2002 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."
"You never forget your first hit in the Major Leagues. It was in my third at bat. That was kind of a relief. You could start off 0-for-34." - Ralph Kiner
American League Debuts

2002

12 Hank Blalock 2002 Texas Rangers 04-01-2002 21
40 Scott Cassidy 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-01-2002 26
11 Eric Hinske 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-01-2002 24
48 Colby Lewis 2002 Texas Rangers 04-01-2002 22
51 Jon Rauch 2002 Chicago White Sox 04-02-2002 23
52 Jeff Farnsworth 2002 Detroit Tigers 04-03-2002 26
23 Luis Ugueto 2002 Seattle Mariners 04-03-2002 23
5 Felix Escalona 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-04-2002 23
51 Steve Kent 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-04-2002 23
45 Terry Pearson 2002 Detroit Tigers 04-04-2002 30
59 Jorge Sosa 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-04-2002 24
35 Corey Thurman 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-05-2002 23
48 Jeremy Affeldt 2002 Kansas City Royals 04-06-2002 22
53 Miguel Asencio 2002 Kansas City Royals 04-06-2002 21
44 Andres Torres 2002 Detroit Tigers 04-07-2002 24
6 Joe Lawrence 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-08-2002 25
53 Brendan Donnelly 2002 Anaheim Angels 04-09-2002 30
14 Mark Ellis 2002 Oakland Athletics 04-09-2002 24
28 Kevin Mench 2002 Texas Rangers 04-09-2002 24
9 Luis Garcia 2002 Baltimore Orioles 04-10-2002 26
40 Oscar Salazar 2002 Detroit Tigers 04-10-2002 23
11 Mike Moriarty 2002 Baltimore Orioles 04-11-2002 28
56 Nate Field 2002 Kansas City Royals 04-12-2002 26
34 Justin Miller 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-12-2002 24
26 Ron Wright 2002 Seattle Mariners 04-14-2002 26
48 Delvin James 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 04-16-2002 24
57 Erik Bedard 2002 Baltimore Orioles 04-17-2002 23
39 Brian Fitzgerald 2002 Seattle Mariners 04-17-2002 27
4 Jason Romano 2002 Texas Rangers 04-17-2002 22
50 Randy Flores 2002 Texas Rangers 04-23-2002 26
49 Travis Driskill 2002 Baltimore Orioles 04-26-2002 30
53 Mike Smith 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 04-26-2002 24
22 Earl Snyder 2002 Cleveland Indians 04-28-2002 25
22 Juan Brito 2002 Kansas City Royals 05-03-2002 24
56 Fernando Rodney 2002 Detroit Tigers 05-04-2002 25
40 Julio Mateo 2002 Seattle Mariners 05-07-2002 24
36 Justin Kaye 2002 Seattle Mariners 05-09-2002 25
39 Rafael Soriano 2002 Seattle Mariners 05-10-2002 22
58 Bry Nelson 2002 Boston Red Sox 05-14-2002 28
39 Ramon Santiago 2002 Detroit Tigers 05-17-2002 22
40 Esteban German 2002 Oakland Athletics 05-21-2002 24
5 Alfredo Amezaga 2002 Anaheim Angels 05-24-2002 24
39 Lee Gardner 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 05-24-2002 27
30 Kris Keller 2002 Detroit Tigers 05-24-2002 24
56 Aaron Harang 2002 Oakland Athletics 05-25-2002 24
32 Chris Snelling 2002 Seattle Mariners 05-25-2002 20
54 Jason Jimenez 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-03-2002 26
15 Ryan Ludwick 2002 Texas Rangers 06-05-2002 23
46 Mike Maroth 2002 Detroit Tigers 06-08-2002 24
18 Marcus Thames 2002 New York Yankees 06-10-2002 25
46 Juan Diaz 2002 Boston Red Sox 06-12-2002 28
9 Alexis Gomez 2002 Kansas City Royals 06-16-2002 23
31 Jose Leon 2002 Baltimore Orioles 06-16-2002 25
56 Shawn Sedlacek 2002 Kansas City Royals 06-18-2002 21
28 Ben Broussard 2002 Cleveland Indians 06-22-2002 25
45 Aaron Guiel 2002 Kansas City Royals 06-22-2002 29
41 John Lackey 2002 Anaheim Angels 06-24-2002 23
35 Ryan Bukvich 2002 Kansas City Royals 07-12-2002 24
