1961 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

1961

19 Jim Donohue 1961 Detroit Tigers 04-11-1961 22
1 Dick Howser 1961 Kansas City Athletics 04-11-1961 24
39 John Papa 1961 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-1961 20
2 Chuck Schilling 1961 Boston Red Sox 04-11-1961 23
2 Jake Wood 1961 Detroit Tigers 04-11-1961 23
8 Carl Yastrzemski 1961 Boston Red Sox 04-11-1961 21
24 Bob Allen 1961 Cleveland Indians 04-14-1961 23
27 Joe McClain 1961 Washington Senators 04-14-1961 27
21 Jay Hankins 1961 Kansas City Athletics 04-15-1961 25
11 Ron Henry 1961 Minnesota Twins 04-15-1961 24
32 Bill Kunkel 1961 Kansas City Athletics 04-15-1961 24
39 Lee Stange 1961 Minnesota Twins 04-15-1961 24
40 Bill Pleis 1961 Minnesota Twins 04-16-1961 23
18 Ed Hobaugh 1961 Washington Senators 04-19-1961 26
40 Bubba Morton 1961 Detroit Tigers 04-19-1961 29
12 Mike Roarke 1961 Detroit Tigers 04-19-1961 30
20 Russ Heman 1961 Cleveland Indians 04-20-1961 28
17 Lee Thomas 1961 New York Yankees 04-22-1961 25
30 Norm Bass 1961 Kansas City Athletics 04-23-1961 22
27 Steve Hamilton 1961 Cleveland Indians 04-23-1961 25
6 Jack Kubiszyn 1961 Cleveland Indians 04-23-1961 24
15 Jack Reed 1961 New York Yankees 04-23-1961 28
45 Rollie Sheldon 1961 New York Yankees 04-23-1961 24
38 Fred Bruckbauer 1961 Minnesota Twins 04-25-1961 22
7 Hal Jones 1961 Cleveland Indians 04-25-1961 25
46 Joe Grzenda 1961 Detroit Tigers 04-26-1961 23
20 Jim Archer 1961 Kansas City Athletics 04-30-1961 28
32 Chuck Hinton 1961 Washington Senators 05-14-1961 27
37 Don Schwall 1961 Boston Red Sox 05-21-1961 25
18 Hal Reniff 1961 New York Yankees 06-08-1961 22
15 Galen Cisco 1961 Boston Red Sox 06-11-1961 25
42 Gerry Arrigo 1961 Minnesota Twins 06-12-1961 20
24 Lew Krausse 1961 Kansas City Athletics 06-16-1961 18
9 Rich Rollins 1961 Minnesota Twins 06-16-1961 23
22 Bobby Prescott 1961 Kansas City Athletics 06-17-1961 30
16 Bert Cueto 1961 Minnesota Twins 06-18-1961 23
28 Wilbur Wood 1961 Boston Red Sox 06-30-1961 19
11 Fred Gladding 1961 Detroit Tigers 07-01-1961 25
29 Ron Stillwell 1961 Washington Senators 07-03-1961 21
24 Al Downing 1961 New York Yankees 07-19-1961 20
29 Tom Satriano 1961 Los Angeles Angels 07-23-1961 20
24 Manny Montejo 1961 Detroit Tigers 07-25-1961 25
11 Bud Zipfel 1961 Washington Senators 07-26-1961 22
16 Gordon Mackenzie 1961 Kansas City Athletics 08-13-1961 24
27 Bill Dailey 1961 Cleveland Indians 08-17-1961 26
34 Carl Bouldin 1961 Washington Senators 09-02-1961 21
47 Roy Heiser 1961 Washington Senators 09-02-1961 19
15 Tom Tresh 1961 New York Yankees 09-03-1961 22
36 Mike DeGerick 1961 Chicago White Sox 09-04-1961 18
20 Joe Horlen 1961 Chicago White Sox 09-04-1961 24
32 Ron Nischwitz 1961 Detroit Tigers 09-04-1961 24
40 Mike Hershberger 1961 Chicago White Sox 09-05-1961 21
2 Ed Brinkman 1961 Washington Senators 09-06-1961 19
25 Frank Cipriani 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-08-1961 20
45 Howie Koplitz 1961 Detroit Tigers 09-08-1961 23
7 Buck Rodgers 1961 Los Angeles Angels 09-08-1961 23
27 John Wyatt 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-08-1961 26
27 Dan Pfister 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-09-1961 24
19 Ken Retzer 1961 Washington Senators 09-09-1961 27
45 Charlie Shoemaker 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-09-1961 22
41 Gary Dotter 1961 Minnesota Twins 09-10-1961 19
31 Dean Chance 1961 Los Angeles Angels 09-11-1961 20
5, 18 Billy Bryan 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-12-1961 22
39 Jim Lehew 1961 Baltimore Orioles 09-13-1961 24
35 Dan Ardell 1961 Los Angeles Angels 09-14-1961 20
16 Jim Fregosi 1961 Los Angeles Angels 09-14-1961 19
17 Sam McDowell 1961 Cleveland Indians 09-15-1961 18
6 Jim Snyder 1961 Minnesota Twins 09-15-1961 29
32 Al Luplow 1961 Cleveland Indians 09-16-1961 22
46 Alan Brice 1961 Chicago White Sox 09-22-1961 23
30 Dean Look 1961 Chicago White Sox 09-22-1961 24
29 Bill Kirk 1961 Kansas City Athletics 09-23-1961 27
19 Bill Freehan 1961 Detroit Tigers 09-26-1961 19
30 Boog Powell 1961 Baltimore Orioles 09-26-1961 20
17 Bob Sprout 1961 Los Angeles Angels 09-27-1961 19
1961 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1961 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.

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."
     

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