1984 National 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
National League Debuts

1984

16 Dwight Gooden 1984 New York Mets 04-07-1984 19
34 Mark Grant 1984 San Francisco Giants 04-27-1984 20
52 Francisco Melendez 1984 Philadelphia Phillies 08-26-1984 20
44 Eric Davis 1984 Cincinnati Reds 05-19-1984 21
8 John Gibbons 1984 New York Mets 04-11-1984 21
28 Denny Gonzalez 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-06-1984 21
6 Mark Bailey 1984 Houston Astros 04-27-1984 22
35 Billy Beane 1984 New York Mets 09-13-1984 22
10 Benny Distefano 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-18-1984 22
32 Kevin Mitchell 1984 New York Mets 09-04-1984 22
47 Mike Payne 1984 Atlanta Braves 08-22-1984 22
33 Ron Robinson 1984 Cincinnati Reds 08-14-1984 22
40 Calvin Schiraldi 1984 New York Mets 09-01-1984 22
53 Rick Schu 1984 Philadelphia Phillies 09-01-1984 22
38 Jay Tibbs 1984 Cincinnati Reds 07-15-1984 22
21, 3 Herm Winningham 1984 New York Mets 09-01-1984 22
35 Chris Brown 1984 San Francisco Giants 09-03-1984 23
28 Henry Cotto 1984 Chicago Cubs 04-05-1984 23
27 Glenn Davis 1984 Houston Astros 09-02-1984 23
45 Rob Deer 1984 San Francisco Giants 09-04-1984 23
31, 52 John Franco 1984 Cincinnati Reds 04-24-1984 23
27 Wes Gardner 1984 New York Mets 07-29-1984 23
19 Rene Gonzales 1984 Montreal Expos 07-27-1984 23
35 Chris Green 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-17-1984 23
22 Billy Hatcher 1984 Chicago Cubs 09-10-1984 23
43 Ken Howell 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-25-1984 23
51 Lemmie Miller 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-22-1984 23
23 Tom Nieto 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 05-10-1984 23
49 Jeff Robinson 1984 San Francisco Giants 04-07-1984 23
29 John Russell 1984 Philadelphia Phillies 06-22-1984 23
10 Mark Salas 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 06-19-1984 23
37 Mike Smith 1984 Cincinnati Reds 04-06-1984 23
34 Zane Smith 1984 Atlanta Braves 09-10-1984 23
22 Franklin Stubbs 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-28-1984 23
59 Freddie Toliver 1984 Cincinnati Reds 09-15-1984 23
44 Jeff Zaske 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-21-1984 23
54 Tom Browning 1984 Cincinnati Reds 09-09-1984 24
35 John Christensen 1984 New York Mets 09-13-1984 24
49 Ricky Horton 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 04-07-1984 24
21 Ross Jones 1984 New York Mets 04-02-1984 24
34 Ray Krawczyk 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-29-1984 24
10 Mike LaValliere 1984 Philadelphia Phillies 09-09-1984 24
9 Terry Pendleton 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 07-18-1984 24
56 Wade Rowdon 1984 Cincinnati Reds 09-08-1984 24
51 Randy St. Claire 1984 Montreal Expos 09-11-1984 24
17 Ed Amelung 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers 07-28-1984 25
34 Mike Bielecki 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-14-1984 25
38 Joe Hesketh 1984 Montreal Expos 08-07-1984 25
50 Kurt Kepshire 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 07-04-1984 25
30 Milt Thompson 1984 Atlanta Braves 09-04-1984 25
5 Jose Uribe 1984 St. Louis Cardinals 09-13-1984 25
50 Tony Brewer 1984 Los Angeles Dodgers 08-01-1984 26
49 Jeff Calhoun 1984 Houston Astros 09-02-1984 26
47 Frank Williams 1984 San Francisco Giants 04-05-1984 26
31, 45 Jeff Cornell 1984 San Francisco Giants 06-02-1984 27
37 Randy Gomez 1984 San Francisco Giants 08-21-1984 27
38 Ron Meridith 1984 Chicago Cubs 09-16-1984 27
20 Jim Pankovits 1984 Houston Astros 05-27-1984 28
1984 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1984 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Five-for-five debuts? Believe it or not it has happened twice: On June 30, 1894 Fred Clarke of the Louisville Colonels and on May 16, 1933, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made their Major League debuts and both went five-for-five at the plate.

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.
     

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