2001 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."
"Baseball is the sport that cackles back at can't-miss kids. Baseball humbles every player sooner or later. Baseball confers greatness stingily, in its own sweet time. At least that's what the bow-tied essayists and sandlot scouts solemnly tell us." - Johnette Howard in Sports Illustrated
American League Debuts

2001

37 Larry Barnes 2001 Anaheim Angels 04-11-2001 26
19 Jamie Burke 2001 Anaheim Angels 05-09-2001 29
22 David Eckstein 2001 Anaheim Angels 04-03-2001 26
33 Steve Green 2001 Anaheim Angels 04-07-2001 23
47 Mark Lukasiewicz 2001 Anaheim Angels 05-11-2001 28
52 Bart Miadich 2001 Anaheim Angels 09-02-2001 25
62 Scot Shields 2001 Anaheim Angels 05-26-2001 25
56 Rick Bauer 2001 Baltimore Orioles 09-02-2001 24
3 Larry Bigbie 2001 Baltimore Orioles 06-23-2001 23
47, 72 Sean Douglass 2001 Baltimore Orioles 07-18-2001 22
36 Kris Foster 2001 Baltimore Orioles 08-03-2001 26
25 Jay Gibbons 2001 Baltimore Orioles 04-06-2001 24
60 Geronimo Gil 2001 Baltimore Orioles 09-08-2001 26
40 Willie Harris 2001 Baltimore Orioles 09-02-2001 23
50 Jorge Julio 2001 Baltimore Orioles 04-26-2001 22
39 Chad Paronto 2001 Baltimore Orioles 04-18-2001 25
63 Tim Raines, Jr. 2001 Baltimore Orioles 10-01-2001 22
1 Brian Roberts 2001 Baltimore Orioles 06-14-2001 23
35 Josh Towers 2001 Baltimore Orioles 05-02-2001 24
59 Casey Fossum 2001 Boston Red Sox 07-28-2001 23
29 Shea Hillenbrand 2001 Boston Red Sox 04-02-2001 25
62 Sun Woo Kim 2001 Boston Red Sox 06-15-2001 23
52 James Lofton 2001 Boston Red Sox 09-19-2001 27
53 Angel Santos 2001 Boston Red Sox 09-08-2001 22
55 Josh Fogg 2001 Chicago White Sox 09-02-2001 24
44 Aaron Rowand 2001 Chicago White Sox 06-16-2001 23
61 Ken Vining 2001 Chicago White Sox 05-23-2001 26
62 Danny Wright 2001 Chicago White Sox 07-27-2001 23
51 Mike Bacsik 2001 Cleveland Indians 08-05-2001 23
55 Danys Baez 2001 Cleveland Indians 05-13-2001 23
57 Ryan Drese 2001 Cleveland Indians 07-29-2001 25
52 C.C. Sabathia 2001 Cleveland Indians 04-08-2001 20
48 Roy Smith 2001 Cleveland Indians 05-26-2001 25
24 Jermaine Clark 2001 Detroit Tigers 04-03-2001 24
24 Nate Cornejo 2001 Detroit Tigers 08-08-2001 21
12 Brandon Inge 2001 Detroit Tigers 04-03-2001 23
58 Matt Miller 2001 Detroit Tigers 05-08-2001 26
43 Jarrod Patterson 2001 Detroit Tigers 06-16-2001 27
57 Adam Pettyjohn 2001 Detroit Tigers 07-16-2001 24
30 Luis Pineda 2001 Detroit Tigers 08-04-2001 26
49 Mike Rivera 2001 Detroit Tigers 09-18-2001 25
49, 71 Pedro Santana 2001 Detroit Tigers 07-16-2001 24
22, 55 Victor Santos 2001 Detroit Tigers 04-09-2001 24
43 Chris Wakeland 2001 Detroit Tigers 09-04-2001 26
26 Jeff Austin 2001 Kansas City Royals 06-26-2001 24
30 Brandon Berger 2001 Kansas City Royals 09-09-2001 26
4 Angel Berroa 2001 Kansas City Royals 09-18-2001 23
43 Endy Chavez 2001 Kansas City Royals 05-29-2001 23
55 Tony Cogan 2001 Kansas City Royals 04-02-2001 24
53 Chris George 2001 Kansas City Royals 07-26-2001 21
28 Ken Harvey 2001 Kansas City Royals 09-18-2001 23
54 Mike MacDougal 2001 Kansas City Royals 09-22-2001 24
46 Brad Voyles 2001 Kansas City Royals 09-08-2001 24
