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

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

Rich Amaral spent nine seasons in the Minor Leagues and upon his callup he commented, "I've been to every baseball park in America, except those in the American and National League."

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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