1973 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

1973

32, 50 David Clyde 1973 Texas Rangers 06-27-1973 18
34 Kevin Kobel 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 09-08-1973 19
25 George Brett 1973 Kansas City Royals 08-02-1973 20
27 Mark Littell 1973 Kansas City Royals 06-14-1973 20
22 Charlie Moore 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 09-08-1973 20
40 Frank Tanana 1973 California Angels 09-09-1973 20
7 Tom Veryzer 1973 Detroit Tigers 08-14-1973 20
8 Alan Ashby 1973 Cleveland Indians 07-03-1973 21
18 Eddie Bane 1973 Minnesota Twins 07-04-1973 21
26 Bob Coluccio 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 04-15-1973 21
30 Bucky Dent 1973 Chicago White Sox 06-01-1973 21
2, 30 Jerry Hairston 1973 Chicago White Sox 07-26-1973 21
24 Pete Mackanin 1973 Texas Rangers 07-03-1973 21
42 Keith Marshall 1973 Kansas City Royals 04-07-1973 21
5 Tom Poquette 1973 Kansas City Royals 09-01-1973 21
23 Eduardo Rodriguez 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 06-20-1973 21
39 Rick Waits 1973 Texas Rangers 09-17-1973 21
36 Glenn Abbott 1973 Oakland Athletics 07-29-1973 22
16 Brian Downing 1973 Chicago White Sox 05-31-1973 22
18 Jim Fuller 1973 Baltimore Orioles 09-10-1973 22
9 Pedro Garcia 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 04-06-1973 22
17 Wayne Garland 1973 Baltimore Orioles 09-13-1973 22
35 Dave Lemanczyk 1973 Detroit Tigers 04-15-1973 22
38 Bill Madlock 1973 Texas Rangers 09-07-1973 22
17 Frank Ortenzio 1973 Kansas City Royals 09-09-1973 22
45 Dick Pole 1973 Boston Red Sox 08-03-1973 22
44 Gorman Thomas 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 04-06-1973 22
8 Manny Trillo 1973 Oakland Athletics 06-28-1973 22
24, 53 Otto Velez 1973 New York Yankees 09-04-1973 22
19 Frank White 1973 Kansas City Royals 06-12-1973 22
29 Doug Bird 1973 Kansas City Royals 04-29-1973 23
22 Ron Cash 1973 Detroit Tigers 09-04-1973 23
37 Don Castle 1973 Texas Rangers 09-11-1973 23
7 Dave Chalk 1973 California Angels 09-04-1973 23
37 Doug DeCinces 1973 Baltimore Orioles 09-09-1973 23
16 Danny Fife 1973 Minnesota Twins 08-18-1973 23
29 Steve Foucault 1973 Texas Rangers 04-07-1973 23
18, 41 Mario Guerrero 1973 Boston Red Sox 04-08-1973 23
44 Don Hood 1973 Baltimore Orioles 07-16-1973 23
4 Tim Johnson 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 04-24-1973 23
18, 50 Dave Pagan 1973 New York Yankees 07-01-1973 23
27 Dick Sharon 1973 Detroit Tigers 05-13-1973 23
5 Bill Sharp 1973 Chicago White Sox 05-26-1973 23
24 Bill Campbell 1973 Minnesota Twins 07-14-1973 24
10 Sam Ewing 1973 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1973 24
3 Phil Garner 1973 Oakland Athletics 09-10-1973 24
28 Wilbur Howard 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 09-04-1973 24
45 Gary Ignasiak 1973 Detroit Tigers 09-20-1973 24
38 Jesse Jefferson 1973 Baltimore Orioles 06-23-1973 24
33 Jim Kremmel 1973 Texas Rangers 07-04-1973 24
22 Craig Kusick 1973 Minnesota Twins 09-08-1973 24
8 Pete Varney 1973 Chicago White Sox 08-26-1973 24
47 Terry Wilshusen 1973 California Angels 04-07-1973 24
22 Rick Henninger 1973 Texas Rangers 09-03-1973 25
49 Craig Skok 1973 Boston Red Sox 05-04-1973 25
26 Tommy Smith 1973 Cleveland Indians 09-06-1973 25
33 Carlos Velazquez 1973 Milwaukee Brewers 07-20-1973 25
20 Vic Albury 1973 Minnesota Twins 08-07-1973 26
29 Tom Buskey 1973 New York Yankees 08-05-1973 26
20 Barry Raziano 1973 Kansas City Royals 08-18-1973 26
7 Jerry Terrell 1973 Minnesota Twins 04-14-1973 26
35 Jose Morales 1973 Oakland Athletics 08-13-1973 28
1973 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1973 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."

On April 13, 1954, Hank Aaron made his Major League debut and went 0-for-5. However, in his own autobiography Aaron wrote that he went 0-for-4.
     

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