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 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

1964

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

Five-for-five debuts? Believe it or not it has happened twice: On June 30, 1894 Fred Clarke of the Louisville Colonels and on May 16, 1933, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made their Major League debuts and both went five-for-five at the plate.

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.
     

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