2003 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

2003

57 Chris Capuano 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-04-2003 24
49 Edgar Gonzalez 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 06-01-2003 20
52 Andrew Good 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 04-18-2003 23
7 Robby Hammock 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 04-11-2003 25
11 Matt Kata 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 06-15-2003 25
34 Stephen Randolph 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 03-31-2003 28
27 Luis Terrero 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 03-28-2003 22
47 Jose Valverde 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 06-01-2003 25
56 Oscar Villarreal 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 03-31-2003 21
55 Brandon Webb 2003 Arizona Diamondbacks 04-22-2003 23
12 Mike Hessman 2003 Atlanta Braves 08-22-2003 25
30 Horacio Ramirez 2003 Atlanta Braves 04-02-2003 23
28 David Kelton 2003 Chicago Cubs 06-08-2003 23
52 Sergio Mitre 2003 Chicago Cubs 07-22-2003 22
62 Felix Sanchez 2003 Chicago Cubs 09-03-2003 21
40 Todd Wellemeyer 2003 Chicago Cubs 05-15-2003 24
70 Matt Belisle 2003 Cincinnati Reds 09-07-2003 23
53 Mark Budzinski 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-03-2003 29
71 Juan Cerros 2003 Cincinnati Reds 09-08-2003 26
64 Jim Chamblee 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-24-2003 28
58 Josh Hall 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-02-2003 22
60 Tim Hummel 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-26-2003 24
4 Ray Olmedo 2003 Cincinnati Reds 05-25-2003 21
65 Scott Randall 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-26-2003 27
67 Dane Sardinha 2003 Cincinnati Reds 09-06-2003 24
37 Stephen Smitherman 2003 Cincinnati Reds 07-01-2003 24
63 Dernell Stenson 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-13-2003 25
48 Joe Valentine 2003 Cincinnati Reds 08-24-2003 23
38 Ryan Wagner 2003 Cincinnati Reds 07-19-2003 21
27 Garrett Atkins 2003 Colorado Rockies 08-03-2003 23
12 Clint Barmes 2003 Colorado Rockies 09-05-2003 24
45 Javier Lopez 2003 Colorado Rockies 04-01-2003 25
46 Matt Miller 2003 Colorado Rockies 06-27-2003 31
3 Rene Reyes 2003 Colorado Rockies 07-22-2003 25
71 Chin-hui Tsao 2003 Colorado Rockies 07-25-2003 22
49 Jason Young 2003 Colorado Rockies 05-12-2003 23
40 Nate Bump 2003 Florida Marlins 06-28-2003 26
20 Miguel Cabrera 2003 Florida Marlins 06-20-2003 20
57 Tommy Phelps 2003 Florida Marlins 03-31-2003 29
35 Dontrelle Willis 2003 Florida Marlins 05-09-2003 21
35 Nate Bland 2003 Houston Astros 05-05-2003 28
4 Eric Bruntlett 2003 Houston Astros 06-27-2003 25
45 Mike Gallo 2003 Houston Astros 07-02-2003 26
1 Dave Matranga 2003 Houston Astros 06-27-2003 26
1, 9 Colin Porter 2003 Houston Astros 05-30-2003 27
60 Rodrigo Rosario 2003 Houston Astros 06-21-2003 25
64, 50 Steve Colyer 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-03-2003 24
49 Bubba Crosby 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-29-2003 26
55 Koyie Hill 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-05-2003 24
36 Edwin Jackson 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-09-2003 20
9 Enrique Cruz 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 04-02-2003 21
52 Matt Ford 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 04-02-2003 21
33 David Manning 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 08-02-2003 30
31 Luis Martinez 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 09-03-2003 23
23 Rickie Weeks 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 09-15-2003 21
57 Pete Zoccolillo 2003 Milwaukee Brewers 09-05-2003 26
56 Luis Ayala 2003 Montreal Expos 03-31-2003 25
53, 22 Ron Calloway 2003 Montreal Expos 03-31-2003 26
53 Roy Corcoran 2003 Montreal Expos 07-30-2003 23
62 Chad Cordero 2003 Montreal Expos 08-30-2003 21
32 Anthony Ferrari 2003 Montreal Expos 06-07-2003 24
59 Bryan Hebson 2003 Montreal Expos 07-06-2003 27
44 Julio Manon 2003 Montreal Expos 06-05-2003 29
33 Claudio Vargas 2003 Montreal Expos 04-26-2003 24
56 Edwin Almonte 2003 New York Mets 07-07-2003 26
10 Joe DePastino 2003 New York Mets 08-05-2003 29
61 Jeff Duncan 2003 New York Mets 05-20-2003 24
12 Danny Garcia 2003 New York Mets 09-02-2003 23
27 Mike Glavine 2003 New York Mets 09-14-2003 30
46 Jeremy Griffiths 2003 New York Mets 06-05-2003 25
48 Aaron Heilman 2003 New York Mets 06-26-2003 24
20 Prentice Redman 2003 New York Mets 08-24-2003 24
7 Jose Reyes 2003 New York Mets 06-10-2003 19
57 Jason Roach 2003 New York Mets 06-14-2003 27
50 Matt Watson 2003 New York Mets 09-12-2003 24
23 Travis Chapman 2003 Philadelphia Phillies 09-09-2003 25
56 Geoff Geary 2003 Philadelphia Phillies 08-27-2003 27
12 Andy Machado 2003 Philadelphia Phillies 09-27-2003 22
57 Ryan Madson 2003 Philadelphia Phillies 03-21-2003 22
26 Chase Utley 2003 Philadelphia Phillies 04-04-2003 24
51 Michael Gonzalez 2003 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-11-2003 25
39 John Grabow 2003 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-14-2003 24
30 J.R. House 2003 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-27-2003 23
55 Carlos Rivera 2003 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-22-2003 25
2 Jason Bay 2003 San Diego Padres 05-23-2003 24
58 Roger Deago 2003 San Diego Padres 05-10-2003 25
3 Khalil Greene 2003 San Diego Padres 09-03-2003 23
20 Miguel Ojeda 2003 San Diego Padres 05-17-2003 28
11 Humberto Quintero 2003 San Diego Padres 09-03-2003 24
3 Shane Victorino 2003 San Diego Padres 04-02-2003 22
50, 53 Kevin Correia 2003 San Francisco Giants 07-10-2003 22
56 Jason Ellison 2003 San Francisco Giants 05-09-2003 25
34 Jesse Foppert 2003 San Francisco Giants 04-14-2003 22
50 Todd Linden 2003 San Francisco Giants 08-18-2003 23
60 Noah Lowry 2003 San Francisco Giants 09-05-2003 22
28 Lance Niekro 2003 San Francisco Giants 09-05-2003 24
16 Francisco Santos 2003 San Francisco Giants 06-18-2003 29
21 Carlos Valderrama 2003 San Francisco Giants 06-21-2003 25
57 Jerome Williams 2003 San Francisco Giants 04-26-2003 21
77, 40 Kiko Calero 2003 St. Louis Cardinals 04-02-2003 28
50 Dan Haren 2003 St. Louis Cardinals 06-30-2003 22
31 Bo Hart 2003 St. Louis Cardinals 06-19-2003 26
77 Jimmy Journell 2003 St. Louis Cardinals 06-29-2003 25
43 Kevin Ohme 2003 St. Louis Cardinals 04-14-2003 32
2003 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 2003 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.

On April 13, 1954, Hank Aaron made his Major League debut and went 0-for-5. However, in his own autobiography Aaron wrote that he went 0-for-4.
     

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