1982 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

1982

48 Ricky Adams 1982 California Angels 09-15-1982 23
51 Bud Anderson 1982 Cleveland Indians 06-11-1982 26
31 Dave Baker 1982 Toronto Blue Jays 09-12-1982 24
52 Rich Barnes 1982 Chicago White Sox 07-18-1982 22
30 Salome Barojas 1982 Chicago White Sox 04-11-1982 24
17 Marty Barrett 1982 Boston Red Sox 09-06-1982 24
26 Kevin Bass 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 04-09-1982 22
1 Buddy Biancalana 1982 Kansas City Royals 09-12-1982 22
38 Terry Bogener 1982 Texas Rangers 06-14-1982 26
26 Wade Boggs 1982 Boston Red Sox 04-10-1982 23
31 John Bohnet 1982 Cleveland Indians 05-10-1982 21
30 Paul Boris 1982 Minnesota Twins 05-21-1982 26
37 Derek Botelho 1982 Kansas City Royals 07-18-1982 25
23 Oil Can Boyd 1982 Boston Red Sox 09-13-1982 22
27 Mike Brown 1982 Boston Red Sox 09-16-1982 23
25 Randy Bush 1982 Minnesota Twins 05-01-1982 23
4 Nick Capra 1982 Texas Rangers 09-06-1982 24
52 Carmen Castillo 1982 Cleveland Indians 07-17-1982 24
23 Chris Codiroli 1982 Oakland Athletics 09-11-1982 24
21 Keith Creel 1982 Kansas City Royals 05-25-1982 23
34, 39 Storm Davis 1982 Baltimore Orioles 04-29-1982 20
25 Mark DeJohn 1982 Detroit Tigers 04-28-1982 28
31 Brian Denman 1982 Boston Red Sox 08-22-1982 26
28 Mark Eichhorn 1982 Toronto Blue Jays 08-30-1982 21
4 Jim Eisenreich 1982 Minnesota Twins 04-06-1982 22
23 Chico Escarrega 1982 Chicago White Sox 04-26-1982 32
58 Juan Espino 1982 New York Yankees 06-25-1982 26
33 Jim Farr 1982 Texas Rangers 09-07-1982 26
23 Pete Filson 1982 Minnesota Twins 05-15-1982 23
38 Jim Gott 1982 Toronto Blue Jays 04-09-1982 22
27 Lorenzo Gray 1982 Chicago White Sox 07-08-1982 24
11 Glenn Gulliver 1982 Baltimore Orioles 07-17-1982 27
43 Dave Gumpert 1982 Detroit Tigers 07-25-1982 24
27 Steve Hammond 1982 Kansas City Royals 06-28-1982 25
45 Kelly Heath 1982 Kansas City Royals 04-20-1982 24
44 Neal Heaton 1982 Cleveland Indians 09-03-1982 22
35 Tom Henke 1982 Texas Rangers 09-10-1982 24
3 Leo Hernandez 1982 Baltimore Orioles 09-19-1982 22
5 Howard Johnson 1982 Detroit Tigers 04-14-1982 21
35 Ron Johnson 1982 Kansas City Royals 09-12-1982 26
45, 54 Doug Jones 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 04-09-1982 24
22 Ed Jurak 1982 Boston Red Sox 06-30-1982 24
47 Curt Kaufman 1982 New York Yankees 09-10-1982 25
42 Ron Kittle 1982 Chicago White Sox 09-02-1982 24
54 Roger LaFrancois 1982 Boston Red Sox 05-27-1982 25
4 Mike Laga 1982 Detroit Tigers 09-01-1982 22
16 Mike Mason 1982 Texas Rangers 09-13-1982 23
46 Don Mattingly 1982 New York Yankees 09-08-1982 21
2 Orlando Mercado 1982 Seattle Mariners 09-13-1982 20
25 Mike Moore 1982 Seattle Mariners 04-11-1982 22
26 John Moses 1982 Seattle Mariners 08-23-1982 25
35 Ron Musselman 1982 Seattle Mariners 08-18-1982 27
30 Edwin Nunez 1982 Seattle Mariners 04-07-1982 18
23 Chris Nyman 1982 Chicago White Sox 07-28-1982 27
23 Pete O'Brien 1982 Texas Rangers 09-03-1982 24
22 Larry Pashnick 1982 Detroit Tigers 04-10-1982 25
14 Geno Petralli 1982 Toronto Blue Jays 09-04-1982 22
20 Gary Pettis 1982 California Angels 09-13-1982 24
18 Tony Phillips 1982 Oakland Athletics 05-10-1982 23
54 Kevin Rhomberg 1982 Cleveland Indians 09-01-1982 26
20 Edwin Rodriguez 1982 New York Yankees 09-28-1982 22
57 Mark Ryal 1982 Kansas City Royals 09-07-1982 22
34 Steve Senteney 1982 Toronto Blue Jays 06-06-1982 26
54 Jim Siwy 1982 Chicago White Sox 08-20-1982 23
26 Bob Skube 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 09-17-1982 24
7 Don Slaught 1982 Kansas City Royals 07-06-1982 23
48 Mike Smithson 1982 Texas Rangers 08-27-1982 27
42 Rick Steirer 1982 California Angels 08-05-1982 25
14 Steve Stroughter 1982 Seattle Mariners 04-07-1982 30
15 Marc Sullivan 1982 Boston Red Sox 10-01-1982 24
32 Ed Vande Berg 1982 Seattle Mariners 04-07-1982 23
16 Frank Viola 1982 Minnesota Twins 06-06-1982 22
29 Greg Walker 1982 Chicago White Sox 09-18-1982 22
51 Don Welchel 1982 Baltimore Orioles 09-15-1982 25
25 Stefan Wever 1982 New York Yankees 09-17-1982 24
12 Glenn Wilson 1982 Detroit Tigers 04-15-1982 23
26 George Wright 1982 Texas Rangers 04-10-1982 23
43 Mike Young 1982 Baltimore Orioles 09-14-1982 22
1982 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1982 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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.

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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