1966 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."
"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
American League Debuts

1966

10 Willie Montanez 1966 California Angels 04-12-1966 18
10 Jay Johnstone 1966 California Angels 07-30-1966 20
49 George Korince 1966 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1966 20
28 Rick Monday 1966 Kansas City Athletics 09-03-1966 20
46 Jorge Rubio 1966 California Angels 04-21-1966 20
47, 49 Stan Bahnsen 1966 New York Yankees 09-09-1966 21
29 George Mitterwald 1966 Minnesota Twins 09-15-1966 21
33 Jim Nash 1966 Kansas City Athletics 07-03-1966 21
30 Jim Ollom 1966 Minnesota Twins 09-03-1966 21
41 Reggie Smith 1966 Boston Red Sox 09-18-1966 21
6 Sal Bando 1966 Kansas City Athletics 09-03-1966 22
25, 38 Dick Bosman 1966 Washington Senators 06-01-1966 22
53 Buddy Bradford 1966 Chicago White Sox 09-09-1966 22
25 Al Closter 1966 Washington Senators 04-19-1966 22
29 Chuck Dobson 1966 Kansas City Athletics 04-19-1966 22
43 Mike Ferraro 1966 New York Yankees 09-06-1966 22
27 Fred Klages 1966 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1966 22
45 John Miller 1966 New York Yankees 09-11-1966 22
32 Don Pepper 1966 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1966 22
5 George Scott 1966 Boston Red Sox 04-12-1966 22
14 Charlie Vinson 1966 California Angels 09-19-1966 22
26 Jackie Warner 1966 California Angels 04-12-1966 22
39 Mike Andrews 1966 Boston Red Sox 09-18-1966 23
24, 34 Ron Clark 1966 Minnesota Twins 09-11-1966 23
40 George Culver 1966 Cleveland Indians 09-07-1966 23
22 John Donaldson 1966 Kansas City Athletics 08-26-1966 23
18 Mike Epstein 1966 Baltimore Orioles 09-16-1966 23
1 Joe Foy 1966 Boston Red Sox 04-13-1966 23
34 Larry Haney 1966 Baltimore Orioles 07-27-1966 23
35 Ron Keller 1966 Minnesota Twins 07-09-1966 23
36 Pete Magrini 1966 Boston Red Sox 04-13-1966 23
11 Ron Stone 1966 Kansas City Athletics 04-13-1966 23
8 Ken Suarez 1966 Kansas City Athletics 04-14-1966 23
28 Steve Whitaker 1966 New York Yankees 08-23-1966 23
5 Buddy Booker 1966 Cleveland Indians 06-04-1966 24
32 Gene Brabender 1966 Baltimore Orioles 05-11-1966 24
29, 50 Casey Cox 1966 Washington Senators 04-15-1966 24
1 Tim Cullen 1966 Washington Senators 08-08-1966 24
29 Bill Henry 1966 New York Yankees 09-13-1966 24
52 Fritz Peterson 1966 New York Yankees 04-15-1966 24
36 Tom Phoebus 1966 Baltimore Orioles 09-15-1966 24
27 Bucky Brandon 1966 Boston Red Sox 04-19-1966 25
12 Ossie Chavarria 1966 Kansas City Athletics 04-14-1966 25
32 Bill Edgerton 1966 Kansas City Athletics 09-03-1966 25
39 Eddie Watt 1966 Baltimore Orioles 04-12-1966 25
38 Clyde Wright 1966 California Angels 06-15-1966 25
17 Hank Allen 1966 Washington Senators 09-09-1966 26
35 Arlo Brunsberg 1966 Detroit Tigers 09-23-1966 26
41 Dennis Higgins 1966 Chicago White Sox 04-12-1966 26
40 Ed Stroud 1966 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1966 26
29 Jose Vidal 1966 Cleveland Indians 09-05-1966 26
58 Dooley Womack 1966 New York Yankees 04-14-1966 26
37 Guido Grilli 1966 Boston Red Sox 04-12-1966 27
18 Dick Lines 1966 Washington Senators 04-16-1966 27
11 Tim Talton 1966 Kansas City Athletics 07-08-1966 27
31 Dave Baldwin 1966 Washington Senators 09-06-1966 28
49 Lee Elia 1966 Chicago White Sox 04-23-1966 28
46 Bill Graham 1966 Detroit Tigers 10-02-1966 29
19 Minnie Rojas 1966 California Angels 05-30-1966 32
25 Ramon Lopez 1966 California Angels 08-21-1966 33
1966 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1966 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.

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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