1964 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."
"Always be cautious about rookie performances in September. They don't indicate what will happen in April." - Texas Rangers General Manager Tom Grieve
American League Debuts

1964

18 Frank Bertaina 1964 Baltimore Orioles 08-01-1964 20
33 Paul Blair 1964 Baltimore Orioles 09-09-1964 20
24 Lou Piniella 1964 Baltimore Orioles 09-04-1964 21
20 Dave Vineyard 1964 Baltimore Orioles 07-18-1964 23
15 Pete Charton 1964 Boston Red Sox 04-19-1964 21
25 Tony Conigliaro 1964 Boston Red Sox 04-16-1964 19
29 Ed Connolly 1964 Boston Red Sox 04-19-1964 24
24 Dave Gray 1964 Boston Red Sox 06-14-1964 21
51 Bobby Guindon 1964 Boston Red Sox 09-19-1964 21
30 Tony Horton 1964 Boston Red Sox 07-31-1964 19
39 Dalton Jones 1964 Boston Red Sox 04-17-1964 20
19 Jay Ritchie 1964 Boston Red Sox 08-04-1964 27
40 Mike Ryan 1964 Boston Red Sox 10-03-1964 22
11 Bill Spanswick 1964 Boston Red Sox 04-18-1964 25
44 Jim Hicks 1964 Chicago White Sox 09-19-1964 24
15 Jerry McNertney 1964 Chicago White Sox 04-16-1964 27
29 Marv Staehle 1964 Chicago White Sox 09-15-1964 22
29, 20 Paul Dicken 1964 Cleveland Indians 06-07-1964 20
13 Vern Fuller 1964 Cleveland Indians 09-05-1964 20
45 Tom Kelley 1964 Cleveland Indians 05-05-1964 20
26, 17 Chico Salmon 1964 Cleveland Indians 06-28-1964 23
42 Sonny Siebert 1964 Cleveland Indians 04-26-1964 27
8 Duke Sims 1964 Cleveland Indians 09-22-1964 23
33 Luis Tiant 1964 Cleveland Indians 07-19-1964 23
44 Fritz Fisher 1964 Detroit Tigers 04-19-1964 22
45 Jim Northrup 1964 Detroit Tigers 09-30-1964 24
37 Bill Roman 1964 Detroit Tigers 09-30-1964 25
39 Johnnie Seale 1964 Detroit Tigers 09-20-1964 25
47 Joe Sparma 1964 Detroit Tigers 05-20-1964 22
49 Mickey Stanley 1964 Detroit Tigers 09-13-1964 22
21 Jack Aker 1964 Kansas City Athletics 05-03-1964 23
19 Bert Campaneris 1964 Kansas City Athletics 07-23-1964 22
11 Dave Duncan 1964 Kansas City Athletics 05-06-1964 18
19 Vern Handrahan 1964 Kansas City Athletics 04-14-1964 25
20 Rick Joseph 1964 Kansas City Athletics 06-18-1964 24
13 Blue Moon Odom 1964 Kansas City Athletics 09-05-1964 19
27 Ken Sanders 1964 Kansas City Athletics 08-06-1964 23
14 Larry Stahl 1964 Kansas City Athletics 09-11-1964 23
16 Jack Hiatt 1964 Los Angeles Angels 09-07-1964 22
22 Bill Kelso 1964 Los Angeles Angels 07-31-1964 24
29 Bobby Knoop 1964 Los Angeles Angels 04-13-1964 25
39 Bob Lee 1964 Los Angeles Angels 04-15-1964 26
20 Rick Reichardt 1964 Los Angeles Angels 09-01-1964 21
42 Paul Schaal 1964 Los Angeles Angels 09-03-1964 21
33 Ed Sukla 1964 Los Angeles Angels 09-17-1964 21
20 Bill Bethea 1964 Minnesota Twins 09-13-1964 22
23 Dave Boswell 1964 Minnesota Twins 09-18-1964 19
26 Jerry Fosnow 1964 Minnesota Twins 06-29-1964 23
12, 48 Joe McCabe 1964 Minnesota Twins 04-18-1964 25
29 Chuck Nieson 1964 Minnesota Twins 09-18-1964 21
16 Joe Nossek 1964 Minnesota Twins 04-18-1964 23
13 Rich Reese 1964 Minnesota Twins 09-04-1964 22
58 Bill Whitby 1964 Minnesota Twins 06-17-1964 20
12 Mike Hegan 1964 New York Yankees 09-13-1964 22
48 Elvio Jimenez 1964 New York Yankees 10-04-1964 24
49 Bob Meyer 1964 New York Yankees 04-20-1964 24
51 Pete Mikkelsen 1964 New York Yankees 04-17-1964 24
26 Archie Moore 1964 New York Yankees 04-20-1964 22
43 Roger Repoz 1964 New York Yankees 09-11-1964 24
30 Mel Stottlemyre 1964 New York Yankees 08-12-1964 22
8 Mike Brumley 1964 Washington Senators 04-18-1964 25
25 Pete Craig 1964 Washington Senators 09-06-1964 24
16 Don Loun 1964 Washington Senators 09-23-1964 23
1964 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1964 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."

On the final day of the 1930 season, Dizzy Dean was called up and pitched a three-hitter. In Spring Training the following year, Dean had a fight with catcher Gabby Street and the franchise left him in the Minor Leagues all season long.
     

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