943 30
29 Cass Michaels 1943 Chicago White Sox 08-19-1943 17
29 Floyd Speer 1943 Chicago White Sox 04-25-1943 30
39 Ed Klieman 1943 Cleveland Indians 09-24-1943 25
22 Jim McDonnell 1943 Cleveland Indians 09-23-1943 21
9 Mickey Rocco 1943 Cleveland Indians 06-05-1943 27
23 Pat Seerey 1943 Cleveland Indians 06-09-1943 20
14 Eddie Turchin 1943 Cleveland Indians 05-09-1943 26
46 Gene Woodling 1943 Cleveland Indians 09-23-1943 21
12 Rufe Gentry 1943 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1943 25
7 Joe Hoover 1943 Detroit Tigers 04-21-1943 28
27 John McHale 1943 Detroit Tigers 05-28-1943 21
21 Charlie Metro 1943 Detroit Tigers 05-04-1943 24
14 Joe Orrell 1943 Detroit Tigers 08-12-1943 26
19 Stubby Overmire 1943 Detroit Tigers 04-25-1943 23
24 Joe Wood 1943 Detroit Tigers 05-02-1943 23
11 Tommy Byrne 1943 New York Yankees 04-27-1943 23
7 Billy Johnson 1943 New York Yankees 04-22-1943 24
3 Bud Metheny 1943 New York Yankees 04-27-1943 27
25 Aaron Robinson 1943 New York Yankees 05-06-1943 27
26 Ken Sears 1943 New York Yankees 05-02-1943 25
2 Snuffy Stirnweiss 1943 New York Yankees 04-22-1943 24
14 Butch Wensloff 1943 New York Yankees 05-02-1943 27
18, 23 Orie Arntzen 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-20-1943 33
14 Vern Benson 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 07-31-1943 18
21 Don Black 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-24-1943 26
- Charlie Bowles 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-25-1943 26
- Norm Brown 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 10-03-1943 24
11 Bill Burgo 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-22-1943 23
28, 31 John Burrows 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-25-1943 29
2 Ed Busch 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-30-1943 25
7 Lou Ciola 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 07-25-1943 20
25 Tom Clyde 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 05-31-1943 19
24, 25 Everett Fagan 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-24-1943 25
14 Lew Flick 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-28-1943 28
6 Irv Hall 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-20-1943 24
7 George Kell 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-28-1943 21
14 Bert Kuczynski 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 06-02-1943 23
25 Jim Mains 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 08-22-1943 21
10 Tony Parisse 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-22-1943 32
12 Joe Rullo 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-22-1943 27
14 Carl Scheib 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-06-1943 16
- George Staller 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-14-1943 27
12 Jim Tyack 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 04-20-1943 32
30 Woody Wheaton 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 09-28-1943 28
2 Floyd Baker 1943 St. Louis Browns 05-04-1943 26
11 Milt Byrnes 1943 St. Louis Browns 04-21-1943 26
19 Al LaMacchia 1943 St. Louis Browns 09-27-1943 22
38 Sid Peterson 1943 St. Louis Browns 05-04-1943 25
27 Fred Sanford 1943 St. Louis Browns 05-05-1943 23
- Hank Schmulbach 1943 St. Louis Browns 09-27-1943 18
14 Al Zarilla 1943 St. Louis Browns 06-30-1943 24
21 Red Barbary 1943 Washington Senators 05-22-1943 22
36 Ed Butka 1943 Washington Senators 09-26-1943 27
20 Milo Candini 1943 Washington Senators 05-01-1943 25
29 Lew Carpenter 1943 Washington Senators 05-01-1943 29
17 Vern Curtis 1943 Washington Senators 09-06-1943 23
19 Mickey Haefner 1943 Washington Senators 04-22-1943 30
14 Jim Mertz 1943 Washington Senators 05-01-1943 26
17 Ox Miller 1943 Washington Senators 08-07-1943 28
21, 29 Red Roberts 1943 Washington Senators 09-03-1943 25
15 Owen Scheetz 1943 Washington Senators 04-22-1943 29
1943 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1943 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?

Ray Jansen (four for five in his first game), Aubrey Epps (three for four in his first game) and Ed Irvin (two for three in his first game) all finished their career with lifetime batting averages which were greater than their career fielding percentages.
     

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