1997 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

1997

45 Jeff Abbott 1997 Chicago White Sox 06-10-1997 24
40 Carlos Almanzar 1997 Toronto Blue Jays 09-04-1997 23
56 Bruce Aven 1997 Cleveland Indians 08-27-1997 25
47 Mark Bellhorn 1997 Oakland Athletics 06-10-1997 22
61 Mike Bovee 1997 Anaheim Angels 09-13-1997 24
52 Shane Bowers 1997 Minnesota Twins 07-26-1997 25
38 Homer Bush 1997 New York Yankees 08-16-1997 24
12 Rich Butler 1997 Toronto Blue Jays 09-06-1997 24
50 Chris Carpenter 1997 Toronto Blue Jays 05-12-1997 22
52 Sean Casey 1997 Cleveland Indians 09-12-1997 23
61, 43 Carlos Castillo 1997 Chicago White Sox 04-02-1997 21
29 Frank Catalanotto 1997 Detroit Tigers 09-03-1997 23
43 Anthony Chavez 1997 Anaheim Angels 09-02-1997 26
40 Robinson Checo 1997 Boston Red Sox 09-16-1997 26
57 Chris Clemons 1997 Chicago White Sox 07-23-1997 24
27 Ken Cloude 1997 Seattle Mariners 08-09-1997 22
37 Danny Clyburn 1997 Baltimore Orioles 09-15-1997 23
44 Michael Coleman 1997 Boston Red Sox 09-01-1997 22
40 Bartolo Colon 1997 Cleveland Indians 04-04-1997 23
37 Deivi Cruz 1997 Detroit Tigers 04-01-1997 24
47 Ivan Cruz 1997 New York Yankees 07-18-1997 29
60 Nelson Cruz 1997 Chicago White Sox 08-01-1997 24
23 Jose Cruz, Jr. 1997 Seattle Mariners 05-31-1997 23
52 Roland de la Maza 1997 Kansas City Royals 09-26-1997 25
26 David Dellucci 1997 Baltimore Orioles 06-03-1997 23
51 Eddy Diaz 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 04-17-1997 25
55 Roberto Duran 1997 Detroit Tigers 07-06-1997 24
34 Juan Encarnacion 1997 Detroit Tigers 09-02-1997 21
45 Kelvim Escobar 1997 Toronto Blue Jays 06-29-1997 21
28 Tom Evans 1997 Toronto Blue Jays 09-02-1997 23
36 Scott Eyre 1997 Chicago White Sox 08-01-1997 25
63 Mike Figga 1997 New York Yankees 09-16-1997 27
32 Tom Fordham 1997 Chicago White Sox 08-19-1997 23
30 Hanley Frias 1997 Texas Rangers 06-21-1997 23
54 Eddie Gaillard 1997 Detroit Tigers 08-11-1997 26
14 Ben Grieve 1997 Oakland Athletics 09-03-1997 21
34 Giomar Guevara 1997 Seattle Mariners 09-19-1997 24
43 Shane Halter 1997 Kansas City Royals 04-06-1997 27
2 Jed Hansen 1997 Kansas City Royals 07-29-1997 24
21 Shigetoshi Hasegawa 1997 Anaheim Angels 04-05-1997 28
49 Gary Haught 1997 Oakland Athletics 07-16-1997 26
42 Fernando Hernandez 1997 Detroit Tigers 04-03-1997 25
48 Torii Hunter 1997 Minnesota Twins 08-22-1997 22
53 Jimmy Hurst 1997 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1997 25
35 Hideki Irabu 1997 New York Yankees 07-10-1997 28
39, 56 Mike Johnson 1997 Baltimore Orioles 04-06-1997 21
52 Steve Kline 1997 Cleveland Indians 04-02-1997 24
58 Tim Kubinski 1997 Oakland Athletics 07-16-1997 25
59 Chris Latham 1997 Minnesota Twins 04-12-1997 23
36 Ryan Long 1997 Kansas City Royals 07-16-1997 24
36 Derek Lowe 1997 Seattle Mariners 04-26-1997 23
46 Sean Maloney 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 04-28-1997 25
36 Felix Martinez 1997 Kansas City Royals 09-03-1997 23
56 Allen McDill 1997 Kansas City Royals 05-15-1997 25
2 Jason McDonald 1997 Oakland Athletics 06-05-1997 25
39 Damian Miller 1997 Minnesota Twins 08-10-1997 27
52 Mike Misuraca 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 07-27-1997 28
45 Eric Moody 1997 Texas Rangers 08-03-1997 26
30 Magglio Ordonez 1997 Chicago White Sox 08-29-1997 23
27 David Ortiz 1997 Minnesota Twins 09-02-1997 21
62 Matt Perisho 1997 Anaheim Angels 05-27-1997 21
57 Brad Rigby 1997 Oakland Athletics 06-28-1997 24
63 Danny Rios 1997 New York Yankees 05-30-1997 24
23 Todd Ritchie 1997 Minnesota Twins 04-03-1997 25
35 Dan Rohrmeier 1997 Seattle Mariners 09-03-1997 31
50 Mel Rosario 1997 Baltimore Orioles 09-11-1997 24
19 Brian Rose 1997 Boston Red Sox 07-25-1997 21
53 Glendon Rusch 1997 Kansas City Royals 04-06-1997 22
37 Marc Sagmoen 1997 Texas Rangers 04-15-1997 25
60 Julio Santana 1997 Texas Rangers 04-06-1997 24
49 Jose Santiago 1997 Kansas City Royals 06-07-1997 22
44 Richie Sexson 1997 Cleveland Indians 09-14-1997 22
8 Scott Sheldon 1997 Oakland Athletics 05-18-1997 28
63 Andy Stewart 1997 Kansas City Royals 09-06-1997 26
22 Larry Sutton 1997 Kansas City Royals 08-17-1997 27
4 Fernando Tatis 1997 Texas Rangers 07-26-1997 22
4 Miguel Tejada 1997 Oakland Athletics 08-27-1997 23
44 Bubba Trammell 1997 Detroit Tigers 04-01-1997 25
34 Mario Valdez 1997 Chicago White Sox 06-15-1997 22
26 Javier Valentin 1997 Minnesota Twins 09-13-1997 21
47 Jason Varitek 1997 Boston Red Sox 09-24-1997 25
57 Jamie Walker 1997 Kansas City Royals 04-02-1997 25
11 Antone Williamson 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 05-31-1997 23
35 Enrique Wilson 1997 Cleveland Indians 09-24-1997 24
37, 48 Steve Woodard 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 07-28-1997 22
27 Jaret Wright 1997 Cleveland Indians 06-24-1997 21
1997 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1997 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 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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