1998 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 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)
National League Debuts

1998

39 Benny Agbayani 1998 New York Mets 06-17-1998 26
16 Marlon Anderson 1998 Philadelphia Phillies 09-08-1998 24
38 Jeff Ball 1998 San Francisco Giants 06-10-1998 29
5 Michael Barrett 1998 Montreal Expos 09-19-1998 21
11 Ronnie Belliard 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 09-12-1998 23
29 Adrian Beltre 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-24-1998 19
13, 58 Dave Berg 1998 Florida Marlins 04-02-1998 27
46 Mark Brownson 1998 Colorado Rockies 07-21-1998 23
50 Will Brunson 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-21-1998 28
38 Kirk Bullinger 1998 Montreal Expos 08-30-1998 28
50 Adam Butler 1998 Atlanta Braves 03-31-1998 24
48 Bruce Chen 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-07-1998 21
31 Matt Clement 1998 San Diego Padres 09-06-1998 24
19 Edgard Clemente 1998 Colorado Rockies 09-10-1998 22
3 Alex Cora 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-07-1998 22
49 Bryan Corey 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-13-1998 24
61 Rich Croushore 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 05-18-1998 27
20, 40 Vic Darensbourg 1998 Florida Marlins 04-01-1998 27
39 Brian Daubach 1998 Florida Marlins 09-10-1998 26
25 Ben Davis 1998 San Diego Padres 09-25-1998 21
58 Valerio de los Santos 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 07-31-1998 25
50 Ryan Dempster 1998 Florida Marlins 05-23-1998 21
7 Mark DeRosa 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-02-1998 23
41 Edwin Diaz 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 03-31-1998 23
57 Robert Dodd 1998 Philadelphia Phillies 05-28-1998 25
8 J.D. Drew 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 09-08-1998 22
48 Brian Edmondson 1998 Atlanta Braves 04-02-1998 25
50 Scott Elarton 1998 Houston Astros 06-20-1998 22
54 Joe Fontenot 1998 Florida Marlins 05-23-1998 21
50 Ben Ford 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-20-1998 23
34 Mike Frank 1998 Cincinnati Reds 06-19-1998 24
62 Guillermo Garcia 1998 Cincinnati Reds 07-19-1998 26
24 Derrick Gibson 1998 Colorado Rockies 09-08-1998 23
54 Keith Glauber 1998 Cincinnati Reds 09-08-1998 26
22 Alex Gonzalez 1998 Florida Marlins 08-25-1998 21
46, 60 Gabe Gonzalez 1998 Florida Marlins 04-01-1998 25
38 Lariel Gonzalez 1998 Colorado Rockies 09-22-1998 22
23 Mike Grzanich 1998 Houston Astros 05-14-1998 25
54 John Halama 1998 Houston Astros 04-02-1998 26
9 Wes Helms 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-05-1998 22
13, 54 Bob Henley 1998 Montreal Expos 07-19-1998 25
16 Damon Hollins 1998 Atlanta Braves 04-24-1998 23
33 Bobby Hughes 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 04-02-1998 27
3 Ryan Jackson 1998 Florida Marlins 03-31-1998 26
5 Geoff Jenkins 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 04-24-1998 23
52 Jose Jimenez 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 09-09-1998 25
33 Mike Kinkade 1998 New York Mets 09-08-1998 25
7 Danny Klassen 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 07-04-1998 22
67 Jeff Kubenka 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-06-1998 24
49 Frank Lankford 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 03-31-1998 27
70 Steve Larkin 1998 Cincinnati Reds 09-27-1998 25
48 Sean Lawrence 1998 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-25-1998 27
16 Travis Lee 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 03-31-1998 22
58 Mark Little 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 09-12-1998 26
64, 36 Paul Lo Duca 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-21-1998 26
46 Carlton Loewer 1998 Philadelphia Phillies 06-14-1998 24
26 George Lombard 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-04-1998 22
55 Braden Looper 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 03-31-1998 23
20 Marty Malloy 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-06-1998 26
