1968 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

1968

50 Fred Beene 1968 Baltimore Orioles 09-18-1968 25
1, 59 Chico Fernandez 1968 Baltimore Orioles 04-20-1968 28
30 Mike Fiore 1968 Baltimore Orioles 09-21-1968 23
2 Bobby Floyd 1968 Baltimore Orioles 09-18-1968 24
10 Ellie Hendricks 1968 Baltimore Orioles 04-13-1968 27
14, 47 Merv Rettenmund 1968 Baltimore Orioles 04-14-1968 24
41 Luis Alvarado 1968 Boston Red Sox 09-13-1968 19
15, 24 Joe Lahoud 1968 Boston Red Sox 04-10-1968 20
24 Fred Wenz 1968 Boston Red Sox 06-04-1968 26
39 Tom Burgmeier 1968 California Angels 04-10-1968 24
17 Bill Harrelson 1968 California Angels 07-31-1968 22
39, 31 Steve Kealey 1968 California Angels 09-09-1968 21
15 Winston Llenas 1968 California Angels 08-15-1968 24
47 Andy Messersmith 1968 California Angels 07-04-1968 22
41 Tom Murphy 1968 California Angels 06-13-1968 22
33 Marty Pattin 1968 California Angels 05-14-1968 25
9 Jim Spencer 1968 California Angels 09-07-1968 21
55 Jarvis Tatum 1968 California Angels 09-07-1968 21
12 Bobby Trevino 1968 California Angels 05-22-1968 22
18 Gail Hopkins 1968 Chicago White Sox 06-29-1968 25
40 Danny Lazar 1968 Chicago White Sox 06-21-1968 24
29 Carlos May 1968 Chicago White Sox 09-06-1968 20
14 Bill Melton 1968 Chicago White Sox 05-04-1968 22
49 Jerry Nyman 1968 Chicago White Sox 08-24-1968 25
45 Fred Rath 1968 Chicago White Sox 09-10-1968 25
44 Tommy Gramly 1968 Cleveland Indians 04-18-1968 22
15 Billy Harris 1968 Cleveland Indians 06-16-1968 24
46 Hal Kurtz 1968 Cleveland Indians 04-18-1968 24
24 Eddie Leon 1968 Cleveland Indians 09-09-1968 22
25 Russ Nagelson 1968 Cleveland Indians 09-11-1968 23
14 Dave Nelson 1968 Cleveland Indians 04-11-1968 23
39 Mike Paul 1968 Cleveland Indians 05-27-1968 23
31 Horacio Pina 1968 Cleveland Indians 08-14-1968 23
38 Les Cain 1968 Detroit Tigers 04-28-1968 20
46 Bob Christian 1968 Detroit Tigers 09-02-1968 22
43 Daryl Patterson 1968 Detroit Tigers 04-10-1968 24
34 Jim Rooker 1968 Detroit Tigers 06-30-1968 25
39 Jon Warden 1968 Detroit Tigers 04-11-1968 21
18 Tom Hall 1968 Minnesota Twins 06-09-1968 20
45 Jim Holt 1968 Minnesota Twins 04-17-1968 23
25 Bruce Look 1968 Minnesota Twins 04-17-1968 24
27 Danny Morris 1968 Minnesota Twins 09-10-1968 22
10 Rick Renick 1968 Minnesota Twins 07-11-1968 24
42 Buzz Stephen 1968 Minnesota Twins 09-20-1968 24
14 Bobby Cox 1968 New York Yankees 04-14-1968 26
56 John Cumberland 1968 New York Yankees 09-27-1968 21
23 Ellie Rodriguez 1968 New York Yankees 05-26-1968 22
51 Tony Solaita 1968 New York Yankees 09-16-1968 21
11 Warren Bogle 1968 Oakland Athletics 07-31-1968 21
32 Rollie Fingers 1968 Oakland Athletics 09-15-1968 22
16 Joe Keough 1968 Oakland Athletics 08-07-1968 22
22 Ed Sprague 1968 Oakland Athletics 04-10-1968 22
6 Dick Billings 1968 Washington Senators 09-11-1968 25
21 Bill Haywood 1968 Washington Senators 07-28-1968 31
5 Gary Holman 1968 Washington Senators 06-26-1968 24
22 Gene Martin 1968 Washington Senators 07-28-1968 21
31 Jim Miles 1968 Washington Senators 09-07-1968 25
19 Gerry Schoen 1968 Washington Senators 09-14-1968 21
30 Del Unser 1968 Washington Senators 04-10-1968 23
1968 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1968 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."

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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