1986 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

1986

58 Darrel Akerfelds 1986 Oakland Athletics 08-01-1986 24
6 Andy Allanson 1986 Cleveland Indians 04-07-1986 24
49 Allan Anderson 1986 Minnesota Twins 06-11-1986 22
32 Luis Aquino 1986 Toronto Blue Jays 08-08-1986 22
57 Tony Arnold 1986 Baltimore Orioles 08-09-1986 27
62 Brad Arnsberg 1986 New York Yankees 09-06-1986 23
43 Scott Bailes 1986 Cleveland Indians 04-09-1986 24
28 Scott Bankhead 1986 Kansas City Royals 05-25-1986 22
8 Bill Bathe 1986 Oakland Athletics 04-12-1986 25
16 Jay Bell 1986 Cleveland Indians 09-29-1986 20
34 Terry Bell 1986 Kansas City Royals 09-03-1986 23
41 Mike Birkbeck 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 08-17-1986 25
26 Bobby Bonilla 1986 Chicago White Sox 04-09-1986 23
29 Chris Bosio 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 08-03-1986 23
26 Glenn Braggs 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 07-18-1986 23
14 Mickey Brantley 1986 Seattle Mariners 08-09-1986 25
17 Mike Brewer 1986 Kansas City Royals 06-11-1986 26
51 Bob Brower 1986 Texas Rangers 09-03-1986 26
43 Kevin Brown 1986 Texas Rangers 09-30-1986 21
8 Jerry Browne 1986 Texas Rangers 09-06-1986 20
63 T.R. Bryden 1986 California Angels 04-10-1986 27
3 Juan Castillo 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 04-12-1986 24
48 Ray Chadwick 1986 California Angels 07-29-1986 23
12 Dave Clark 1986 Cleveland Indians 09-03-1986 24
48 Bryan Clutterbuck 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 07-18-1986 26
37 Dave Cochrane 1986 Chicago White Sox 09-02-1986 23
13 David Cone 1986 Kansas City Royals 06-08-1986 23
46 Mike Cook 1986 California Angels 07-01-1986 22
27 Mark Davidson 1986 Minnesota Twins 06-20-1986 25
2 Edgar Diaz 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 09-16-1986 22
25 Tom Dodd 1986 Baltimore Orioles 07-25-1986 27
27 Pat Dodson 1986 Boston Red Sox 09-05-1986 26
59 Tom Dozier 1986 Oakland Athletics 05-17-1986 24
34, 62 Doug Drabek 1986 New York Yankees 05-30-1986 23
37 Bruce Fields 1986 Detroit Tigers 09-03-1986 25
31 Chuck Finley 1986 California Angels 05-29-1986 23
38 Todd Fischer 1986 California Angels 05-29-1986 25
52 Willie Fraser 1986 California Angels 09-10-1986 22
38 Ken Gerhart 1986 Baltimore Orioles 09-14-1986 25
39 Don Gordon 1986 Toronto Blue Jays 04-10-1986 26
38 Dave Hengel 1986 Seattle Mariners 09-03-1986 24
5, 29 Pete Incaviglia 1986 Texas Rangers 04-08-1986 22
16 Bo Jackson 1986 Kansas City Royals 09-02-1986 23
36 Rondin Johnson 1986 Kansas City Royals 09-03-1986 27
30 Ricky Jones 1986 Baltimore Orioles 09-03-1986 28
21 Wally Joyner 1986 California Angels 04-08-1986 23
53 Ron Karkovice 1986 Chicago White Sox 08-17-1986 23
45 Bryan Kelly 1986 Detroit Tigers 09-02-1986 27
25 Eric King 1986 Detroit Tigers 05-15-1986 22
27 Mike Kingery 1986 Kansas City Royals 07-07-1986 25
50 Phil Lombardi 1986 New York Yankees 04-26-1986 23
46 Mike Loynd 1986 Texas Rangers 07-24-1986 22
19 Fred McGriff 1986 Toronto Blue Jays 05-17-1986 22
25 Mark McGwire 1986 Oakland Athletics 08-22-1986 22
50 Joel McKeon 1986 Chicago White Sox 05-06-1986 23
28 Mark McLemore 1986 California Angels 09-13-1986 21
34 Dale Mohorcic 1986 Texas Rangers 05-31-1986 30
35 Bill Mooneyham 1986 Oakland Athletics 04-19-1986 25
14 Russ Morman 1986 Chicago White Sox 08-03-1986 24
35 Jeff Musselman 1986 Toronto Blue Jays 09-02-1986 23
49 Rob Nelson 1986 Oakland Athletics 09-09-1986 22
25 Carl Nichols 1986 Baltimore Orioles 09-14-1986 23
41 Scott Nielsen 1986 New York Yankees 07-07-1986 27
10, 20 Juan Nieves 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 04-10-1986 21
32 Bill Pecota 1986 Kansas City Royals 09-19-1986 26
37 Dan Plesac 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 04-11-1986 24
51 Eric Plunk 1986 Oakland Athletics 05-12-1986 22
51 Rey Quinones 1986 Boston Red Sox 05-17-1986 22
53 Reggie Ritter 1986 Cleveland Indians 05-17-1986 26
27 Rick Rodriguez 1986 Oakland Athletics 09-17-1986 25
33 Kevin Seitzer 1986 Kansas City Royals 09-03-1986 24
3 Ruben Sierra 1986 Texas Rangers 06-01-1986 20
28 Cory Snyder 1986 Cleveland Indians 06-13-1986 23
5 Mike Stanley 1986 Texas Rangers 06-24-1986 22
36 Terry Steinbach 1986 Oakland Athletics 09-12-1986 24
27 Dale Sveum 1986 Milwaukee Brewers 05-12-1986 22
21 Greg Swindell 1986 Cleveland Indians 08-21-1986 21
55 La Schelle Tarver 1986 Boston Red Sox 07-12-1986 27
15 Dwight Taylor 1986 Kansas City Royals 04-14-1986 26
35 Bob Tewksbury 1986 New York Yankees 04-11-1986 25
58 Bobby Thigpen 1986 Chicago White Sox 08-06-1986 23
24 Eddie Williams 1986 Cleveland Indians 04-18-1986 21
1 Kenny Williams 1986 Chicago White Sox 09-02-1986 22
28 Mitch Williams 1986 Texas Rangers 04-09-1986 21
48 Bobby Witt 1986 Texas Rangers 04-10-1986 21
1986 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1986 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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.

Ted Cox made his Major League debut in 1977 with the Boston Red Sox and over two games on September 18 and 19, Cox went six for six before he made an out.
     

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