2002 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."
"Always be cautious about rookie performances in September. They don't indicate what will happen in April." - Texas Rangers General Manager Tom Grieve
National League Debuts

2002

24 John Patterson 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks 07-20-2002 24
52 Duaner Sanchez 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks 06-14-2002 22
30 Jung Bong 2002 Atlanta Braves 04-23-2002 21
33 Joey Dawley 2002 Atlanta Braves 09-29-2002 31
56 John Ennis 2002 Atlanta Braves 04-10-2002 22
48 John Foster 2002 Atlanta Braves 04-24-2002 23
49 Kevin Gryboski 2002 Atlanta Braves 04-13-2002 28
45 Trey Hodges 2002 Atlanta Braves 09-10-2002 24
73 Ryan Langerhans 2002 Atlanta Braves 04-28-2002 22
26 Andy Pratt 2002 Atlanta Braves 09-28-2002 23
53 Francis Beltran 2002 Chicago Cubs 06-28-2002 22
19 Hee-Seop Choi 2002 Chicago Cubs 09-03-2002 23
17 Bobby Hill 2002 Chicago Cubs 05-10-2002 24
22 Mark Prior 2002 Chicago Cubs 05-22-2002 21
39 Steve Smyth 2002 Chicago Cubs 08-06-2002 24
54 Luke Hudson 2002 Cincinnati Reds 07-01-2002 25
28 Austin Kearns 2002 Cincinnati Reds 04-17-2002 21
26 Wily Mo Pena 2002 Cincinnati Reds 09-10-2002 20
35 Aaron Cook 2002 Colorado Rockies 08-10-2002 23
53 Cory Vance 2002 Colorado Rockies 09-21-2002 23
62 Hansel Izquierdo 2002 Florida Marlins 04-21-2002 25
27 Abraham Nunez 2002 Florida Marlins 09-03-2002 25
32 Nate Robertson 2002 Florida Marlins 09-07-2002 25
53 Nate Teut 2002 Florida Marlins 05-04-2002 26
48 Justin Wayne 2002 Florida Marlins 09-03-2002 23
24 Jason Lane 2002 Houston Astros 05-10-2002 25
54 Brad Lidge 2002 Houston Astros 04-26-2002 25
59 Brandon Puffer 2002 Houston Astros 04-17-2002 26
60 Jeriome Robertson 2002 Houston Astros 09-02-2002 25
50 Kirk Saarloos 2002 Houston Astros 06-18-2002 23
45 Barry Wesson 2002 Houston Astros 07-15-2002 25
43 Alan Zinter 2002 Houston Astros 06-18-2002 34
49 Luke Allen 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-10-2002 24
57 Victor Alvarez 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 07-30-2002 25
52 Chin-Feng Chen 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-14-2002 24
17 Kazuhisa Ishii 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-06-2002 28
40 David Ross 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-29-2002 25
26 Wilken Ruan 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-01-2002 22
41 Joe Thurston 2002 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-02-2002 22
43 Matt Childers 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 08-03-2002 23
81 Ben Diggins 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 09-02-2002 23
56 Jayson Durocher 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 06-11-2002 27
2 Bill Hall 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 09-01-2002 22
59 Brian Mallette 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 04-12-2002 27
47 Shane Nance 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 08-24-2002 24
95 Takahito Nomura 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 04-03-2002 33
13 Dave Pember 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 09-03-2002 24
33 Jim Rushford 2002 Milwaukee Brewers 09-03-2002 28
2 Jamey Carroll 2002 Montreal Expos 09-11-2002 28
29 Matt Cepicky 2002 Montreal Expos 07-31-2002 24
54 Zach Day 2002 Montreal Expos 06-15-2002 24
43 Jaime Cerda 2002 New York Mets 06-28-2002 23
55 Pedro Feliciano 2002 New York Mets 09-04-2002 26
17 Satoru Komiyama 2002 New York Mets 04-04-2002 36
26 Marco Scutaro 2002 New York Mets 07-21-2002 26
38 Jae Seo 2002 New York Mets 07-21-2002 25
23 Esix Snead 2002 New York Mets 09-03-2002 26
38 Pat Strange 2002 New York Mets 09-13-2002 22
46 Tyler Walker 2002 New York Mets 07-02-2002 26
9 Ty Wigginton 2002 New York Mets 05-16-2002 24
29 Marlon Byrd 2002 Philadelphia Phillies 09-08-2002 25
28 Eric Junge 2002 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-2002 25
41 Brett Myers 2002 Philadelphia Phillies 07-24-2002 21
52 Carlos Silva 2002 Philadelphia Phillies 04-01-2002 22
56 Tony Alvarez 2002 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-04-2002 23
26 J.J. Davis 2002 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-04-2002 23
21 Sean Burroughs 2002 San Diego Padres 04-02-2002 21
54 Mike Bynum 2002 San Diego Padres 08-17-2002 24
41 Clay Condrey 2002 San Diego Padres 08-28-2002 26
49 Eric Cyr 2002 San Diego Padres 06-23-2002 23
36 Ben Howard 2002 San Diego Padres 04-28-2002 23
46 Jason Kershner 2002 San Diego Padres 07-25-2002 25
10 Julius Matos 2002 San Diego Padres 05-31-2002 27
33 Wil Nieves 2002 San Diego Padres 07-21-2002 24
59 Jason Pearson 2002 San Diego Padres 06-04-2002 26
44 Jake Peavy 2002 San Diego Padres 06-22-2002 21
24 Alex Pelaez 2002 San Diego Padres 05-16-2002 26
59 Oliver Perez 2002 San Diego Padres 06-16-2002 20
43 Kevin Pickford 2002 San Diego Padres 05-16-2002 27
46 Jason Shiell 2002 San Diego Padres 09-08-2002 25
45 Dennis Tankersley 2002 San Diego Padres 05-10-2002 23
58 J.J. Trujillo 2002 San Diego Padres 06-11-2002 26
52 Trey Lunsford 2002 San Francisco Giants 09-12-2002 23
14 Tony Torcato 2002 San Francisco Giants 07-26-2002 22
54 Mike Crudale 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 04-10-2002 25
52 Matt Duff 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 07-30-2002 27
58 Kevin Joseph 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 08-01-2002 26
60 Josh Pearce 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 04-20-2002 24
46 Jason Simontacchi 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 05-04-2002 28
99 So Taguchi 2002 St. Louis Cardinals 06-10-2002 32
2002 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National 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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