1999 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

1999

55 Gil Meche 1999 Seattle Mariners 07-06-1999 20
25 Matt Riley 1999 Baltimore Orioles 09-09-1999 20
3 Vernon Wells 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 08-30-1999 20
33 Chad Durbin 1999 Kansas City Royals 09-26-1999 21
51 Brian Falkenborg 1999 Baltimore Orioles 10-01-1999 21
15 Cristian Guzman 1999 Minnesota Twins 04-06-1999 21
59 D'Angelo Jimenez 1999 New York Yankees 09-15-1999 21
21, 38 Ruben Mateo 1999 Texas Rangers 06-12-1999 21
62 Aaron Myette 1999 Chicago White Sox 09-07-1999 21
57 Juan Pena 1999 Boston Red Sox 05-08-1999 21
38 Wilton Veras 1999 Boston Red Sox 07-01-1999 21
34 Dan Wheeler 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-01-1999 21
45 Dave Borkowski 1999 Detroit Tigers 07-17-1999 22
10 Mike Colangelo 1999 Anaheim Angels 06-13-1999 22
56 Cleatus Davidson 1999 Minnesota Twins 05-30-1999 22
34 Jason Dellaero 1999 Chicago White Sox 09-07-1999 22
51 Gary Glover 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 04-04-1999 22
56 Chad Harville 1999 Oakland Athletics 06-23-1999 22
45 Carlos Lee 1999 Chicago White Sox 05-07-1999 22
56 Steve Lomasney 1999 Boston Red Sox 10-03-1999 22
45 Orber Moreno 1999 Kansas City Royals 05-25-1999 22
54 David Riske 1999 Cleveland Indians 08-14-1999 22
55 Liu Rodriguez 1999 Chicago White Sox 06-09-1999 22
36 Jeff Weaver 1999 Detroit Tigers 04-14-1999 22
32 Kip Wells 1999 Chicago White Sox 08-02-1999 22
31 Chris Woodward 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 06-07-1999 22
26 McKay Christensen 1999 Chicago White Sox 04-06-1999 23
51 Pat Daneker 1999 Chicago White Sox 07-02-1999 23
60 Joe Davenport 1999 Chicago White Sox 07-20-1999 23
46 Doug Davis 1999 Texas Rangers 08-09-1999 23
20 Trent Durrington 1999 Anaheim Angels 08-06-1999 23
34 Freddy Garcia 1999 Seattle Mariners 04-07-1999 23
46 Luis Garcia 1999 Detroit Tigers 04-05-1999 23
55 Ramon Hernandez 1999 Oakland Athletics 06-29-1999 23
52 Tim Hudson 1999 Oakland Athletics 06-08-1999 23
15 David Lamb 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-12-1999 23
19 Mike Lincoln 1999 Minnesota Twins 04-07-1999 23
53 Joe Mays 1999 Minnesota Twins 04-07-1999 23
45 Gabe Molina 1999 Baltimore Orioles 05-01-1999 23
69, 13 Peter Munro 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 04-06-1999 23
53 Tomo Ohka 1999 Boston Red Sox 07-19-1999 23
54 Dan Reichert 1999 Kansas City Royals 07-16-1999 23
33 J.C. Romero 1999 Minnesota Twins 09-15-1999 23
54 Jason Ryan 1999 Minnesota Twins 08-24-1999 23
57 Aaron Scheffer 1999 Seattle Mariners 06-13-1999 23
58 Alfonso Soriano 1999 New York Yankees 09-14-1999 23
48 Sean Spencer 1999 Seattle Mariners 05-06-1999 23
52 Ed Yarnall 1999 New York Yankees 07-15-1999 23
31 Chad Allen 1999 Minnesota Twins 04-06-1999 24
61 Mickey Callaway 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-12-1999 24
53 Lance Carter 1999 Kansas City Royals 09-15-1999 24
43 Francisco Cordero 1999 Detroit Tigers 08-02-1999 24
28 Steve Cox 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-19-1999 24
44 Kelly Dransfeldt 1999 Texas Rangers 05-01-1999 24
38, 40 Ryan Glynn 1999 Texas Rangers 05-16-1999 24
52 Beiker Graterol 1999 Detroit Tigers 04-09-1999 24
32 Brett Hinchliffe 1999 Seattle Mariners 04-05-1999 24
