1977 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

1977

45 Don Aase 1977 Boston Red Sox 07-26-1977 22
40 Bob Adams 1977 Detroit Tigers 07-10-1977 25
22 Willie Aikens 1977 California Angels 05-17-1977 22
27, 59 Dell Alston 1977 New York Yankees 05-17-1977 24
11 Ramon Aviles 1977 Boston Red Sox 07-10-1977 25
14 Jose Baez 1977 Seattle Mariners 04-06-1977 23
2 Randy Bass 1977 Minnesota Twins 09-03-1977 23
7 Lew Beasley 1977 Texas Rangers 05-21-1977 28
32 Thad Bosley 1977 California Angels 06-29-1977 20
29 Sam Bowen 1977 Boston Red Sox 08-25-1977 24
11 Bud Bulling 1977 Minnesota Twins 07-03-1977 24
39 Steve Burke 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-10-1977 22
27 Jeff Byrd 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 06-20-1977 20
49 Cardell Camper 1977 Cleveland Indians 09-11-1977 25
39 John Caneira 1977 California Angels 09-10-1977 24
45 Tony Chevez 1977 Baltimore Orioles 05-31-1977 23
18 Jim Clancy 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 07-26-1977 21
50 Ken Clay 1977 New York Yankees 06-07-1977 23
30 Dave Coleman 1977 Boston Red Sox 04-13-1977 26
25 Tim Corcoran 1977 Detroit Tigers 05-18-1977 24
18 Barry Cort 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 04-22-1977 21
18 Ted Cox 1977 Boston Red Sox 09-18-1977 22
40 Dave Criscione 1977 Baltimore Orioles 07-17-1977 25
2 Julio Cruz 1977 Seattle Mariners 07-04-1977 22
24, 53 Bobby Cuellar 1977 Texas Rangers 09-09-1977 25
28 Mike Darr 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 09-06-1977 21
26 Dick Davis 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 07-12-1977 23
22 Dennis DeBarr 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 05-14-1977 24
23 Puchy Delgado 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-06-1977 23
39 Bo Diaz 1977 Boston Red Sox 09-06-1977 24
36 Mike Dimmel 1977 Baltimore Orioles 09-02-1977 22
35 Greg Erardi 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-06-1977 23
1 John Flannery 1977 Chicago White Sox 09-02-1977 20
28 Gil Flores 1977 California Angels 05-08-1977 24
37 Dave Frost 1977 Chicago White Sox 09-11-1977 24
19 Bob Galasso 1977 Seattle Mariners 07-24-1977 25
36 Jerry Garvin 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 04-10-1977 21
35 Bob Gorinski 1977 Minnesota Twins 04-10-1977 25
24 Gary Gray 1977 Texas Rangers 06-23-1977 24
40 Sam Hinds 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 05-21-1977 23
21, 36 Jeff Holly 1977 Minnesota Twins 05-01-1977 24
40 Rick Honeycutt 1977 Seattle Mariners 08-24-1977 23
9 Clint Hurdle 1977 Kansas City Royals 09-18-1977 20
33 Steve Kemp 1977 Detroit Tigers 04-07-1977 22
27 Matt Keough 1977 Oakland Athletics 09-03-1977 22
31 Fred Kuhaulua 1977 California Angels 08-02-1977 24
34 Bob Lacey 1977 Oakland Athletics 05-13-1977 23
39 Gary Lance 1977 Kansas City Royals 09-28-1977 29
19 Ken Landreaux 1977 California Angels 09-11-1977 22
19 Sheldon Mallory 1977 Oakland Athletics 04-10-1977 23
47 Silvio Martinez 1977 Chicago White Sox 04-09-1977 21
51 Larry McCall 1977 New York Yankees 09-10-1977 25
54 Steve McCatty 1977 Oakland Athletics 09-17-1977 23
31 Randy McGilberry 1977 Kansas City Royals 09-06-1977 23
30 Byron McLaughlin 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-18-1977 21
21 Tom McMillan 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-17-1977 26
30 Eddie Miller 1977 Texas Rangers 09-05-1977 20
35 Randy Miller 1977 Baltimore Orioles 09-07-1977 24
47 Jack Morris 1977 Detroit Tigers 07-26-1977 22
18 Rance Mulliniks 1977 California Angels 06-18-1977 21
33 Eddie Murray 1977 Baltimore Orioles 04-07-1977 21
27 Jim Norris 1977 Cleveland Indians 04-07-1977 28
24 Willie Norwood 1977 Minnesota Twins 04-21-1977 26
26 Dave Oliver 1977 Cleveland Indians 09-25-1977 26
6 Mitchell Page 1977 Oakland Athletics 04-09-1977 25
13 Lance Parrish 1977 Detroit Tigers 09-05-1977 21
32 Mike Parrott 1977 Baltimore Orioles 09-05-1977 22
22 Gil Patterson 1977 New York Yankees 04-19-1977 21
48 Mike Paxton 1977 Boston Red Sox 05-25-1977 23
40 Sam Perlozzo 1977 Minnesota Twins 09-13-1977 26
8 Rob Picciolo 1977 Oakland Athletics 04-09-1977 24
27 John Poloni 1977 Texas Rangers 09-16-1977 23
18 Pat Putnam 1977 Texas Rangers 09-02-1977 23
31 Ed Romero 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 07-16-1977 19
43 Enrique Romo 1977 Seattle Mariners 04-07-1977 29
19 Dave Rozema 1977 Detroit Tigers 04-11-1977 20
21 Lenn Sakata 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 07-21-1977 23
20 Gary Serum 1977 Minnesota Twins 07-22-1977 20
20 Jimmy Sexton 1977 Seattle Mariners 09-02-1977 25
8 Dave Skaggs 1977 Baltimore Orioles 04-17-1977 25
26 Keith Smith 1977 Texas Rangers 08-02-1977 24
39 Lary Sorensen 1977 Milwaukee Brewers 06-07-1977 21
2 Steve Staggs 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 07-01-1977 26
46 Bob Stanley 1977 Boston Red Sox 04-16-1977 22
27 Bob Sykes 1977 Detroit Tigers 04-09-1977 22
32 Bruce Taylor 1977 Detroit Tigers 08-05-1977 24
23 Paul Thormodsgard 1977 Minnesota Twins 04-10-1977 23
42 Alan Trammell 1977 Detroit Tigers 09-09-1977 19
30 U.L. Washington 1977 Kansas City Royals 09-06-1977 23
43 Lou Whitaker 1977 Detroit Tigers 09-09-1977 20
52 Randy Wiles 1977 Chicago White Sox 08-07-1977 25
7 Rob Wilfong 1977 Minnesota Twins 04-10-1977 23
13 Mark Williams 1977 Oakland Athletics 05-20-1977 23
33 Mike Willis 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 04-13-1977 26
1 Bump Wills 1977 Texas Rangers 04-07-1977 24
39 Larry Wolfe 1977 Minnesota Twins 09-16-1977 24
20 Al Woods 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 04-07-1977 23
19 Joe Zdeb 1977 Kansas City Royals 04-07-1977 23
25 George Zeber 1977 New York Yankees 05-07-1977 26
1977 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1977 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Did you know that on September 27, 1963 the Houston Colt .45s fielded an all-rookie lineup that included future stars Joe Morgan, Jerry Grote, and Rusty Staub?

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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