1971 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 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)
American League Debuts

1971

11 Dwain Anderson 1971 Oakland Athletics 09-03-1971 23
19 Rick Auerbach 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 04-13-1971 21
49 Mark Ballinger 1971 Cleveland Indians 08-06-1971 22
40 Jerry Bell 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 09-06-1971 23
20 Juan Beniquez 1971 Boston Red Sox 09-04-1971 21
25 Kurt Bevacqua 1971 Cleveland Indians 06-22-1971 24
4 Steve Braun 1971 Minnesota Twins 04-06-1971 22
18 Pete Broberg 1971 Washington Senators 06-20-1971 21
14 Chris Chambliss 1971 Cleveland Indians 05-28-1971 22
1 Bruce Christensen 1971 California Angels 07-17-1971 23
40 Jim Clark 1971 Cleveland Indians 07-16-1971 24
27 Lance Clemons 1971 Kansas City Royals 08-12-1971 24
17 Cecil Cooper 1971 Boston Red Sox 09-08-1971 21
23 Ray Corbin 1971 Minnesota Twins 04-06-1971 22
8 Rob Ellis 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 06-18-1971 20
10 Bill Fahey 1971 Washington Senators 09-26-1971 21
47 Ed Farmer 1971 Cleveland Indians 06-09-1971 21
45 Jim Foor 1971 Detroit Tigers 04-09-1971 22
51 Terry Forster 1971 Chicago White Sox 04-11-1971 19
16 Bob Gebhard 1971 Minnesota Twins 08-02-1971 28
36 Bill Gilbreth 1971 Detroit Tigers 06-25-1971 23
46 Roger Hambright 1971 New York Yankees 07-19-1971 22
42 Andy Hassler 1971 California Angels 05-30-1971 19
25 George Hendrick 1971 Oakland Athletics 06-04-1971 21
44, 50 Rich Hinton 1971 Chicago White Sox 07-17-1971 24
10 Gomer Hodge 1971 Cleveland Indians 04-06-1971 27
16 Ken Hottman 1971 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1971 23
38 Buddy Hunter 1971 Boston Red Sox 07-01-1971 23
44 Pat Jacquez 1971 Chicago White Sox 04-18-1971 23
51 Bob Kaiser 1971 Cleveland Indians 09-03-1971 21
46 Marvin Lane 1971 Detroit Tigers 09-04-1971 21
43 Terry Ley 1971 New York Yankees 08-20-1971 24
19 Ron Lolich 1971 Chicago White Sox 07-18-1971 24
32 Steve Luebber 1971 Minnesota Twins 06-27-1971 21
50 Chuck Machemehl 1971 Cleveland Indians 04-06-1971 24
14 Jim Mason 1971 Washington Senators 09-26-1971 21
15 Rudy Meoli 1971 California Angels 09-09-1971 20
35 Rick Miller 1971 Boston Red Sox 09-04-1971 23
20 Monty Montgomery 1971 Kansas City Royals 09-14-1971 25
4 Ben Oglivie 1971 Boston Red Sox 09-04-1971 22
16 Jim Panther 1971 Oakland Athletics 04-05-1971 26
18 Billy Parker 1971 California Angels 09-09-1971 29
52 Bill Parsons 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 04-13-1971 22
46 Stan Perzanowski 1971 Chicago White Sox 06-20-1971 20
15 Darrell Porter 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 09-02-1971 19
7 Paul Powell 1971 Minnesota Twins 04-07-1971 23
15, 21 Tom Ragland 1971 Washington Senators 04-05-1971 24
2 Lenny Randle 1971 Washington Senators 06-16-1971 22
9 Lee Richard 1971 Chicago White Sox 04-07-1971 22
37 Chuck Seelbach 1971 Detroit Tigers 06-29-1971 23
41, 53, 67 Jim Slaton 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 04-14-1971 20
1 Eric Soderholm 1971 Minnesota Twins 09-03-1971 22
20 Rick Stelmaszek 1971 Washington Senators 06-25-1971 22
19 Jim Strickland 1971 Minnesota Twins 05-19-1971 24
16 Ron Theobald 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 04-12-1971 27
24 Mike Thompson 1971 Washington Senators 05-19-1971 21
21 Rusty Torres 1971 New York Yankees 09-20-1971 22
43 Jack Whillock 1971 Detroit Tigers 08-29-1971 28
9 Al Yates 1971 Milwaukee Brewers 05-13-1971 25
41 John Young 1971 Detroit Tigers 09-09-1971 22
1971 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1971 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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.

Did you know that Future hall of famer Addie Joss made his Major League pitching debut on April 26, 1902 and tossed a one hitter?
     

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