50 Kevin Frederick 2002 Minnesota Twins 07-15-2002 25
40 Runelvys Hernandez 2002 Kansas City Royals 07-15-2002 24
11 Howie Clark 2002 Baltimore Orioles 07-16-2002 28
37 Brandon Backe 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 07-19-2002 24
41 Reynaldo Garcia 2002 Texas Rangers 07-19-2002 24
8 Carl Crawford 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 07-20-2002 20
36 Luis de los Santos 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 07-20-2002 24
47 Dave Elder 2002 Cleveland Indians 07-24-2002 26
3 Orlando Hudson 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 07-24-2002 24
49 Jason Beverlin 2002 Cleveland Indians 07-29-2002 28
28 John Stephens 2002 Baltimore Orioles 07-30-2002 22
53 Carl Sadler 2002 Cleveland Indians 07-31-2002 25
6 Travis Hafner 2002 Texas Rangers 08-06-2002 25
43 Mark Hendrickson 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 08-06-2002 28
19 Kit Pellow 2002 Kansas City Royals 08-14-2002 28
10 Coco Crisp 2002 Cleveland Indians 08-15-2002 22
16 Jason Hart 2002 Texas Rangers 08-18-2002 24
46 Ricardo Rodriguez 2002 Cleveland Indians 08-21-2002 24
44 Josh Bard 2002 Cleveland Indians 08-23-2002 24
6 Chone Figgins 2002 Anaheim Angels 08-25-2002 24
16 Willie Bloomquist 2002 Seattle Mariners 09-01-2002 24
54 Jayson Werth 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 09-01-2002 23
25 Joe Borchard 2002 Chicago White Sox 09-02-2002 23
50 Andy Van Hekken 2002 Detroit Tigers 09-03-2002 23
57 Drew Henson 2002 New York Yankees 09-05-2002 22
11 Ed Rogers 2002 Baltimore Orioles 09-05-2002 24
51 Steve Bechler 2002 Baltimore Orioles 09-06-2002 22
29 Kevin Cash 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 09-06-2002 24
30 Jose Flores 2002 Oakland Athletics 09-07-2002 29
62 Franklyn German 2002 Detroit Tigers 09-07-2002 22
52 Jeremy Hill 2002 Kansas City Royals 09-07-2002 25
20 Omar Infante 2002 Detroit Tigers 09-07-2002 20
64 Jason Davis 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-09-2002 22
61 Eric Eckenstahler 2002 Detroit Tigers 09-09-2002 25
52 Aaron Taylor 2002 Seattle Mariners 09-09-2002 25
53 Josh Hancock 2002 Boston Red Sox 09-10-2002 24
58 Shane Loux 2002 Detroit Tigers 09-10-2002 23
63 Victor Martinez 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-10-2002 23
52 Freddy Sanchez 2002 Boston Red Sox 09-10-2002 24
57 Scott Wiggins 2002 Toronto Blue Jays 09-11-2002 26
45 Dewon Brazelton 2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 09-13-2002 22
49 Alex Herrera 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-13-2002 25
61 Brandon Phillips 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-13-2002 21
65 Cliff Lee 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-15-2002 24
61 Miguel Olivo 2002 Chicago White Sox 09-15-2002 24
60 Brian Tallet 2002 Cleveland Indians 09-16-2002 24
58 Todd Sears 2002 Minnesota Twins 09-17-2002 26
41 Michael Restovich 2002 Minnesota Twins 09-18-2002 23
57 Francisco Rodriguez 2002 Anaheim Angels 09-18-2002 20
59 Eric DuBose 2002 Baltimore Orioles 09-19-2002 26
56 Ben Kozlowski 2002 Texas Rangers 09-19-2002 22
43 Wes Obermueller 2002 Kansas City Royals 09-20-2002 25
54 Mike Ryan 2002 Minnesota Twins 09-20-2002 25
2 Jason Grabowski 2002 Oakland Athletics 09-22-2002 26
26 Cody McKay 2002 Oakland Athletics 09-22-2002 28
17 Dusty Wathan 2002 Kansas City Royals 09-24-2002 29
2002 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 2002 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.

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."
     

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