1963 National 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)
National League Debuts

1963

8, 24 Dave Adlesh 1963 Houston Colt .45s 05-12-1963 19
32 Dick Allen 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 09-03-1963 21
12 Gene Alley 1963 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-04-1963 23
14 Jesus Alou 1963 San Francisco Giants 09-10-1963 21
41 Tom Baker 1963 Chicago Cubs 08-02-1963 29
7 John Bateman 1963 Houston Colt .45s 04-19-1963 22
31 Larry Bearnarth 1963 New York Mets 04-16-1963 21
17 Jim Beauchamp 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 09-22-1963 24
22 Wade Blasingame 1963 Milwaukee Braves 09-17-1963 19
19 Bud Bloomfield 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 09-25-1963 27
22 John Boccabella 1963 Chicago Cubs 09-02-1963 22
16 Ron Brand 1963 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-26-1963 23
34 Dick Calmus 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-22-1963 19
10 Jose Cardenal 1963 San Francisco Giants 04-14-1963 19
34 Conrad Cardinal 1963 Houston Colt .45s 04-11-1963 21
77 Rico Carty 1963 Milwaukee Braves 09-15-1963 24
41 Danny Coombs 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-27-1963 21
20 Billy Cowan 1963 Chicago Cubs 09-09-1963 25
37 Ray Culp 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 04-10-1963 21
42 Jay Dahl 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-27-1963 17
19 Jack Damaska 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 07-03-1963 25
29 Brock Davis 1963 Houston Colt .45s 04-09-1963 19
34 Jim Dickson 1963 Houston Colt .45s 07-02-1963 25
39 Steve Dillon 1963 New York Mets 09-05-1963 20
9 Cal Emery 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 07-15-1963 26
30 Harry Fanok 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 04-16-1963 22
20 Al Ferrara 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 07-30-1963 23
16 Phil Gagliano 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 04-16-1963 21
36 Roy Gleason 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-03-1963 20
34 Wayne Graham 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 04-10-1963 27
26 Derrell Griffith 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-26-1963 19
6 Jerry Grote 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-21-1963 20
9 Mickey Harrington 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 07-10-1963 28
16 Jim Ray Hart 1963 San Francisco Giants 07-07-1963 21
34 Ron Herbel 1963 San Francisco Giants 09-10-1963 25
48 Joe Hoerner 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-27-1963 26
33 Ron Hunt 1963 New York Mets 04-16-1963 22
19 Sonny Jackson 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-27-1963 19
34 Cleon Jones 1963 New York Mets 09-14-1963 21
36 Frank Linzy 1963 San Francisco Giants 08-14-1963 22
10 Jeoff Long 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 07-31-1963 21
44 Marcelino Lopez 1963 Philadelphia Phillies 04-14-1963 19
40 Al Moran 1963 New York Mets 04-09-1963 24
12 Joe Morgan 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-21-1963 20
33 Phil Mudrock 1963 Chicago Cubs 04-19-1963 25
23 Ivan Murrell 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-28-1963 18
5 Dick Nen 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-18-1963 23
29 Nate Oliver 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-09-1963 22
22 John Paciorek 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-29-1963 18
35 Tom Parsons 1963 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-05-1963 23
17 Aaron Pointer 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-22-1963 21
41 Grover Powell 1963 New York Mets 07-13-1963 22
40 John Pregenzer 1963 San Francisco Giants 04-20-1963 30
38 Dave Ricketts 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 09-25-1963 28
14 Pete Rose 1963 Cincinnati Reds 04-08-1963 21
29 Don Rowe 1963 New York Mets 04-09-1963 27
39 Ken Rowe 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-14-1963 29
37 Bob Sadowski 1963 Milwaukee Braves 06-19-1963 25
25 Dan Schneider 1963 Milwaukee Braves 05-12-1963 20
43 Ted Schreiber 1963 New York Mets 04-14-1963 24
20 Dick Scott 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-08-1963 30
16 Dick Smith 1963 New York Mets 07-20-1963 24
48 Al Stanek 1963 San Francisco Giants 04-26-1963 19
10 Rusty Staub 1963 Houston Colt .45s 04-09-1963 19
19 Jimmy Stewart 1963 Chicago Cubs 09-03-1963 24
4 Glenn Vaughan 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-20-1963 19
16 Mike White 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-21-1963 24
28 Nick Willhite 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-16-1963 22
29 Corky Withrow 1963 St. Louis Cardinals 09-06-1963 25
14 Woody Woodward 1963 Milwaukee Braves 09-09-1963 20
18 Jimmy Wynn 1963 Houston Colt .45s 07-10-1963 21
47 Larry Yellen 1963 Houston Colt .45s 09-26-1963 20
44 Chris Zachary 1963 Houston Colt .45s 04-11-1963 19
1963 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1963 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 on September 27, 1963 the Houston Colt .45s fielded an all-rookie lineup that included future stars Joe Morgan, Jerry Grote, and Rusty Staub?
     

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