1964 National League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1964 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 a certain amount of fascination to the big league debut of any athlete. Sometimes they are incredible successes. Sometimes they are frenetic failures." - Sportswriter Arthur Daley

National League Debuts 1964
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
7	Ron Campbell	1964 Chicago Cubs	09-01-1964	24
38	John Flavin	1964 Chicago Cubs	08-25-1964	22
28	Lee Gregory	1964 Chicago Cubs	04-17-1964	25
39	Jake Jaeckel	1964 Chicago Cubs	09-19-1964	22
11	Don Kessinger	1964 Chicago Cubs	09-07-1964	22
11	Paul Popovich	1964 Chicago Cubs	04-19-1964	23
8	Vic Roznovsky	1964 Chicago Cubs	06-28-1964	25
30	Wayne Schurr	1964 Chicago Cubs	04-15-1964	26
41	Sterling Slaughter	1964 Chicago Cubs	04-19-1964	22
50	Tommy Helms	1964 Cincinnati Reds	09-23-1964	23
12	Bobby Klaus	1964 Cincinnati Reds	04-21-1964	26
42	Billy McCool	1964 Cincinnati Reds	04-24-1964	19
24	Tony Perez	1964 Cincinnati Reds	07-26-1964	22
22	Mel Queen	1964 Cincinnati Reds	04-13-1964	22
15	Chico Ruiz	1964 Cincinnati Reds	04-13-1964	25
45	Don Bradey	1964 Houston Colt .45s	09-25-1964	29
49	Larry Dierker	1964 Houston Colt .45s	09-22-1964	18
17	Steve Hertz	1964 Houston Colt .45s	04-21-1964	19
9	John Hoffman	1964 Houston Colt .45s	07-30-1964	20
28	Walt Williams	1964 Houston Colt .45s	04-21-1964	20
43	Willie Crawford	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-16-1964	18
41	Larry Miller	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	06-21-1964	27
28	Wes Parker	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	04-19-1964	24
47	John Purdin	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-16-1964	22
23	Bart Shirley	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-14-1964	24
40	Bill Singer	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-24-1964	20
10	Jeff Torborg	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	05-10-1964	22
14	Johnny Werhas	1964 Los Angeles Dodgers	04-14-1964	26
16	Sandy Alomar	1964 Milwaukee Braves	09-15-1964	20
38	John Braun	1964 Milwaukee Braves	10-02-1964	24
20	Clay Carroll	1964 Milwaukee Braves	09-02-1964	23
39	Dave Eilers	1964 Milwaukee Braves	07-27-1964	27
22	Dick Kelley	1964 Milwaukee Braves	04-15-1964	24
35	Phil Niekro	1964 Milwaukee Braves	04-15-1964	25
47	Bill Southworth	1964 Milwaukee Braves	10-02-1964	18
46	Arnold Umbach	1964 Milwaukee Braves	10-03-1964	21
24	Jerry Hinsley	1964 New York Mets	04-18-1964	19
21, 45	Ron Locke	1964 New York Mets	04-23-1964	22
17	Dennis Ribant	1964 New York Mets	08-09-1964	22
49	John Stephenson	1964 New York Mets	04-14-1964	23
43	Darrell Sutherland	1964 New York Mets	06-28-1964	22
43	Bill Wakefield	1964 New York Mets	04-18-1964	22
59	Dave Bennett	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	06-12-1964	18
12	Johnny Briggs	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	04-17-1964	20
10	Danny Cater	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	04-14-1964	24
29	Pat Corrales	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	08-02-1964	23
26	Alex Johnson	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	07-25-1964	21
55	Gary Kroll	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	07-26-1964	23
54	Adolfo Phillips	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	09-02-1964	22
31	Costen Shockley	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	07-17-1964	22
18	Rick Wise	1964 Philadelphia Phillies	04-18-1964	18
23	Steve Blass	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	05-10-1964	22
36	Frank Bork	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	04-15-1964	23
20	John Gelnar	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	08-04-1964	21
4	Rex Johnston	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	04-15-1964	26
4	Jerry May	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-19-1964	20
2	Dave Wissman	1964 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-15-1964	23
25	Dick Estelle	1964 San Francisco Giants	09-04-1964	22
21	Gil Garrido	1964 San Francisco Giants	04-24-1964	22
39	Randy Hundley	1964 San Francisco Giants	09-27-1964	22
22	Hal Lanier	1964 San Francisco Giants	06-18-1964	21
10	Masanori Murakami	1964 San Francisco Giants	09-01-1964	20
43	Dave Bakenhaster	1964 St. Louis Cardinals	06-20-1964	19
29	Dave Dowling	1964 St. Louis Cardinals	10-03-1964	22
28	Johnny Lewis	1964 St. Louis Cardinals	04-14-1964	24
22	Gordie Richardson	1964 St. Louis Cardinals	07-26-1964	26
26	Ed Spiezio	1964 St. Louis Cardinals	07-23-1964	22
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1964 National League Debuts

1964 A.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1964 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Ray Jansen (four for five in his first game), Aubrey Epps (three for four in his first game) and Ed Irvin (two for three in his first game) all finished their career with lifetime batting averages which were greater than their career fielding percentages.

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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