50 Greg Martinez 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 03-31-1998 26
36 Javier Martinez 1998 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-02-1998 21
34 Ramon Martinez 1998 San Francisco Giants 06-20-1998 25
50 Jason Maxwell 1998 Chicago Cubs 09-01-1998 26
48 Joe McEwing 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 09-02-1998 25
34 Brian Meadows 1998 Florida Marlins 04-04-1998 22
47 Rafael Medina 1998 Florida Marlins 04-02-1998 23
4 Mitch Meluskey 1998 Houston Astros 08-30-1998 24
62 Mike Metcalfe 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-18-1998 25
48 Chris Michalak 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-22-1998 27
18 Kevin Millar 1998 Florida Marlins 04-11-1998 26
29 Trey Moore 1998 Montreal Expos 04-05-1998 25
57 Greg Mullins 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 09-18-1998 26
11 Jose Nieves 1998 Chicago Cubs 08-07-1998 23
67 Vladimir Nunez 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 09-11-1998 23
48 Russ Ortiz 1998 San Francisco Giants 04-02-1998 23
31 Bronswell Patrick 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 05-18-1998 27
45 Carl Pavano 1998 Montreal Expos 05-23-1998 22
25 Jay Payton 1998 New York Mets 09-01-1998 25
63 Angel Pena 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-08-1998 23
45 Odalis Perez 1998 Atlanta Braves 09-01-1998 21
57 Ricky Pickett 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 04-28-1998 28
67, 27 Placido Polanco 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 07-03-1998 22
40 Cliff Politte 1998 St. Louis Cardinals 04-02-1998 24
49 Jeremy Powell 1998 Montreal Expos 07-23-1998 22
51 Eddie Priest 1998 Cincinnati Reds 05-27-1998 24
16 Aramis Ramirez 1998 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-26-1998 19
32 Roberto Ramirez 1998 San Diego Padres 06-12-1998 25
49 Gary Rath 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-02-1998 25
53 Fred Rath, Jr. 1998 Colorado Rockies 07-29-1998 25
52 Mike Redmond 1998 Florida Marlins 05-31-1998 27
1 Armando Rios 1998 San Francisco Giants 09-01-1998 26
49 John Rocker 1998 Atlanta Braves 05-05-1998 23
52 Rafael Roque 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 08-01-1998 26
19 John Roskos 1998 Florida Marlins 04-20-1998 23
20 Mike Saipe 1998 Colorado Rockies 06-25-1998 24
21 Jesus Sanchez 1998 Florida Marlins 03-31-1998 23
31 Chance Sanford 1998 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-30-1998 25
33 Fernando Seguignol 1998 Montreal Expos 09-05-1998 23
89 Travis Smith 1998 Milwaukee Brewers 06-21-1998 25
56 Justin Speier 1998 Chicago Cubs 05-27-1998 24
58 Stan Spencer 1998 San Diego Padres 08-27-1998 29
49 Kennie Steenstra 1998 Chicago Cubs 05-21-1998 27
39 Jim Stoops 1998 Colorado Rockies 09-09-1998 26
50 Da Rond Stovall 1998 Montreal Expos 04-01-1998 25
22 Mark Strittmatter 1998 Colorado Rockies 09-03-1998 29
36, 38 Jeff Tam 1998 New York Mets 06-30-1998 27
28 Javier Vazquez 1998 Montreal Expos 04-03-1998 21
31 Daryle Ward 1998 Houston Astros 05-14-1998 22
56 Eric Weaver 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-30-1998 24
66 Neil Weber 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks 09-11-1998 25
47 Mike Welch 1998 Philadelphia Phillies 07-17-1998 25
11 Preston Wilson 1998 New York Mets 05-07-1998 23
34 Kerry Wood 1998 Chicago Cubs 04-12-1998 20
21, 29 Masato Yoshii 1998 New York Mets 04-05-1998 32
43 Tim Young 1998 Montreal Expos 09-05-1998 24
1998 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1998 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

When Christy Mathewson made his Major League debut the newspaper wrote, "The untried semi-professional possessed great speed and plenty of confidence in himself, but could not control his curves."

Did you know that Future hall of famer Addie Joss made his Major League pitching debut on April 26, 1902 and tossed a one hitter?
     

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