1955 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."
"You never forget your first hit in the Major Leagues. It was in my third at bat. That was kind of a relief. You could start off 0-for-34." - Ralph Kiner
American League Debuts

1955

37 Bob Alexander 1955 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-1955 32
46 Don Ferrarese 1955 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-1955 25
25 Bobby Kline 1955 Washington Senators 04-11-1955 26
9, 40 Don Leppert 1955 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-1955 24
37 Ernie Oravetz 1955 Washington Senators 04-11-1955 23
28 Pedro Ramos 1955 Washington Senators 04-11-1955 19
22 Hal Smith 1955 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-1955 24
26 Van Fletcher 1955 Detroit Tigers 04-12-1955 30
21, 25 Harry Malmberg 1955 Detroit Tigers 04-12-1955 29
11 Bubba Phillips 1955 Detroit Tigers 04-12-1955 27
15 Ted Abernathy 1955 Washington Senators 04-13-1955 22
30, 43 Bill Currie 1955 Washington Senators 04-13-1955 26
16 Vince Gonzales 1955 Washington Senators 04-13-1955 29
45, 6 Joe Altobelli 1955 Cleveland Indians 04-14-1955 22
32 Elston Howard 1955 New York Yankees 04-14-1955 26
47 Tom Sturdivant 1955 New York Yankees 04-14-1955 24
27 Herb Score 1955 Cleveland Indians 04-15-1955 21
27, 41 George Susce 1955 Boston Red Sox 04-15-1955 23
34 Juan Delis 1955 Washington Senators 04-16-1955 27
53 Johnny Kucks 1955 New York Yankees 04-17-1955 21
8 Jim Pyburn 1955 Baltimore Orioles 04-17-1955 22
29 Bob Spicer 1955 Kansas City Athletics 04-17-1955 30
31 Bill Stewart 1955 Kansas City Athletics 04-17-1955 27
47 Duke Maas 1955 Detroit Tigers 04-21-1955 26
38 Bill Froats 1955 Detroit Tigers 04-22-1955 24
32 Dick Hyde 1955 Washington Senators 04-23-1955 26
10 Eric Mackenzie 1955 Kansas City Athletics 04-23-1955 22
39 Bob Smith 1955 Boston Red Sox 04-29-1955 24
44 Joe Trimble 1955 Boston Red Sox 04-29-1955 24
19 Art Ceccarelli 1955 Kansas City Athletics 05-03-1955 25
24 Pete Daley 1955 Boston Red Sox 05-03-1955 25
40 Tom Carroll 1955 New York Yankees 05-07-1955 18
1, 10 Hector Lopez 1955 Kansas City Athletics 05-12-1955 25
19 Babe Birrer 1955 Detroit Tigers 06-05-1955 25
12 Clete Boyer 1955 Kansas City Athletics 06-05-1955 18
33 Wayne Causey 1955 Baltimore Orioles 06-05-1955 18
29 Jerry Schoonmaker 1955 Washington Senators 06-11-1955 21
10 Tom Gastall 1955 Baltimore Orioles 06-21-1955 23
36 Jose Valdivielso 1955 Washington Senators 06-21-1955 21
37 Tex Nelson 1955 Baltimore Orioles 06-22-1955 18
20, 21 Jim Small 1955 Detroit Tigers 06-22-1955 18
32 Stu Locklin 1955 Cleveland Indians 06-23-1955 26
6 Bob Hale 1955 Baltimore Orioles 07-04-1955 21
8 Kenny Kuhn 1955 Cleveland Indians 07-07-1955 18
15 Jim Bunning 1955 Detroit Tigers 07-20-1955 23
6 Don Plarski 1955 Kansas City Athletics 07-20-1955 25
40 Frank Baumann 1955 Boston Red Sox 07-31-1955 22
17 Bobby Richardson 1955 New York Yankees 08-05-1955 19
22 Jim Pagliaroni 1955 Boston Red Sox 08-13-1955 17
30 Rip Coleman 1955 New York Yankees 08-15-1955 24
29 Mike Kume 1955 Kansas City Athletics 08-26-1955 29
6 Jerry Schypinski 1955 Kansas City Athletics 08-31-1955 23
37 Billy Harrell 1955 Cleveland Indians 09-02-1955 27
15 Walt Craddock 1955 Kansas City Athletics 09-03-1955 23
21 Webbo Clarke 1955 Washington Senators 09-04-1955 27
22 Hank Aguirre 1955 Cleveland Indians 09-10-1955 24
35, 26 Earl Battey 1955 Chicago White Sox 09-10-1955 20
38 Rocky Colavito 1955 Cleveland Indians 09-10-1955 22
28 Bud Daley 1955 Cleveland Indians 09-10-1955 22
5 Angelo Dagres 1955 Baltimore Orioles 09-11-1955 21
39 Julio Becquer 1955 Washington Senators 09-13-1955 23
11 Buddy Peterson 1955 Chicago White Sox 09-14-1955 30
46 Alex George 1955 Kansas City Athletics 09-16-1955 16
13 Chuck Locke 1955 Baltimore Orioles 09-16-1955 23
21 Bob Powell 1955 Chicago White Sox 09-16-1955 21
27 Ed White 1955 Chicago White Sox 09-16-1955 29
7, 11 Frank Malzone 1955 Boston Red Sox 09-17-1955 25
40 Brooks Robinson 1955 Baltimore Orioles 09-17-1955 18
8 Glenn Cox 1955 Kansas City Athletics 09-20-1955 24
44 Haywood Sullivan 1955 Boston Red Sox 09-20-1955 24
25 Bob Harrison 1955 Baltimore Orioles 09-23-1955 25
35 Stan Pawloski 1955 Cleveland Indians 09-24-1955 24
38 Johnny Blanchard 1955 New York Yankees 09-25-1955 22
24 Roger Marquis 1955 Baltimore Orioles 09-25-1955 18
44 Dick Tettelbach 1955 New York Yankees 09-25-1955 26
41 Marv Throneberry 1955 New York Yankees 09-25-1955 22
1955 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1955 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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