1952 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

1952

24, 27 Dick Brodowski 1952 Boston Red Sox 06-15-1952 19
44 Billy Hoeft 1952 Detroit Tigers 04-18-1952 19
22 JW Porter 1952 St. Louis Browns 07-30-1952 19
38 Gene Stephens 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-16-1952 19
37, 19 Bud Black 1952 Detroit Tigers 09-13-1952 20
54, 6 Andy Carey 1952 New York Yankees 05-02-1952 20
3 Sammy Esposito 1952 Chicago White Sox 09-28-1952 20
4 Mike Fornieles 1952 Washington Senators 09-02-1952 20
2, 37 Faye Throneberry 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-15-1952 20
8 Hal Bevan 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-24-1952 21
15 Harley Grossman 1952 Washington Senators 04-22-1952 21
26 Harvey Kuenn 1952 Detroit Tigers 09-06-1952 21
56 Don Nicholas 1952 Chicago White Sox 04-16-1952 21
5, 33 Raul Sanchez 1952 Washington Senators 04-17-1952 21
34 Kal Segrist 1952 New York Yankees 07-16-1952 21
34 Bunky Stewart 1952 Washington Senators 05-04-1952 21
18 Milt Bolling 1952 Boston Red Sox 09-10-1952 22
29 Ike Delock 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-17-1952 22
2 Skeeter Kell 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 04-19-1952 22
12 Ted Lepcio 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-15-1952 22
15 Carl Linhart 1952 Detroit Tigers 08-02-1952 22
27 Jerry Snyder 1952 Washington Senators 05-08-1952 22
15 Buck Varner 1952 Washington Senators 09-19-1952 22
18 Bill Abernathie 1952 Cleveland Indians 09-27-1952 23
14 Dick Gernert 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-16-1952 23
40 Darrell Johnson 1952 St. Louis Browns 04-20-1952 23
21 Walt Kellner 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 09-06-1952 23
16 Jack Littrell 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 04-19-1952 23
36 Len Matarazzo 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 09-06-1952 23
19 Bill Tuttle 1952 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1952 23
38 Loren Babe 1952 New York Yankees 08-19-1952 24
21 Jake Crawford 1952 St. Louis Browns 09-07-1952 24
28 Hersh Freeman 1952 Boston Red Sox 09-10-1952 24
26 Bill Henry 1952 Boston Red Sox 04-17-1952 24
34 Hal Hudson 1952 St. Louis Browns 04-20-1952 24
34 Ken Landenberger 1952 Chicago White Sox 09-20-1952 24
23 Bill Miller 1952 New York Yankees 04-20-1952 24
23 Pete Taylor 1952 St. Louis Browns 05-02-1952 24
4 Tom Hamilton 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 09-04-1952 26
5 George Wilson 1952 Chicago White Sox 04-15-1952 26
9 George Bradshaw 1952 Washington Senators 08-10-1952 27
26, 39 Ralph Brickner 1952 Boston Red Sox 05-04-1952 27
31 Jim Fridley 1952 Cleveland Indians 04-15-1952 27
24 Tom Gorman 1952 New York Yankees 07-16-1952 27
21 George Schmees 1952 St. Louis Browns 04-15-1952 27
38 Charlie Bishop 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 08-22-1952 28
34, 39 Harry Schaeffer 1952 New York Yankees 07-28-1952 28
6 Kite Thomas 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 04-19-1952 28
37 Marion Fricano 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 09-06-1952 29
19 Alex Garbowski 1952 Detroit Tigers 04-16-1952 29
32 George Lerchen 1952 Detroit Tigers 04-15-1952 29
18 Tex Hoyle 1952 Philadelphia Athletics 04-18-1952 30
7 Jim Rivera 1952 St. Louis Browns 04-15-1952 30
6 Dave Pope 1952 Cleveland Indians 07-01-1952 31
36 Hector Rodriguez 1952 Chicago White Sox 04-15-1952 31
16 Quincy Trouppe 1952 Cleveland Indians 04-30-1952 39
1952 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1952 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Five-for-five debuts? Believe it or not it has happened twice: On June 30, 1894 Fred Clarke of the Louisville Colonels and on May 16, 1933, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made their Major League debuts and both went five-for-five at the plate.

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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