1963 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

1963

27 Wally Bunker 1963 Baltimore Orioles 09-29-1963 18
29 Tony La Russa 1963 Kansas City Athletics 05-10-1963 18
34 Denny McLain 1963 Detroit Tigers 09-21-1963 19
31 Aurelio Monteagudo 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-01-1963 19
24 Paul Ratliff 1963 Minnesota Twins 04-14-1963 19
29 Jerry Stephenson 1963 Boston Red Sox 04-14-1963 19
25 Jim Gosger 1963 Boston Red Sox 05-04-1963 20
48 Willie Horton 1963 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1963 20
36 Bruce Howard 1963 Chicago White Sox 09-04-1963 20
37 Tommy John 1963 Cleveland Indians 09-06-1963 20
35 Bill Landis 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-28-1963 20
32 Pete Lovrich 1963 Kansas City Athletics 04-26-1963 20
23 Dave Morehead 1963 Boston Red Sox 04-13-1963 20
38 Rico Petrocelli 1963 Boston Red Sox 09-21-1963 20
12 Ken Harrelson 1963 Kansas City Athletics 06-09-1963 21
29, 33 Fred Lasher 1963 Minnesota Twins 04-12-1963 21
1, 12 Tom Brown 1963 Washington Senators 04-08-1963 22
21 Bob Chance 1963 Cleveland Indians 09-04-1963 22
8 Dick Green 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-09-1963 22
29 Mickey Lolich 1963 Detroit Tigers 05-12-1963 22
14 Tommy McCraw 1963 Chicago White Sox 06-04-1963 22
35 Buster Narum 1963 Baltimore Orioles 04-14-1963 22
9 Tommie Reynolds 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-05-1963 22
36 John Sullivan 1963 Detroit Tigers 09-20-1963 22
35 Fred Talbot 1963 Chicago White Sox 09-28-1963 22
16 Larry Brown 1963 Cleveland Indians 07-06-1963 23
17 Jim Duckworth 1963 Washington Senators 04-13-1963 23
16 Tony Martinez 1963 Cleveland Indians 04-09-1963 23
29 Tom Metcalf 1963 New York Yankees 08-04-1963 23
35 John O'Donoghue 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-29-1963 23
32 Garry Roggenburk 1963 Minnesota Twins 04-20-1963 23
22 Jose Santiago 1963 Kansas City Athletics 09-09-1963 23
26 Gates Brown 1963 Detroit Tigers 06-19-1963 24
33 Aubrey Gatewood 1963 Los Angeles Angels 09-11-1963 24
20 Bob Heffner 1963 Boston Red Sox 06-19-1963 24
5 Jim Lawrence 1963 Cleveland Indians 05-30-1963 24
7 Bob Lipski 1963 Cleveland Indians 04-28-1963 24
33 Willie Smith 1963 Detroit Tigers 06-18-1963 24
24 Herm Starrette 1963 Baltimore Orioles 07-01-1963 24
26 Jay Ward 1963 Minnesota Twins 05-06-1963 24
8 Don Wert 1963 Detroit Tigers 05-11-1963 24
20 Dale Willis 1963 Kansas City Athletics 04-14-1963 24
14 Sam Bowens 1963 Baltimore Orioles 09-07-1963 25
46 Larry Foster 1963 Detroit Tigers 09-18-1963 25
42 Pedro Gonzalez 1963 New York Yankees 04-11-1963 25
30 Jimmie Hall 1963 Minnesota Twins 04-09-1963 25
42 Alan Koch 1963 Detroit Tigers 07-26-1963 25
18 Fritz Ackley 1963 Chicago White Sox 09-21-1963 26
24 Don Buford 1963 Chicago White Sox 09-14-1963 26
25 Vic Davalillo 1963 Cleveland Indians 04-09-1963 26
41 Dick Egan 1963 Detroit Tigers 04-09-1963 26
43 Gordon Seyfried 1963 Cleveland Indians 09-13-1963 26
34 Dwight Siebler 1963 Minnesota Twins 08-26-1963 26
40 George Smith 1963 Detroit Tigers 08-04-1963 26
25 Dave Thies 1963 Kansas City Athletics 04-20-1963 26
23 Charlie Dees 1963 Los Angeles Angels 05-26-1963 27
35 Bob Dustal 1963 Detroit Tigers 04-09-1963 27
43 Don Williams 1963 Minnesota Twins 08-04-1963 27
25 Bob Perry 1963 Los Angeles Angels 05-17-1963 28
1963 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1963 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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?

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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