19 Grant Balfour 2001 Minnesota Twins 07-22-2001 23
5 Mike Cuddyer 2001 Minnesota Twins 09-23-2001 22
37 Adam Johnson 2001 Minnesota Twins 07-16-2001 22
23 Bobby Kielty 2001 Minnesota Twins 04-10-2001 24
49 Kyle Lohse 2001 Minnesota Twins 06-22-2001 22
17 Dustan Mohr 2001 Minnesota Twins 08-29-2001 25
39 Juan Rincon 2001 Minnesota Twins 06-07-2001 22
56 Brad Thomas 2001 Minnesota Twins 05-26-2001 23
57 Erick Almonte 2001 New York Yankees 09-04-2001 23
65 Adrian Hernandez 2001 New York Yankees 04-21-2001 26
60 Brett Jodie 2001 New York Yankees 07-20-2001 24
60 Nick Johnson 2001 New York Yankees 08-21-2001 22
62 Brandon Knight 2001 New York Yankees 06-05-2001 25
59 Donzell McDonald 2001 New York Yankees 04-19-2001 26
43 Christian Parker 2001 New York Yankees 04-06-2001 25
56 Juan Rivera 2001 New York Yankees 09-04-2001 23
48 Scott Seabol 2001 New York Yankees 04-08-2001 25
30 Andy Abad 2001 Oakland Athletics 09-10-2001 29
17 Tom Wilson 2001 Oakland Athletics 05-19-2001 30
61 Brian Fuentes 2001 Seattle Mariners 06-02-2001 25
9, 20 Scott Podsednik 2001 Seattle Mariners 07-06-2001 25
51 Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Seattle Mariners 04-02-2001 27
13 Ramon Vazquez 2001 Seattle Mariners 09-07-2001 25
3 Brent Abernathy 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-25-2001 23
46 Jesus Colome 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-21-2001 23
15 Paul Hoover 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-08-2001 25
50 Joe Kennedy 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-06-2001 22
61 Travis Phelps 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-19-2001 23
10 Jared Sandberg 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-07-2001 23
27 Bobby Seay 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-14-2001 23
53 Jason Standridge 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 07-29-2001 22
60 Victor Zambrano 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-21-2001 25
53 Joaquin Benoit 2001 Texas Rangers 08-08-2001 24
57 Cliff Brumbaugh 2001 Texas Rangers 05-30-2001 27
51 R.A. Dickey 2001 Texas Rangers 04-22-2001 26
45 Justin Duchscherer 2001 Texas Rangers 07-25-2001 23
11 Chris Magruder 2001 Texas Rangers 09-04-2001 24
21 Craig Monroe 2001 Texas Rangers 07-28-2001 24
41, 52 Juan Moreno 2001 Texas Rangers 05-17-2001 26
15 Carlos Pena 2001 Texas Rangers 09-05-2001 23
37 Brian Bowles 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 06-27-2001 24
36 Bob File 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 04-14-2001 24
11 Ryan Freel 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 04-04-2001 25
2 Cesar Izturis 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 06-23-2001 21
7 Felipe Lopez 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 08-03-2001 21
12 Luis Lopez 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 04-29-2001 27
28 Brandon Lyon 2001 Toronto Blue Jays 08-04-2001 21
2001 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 2001 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.

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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