11 Jacque Jones 1999 Minnesota Twins 06-09-1999 24
44 Billy Koch 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 05-05-1999 24
52 Dan Kolb 1999 Texas Rangers 06-04-1999 24
37 Corey Lee 1999 Texas Rangers 08-24-1999 24
39 Jeff Liefer 1999 Chicago White Sox 04-07-1999 24
37 Damaso Marte 1999 Seattle Mariners 06-30-1999 24
8 John McDonald 1999 Cleveland Indians 07-04-1999 24
15 Josh Paul 1999 Chicago White Sox 09-07-1999 24
61 Jesus Pena 1999 Chicago White Sox 08-07-1999 24
49 Dan Perkins 1999 Minnesota Twins 04-07-1999 24
57 Ken Ray 1999 Kansas City Royals 07-10-1999 24
53 Willis Roberts 1999 Detroit Tigers 07-02-1999 24
24 Ryan Rupe 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 05-05-1999 24
56 Denny Stark 1999 Seattle Mariners 09-15-1999 24
61 Luis Vizcaino 1999 Oakland Athletics 07-23-1999 24
46 Jordan Zimmerman 1999 Seattle Mariners 05-17-1999 24
49 John Bale 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 09-30-1999 25
28 Casey Blake 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 08-14-1999 25
45 Brian Cooper 1999 Anaheim Angels 09-07-1999 25
55 Jeff DaVanon 1999 Anaheim Angels 09-07-1999 25
43 Tom Davey 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 04-06-1999 25
23 Tommy Davis 1999 Baltimore Orioles 05-14-1999 25
56 Sean DePaula 1999 Cleveland Indians 08-31-1999 25
15 Jesse Garcia 1999 Baltimore Orioles 04-05-1999 25
58 Brett Laxton 1999 Oakland Athletics 06-21-1999 25
49 David Lundquist 1999 Chicago White Sox 04-06-1999 25
52 Mark Quinn 1999 Kansas City Royals 09-14-1999 25
51 Rob Radlosky 1999 Minnesota Twins 05-25-1999 25
23 Robert Ramsay 1999 Seattle Mariners 08-27-1999 25
55 Mark Redman 1999 Minnesota Twins 07-24-1999 25
27 Anthony Sanders 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 04-26-1999 25
60 Scott Schoeneweis 1999 Anaheim Angels 04-07-1999 25
43 Mike Venafro 1999 Texas Rangers 04-24-1999 25
18 Juan Alvarez 1999 Anaheim Angels 09-01-1999 26
50 Jim Brower 1999 Cleveland Indians 09-05-1999 26
45 Ryan Franklin 1999 Seattle Mariners 05-15-1999 26
35 Erik Hiljus 1999 Detroit Tigers 09-10-1999 26
36 Ramon Ortiz 1999 Anaheim Angels 08-19-1999 26
12 Chris Singleton 1999 Chicago White Sox 04-10-1999 26
59 Jeff Zimmerman 1999 Texas Rangers 04-13-1999 26
39 Creighton Gubanich 1999 Boston Red Sox 04-16-1999 27
4 Bret Hemphill 1999 Anaheim Angels 06-28-1999 27
48 Jose Macias 1999 Detroit Tigers 05-12-1999 27
58 Lou Pote 1999 Anaheim Angels 08-11-1999 27
52 Dave Roberts 1999 Cleveland Indians 08-07-1999 27
46 Mike Romano 1999 Toronto Blue Jays 09-05-1999 27
62 Jeff Sparks 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-12-1999 27
7 Frank Menechino 1999 Oakland Athletics 09-06-1999 28
46 Alan Newman 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 05-14-1999 29
35 Clay Bellinger 1999 New York Yankees 04-09-1999 30
41 Masao Kida 1999 Detroit Tigers 04-05-1999 30
63 Jim Morris 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-18-1999 35
1999 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1999 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.

Did you know that on September 27, 1963 the Houston Colt .45s fielded an all-rookie lineup that included future stars Joe Morgan, Jerry Grote, and Rusty Staub?
     

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