2004 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

2004

8 Russ Adams 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 09-03-2004 24
59 Abe Alvarez 2004 Boston Red Sox 07-22-2004 21
57 Scott Atchison 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-31-2004 28
32 Cha Seung Baek 2004 Seattle Mariners 08-08-2004 24
57 Jeff Bajenaru 2004 Chicago White Sox 09-04-2004 26
18 Jason Bartlett 2004 Minnesota Twins 08-03-2004 24
56 Cliff Bartosh 2004 Cleveland Indians 05-15-2004 24
16 Denny Bautista 2004 Baltimore Orioles 05-25-2004 23
14 Jose Bautista 2004 Baltimore Orioles 04-04-2004 23
65 Dusty Bergman 2004 Anaheim Angels 06-09-2004 26
48 Travis Blackley 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-01-2004 21
1, 3 Andres Blanco 2004 Kansas City Royals 04-17-2004 20
64 Joe Blanton 2004 Oakland Athletics 09-21-2004 23
52 Jamie Brown 2004 Boston Red Sox 05-20-2004 27
2 John Buck 2004 Kansas City Royals 06-25-2004 23
49 Dave Bush 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 07-02-2004 24
35 Daniel Cabrera 2004 Baltimore Orioles 05-13-2004 22
64 Fernando Cabrera 2004 Cleveland Indians 08-20-2004 22
58 Shawn Camp 2004 Kansas City Royals 04-05-2004 28
59 Jorge Cantu 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 07-17-2004 22
46 Santiago Casilla 2004 Oakland Athletics 08-09-2004 24
47 Ramon Castro 2004 Oakland Athletics 06-21-2004 24
39 Gustavo Chacin 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 09-20-2004 23
28 Jesse Crain 2004 Minnesota Twins 08-05-2004 23
17 Eric Crozier 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 09-04-2004 26
55 Francisco Cruceta 2004 Cleveland Indians 09-21-2004 23
57 Kyle Denney 2004 Cleveland Indians 09-14-2004 27
54 Felix Diaz 2004 Chicago White Sox 05-13-2004 23
55 Lenny DiNardo 2004 Boston Red Sox 04-23-2004 24
53 Greg Dobbs 2004 Seattle Mariners 09-08-2004 26
39 Andy Dominique 2004 Boston Red Sox 05-25-2004 28
60 Scott Dunn 2004 Anaheim Angels 09-11-2004 26
31 J.D. Durbin 2004 Minnesota Twins 09-08-2004 22
57 Bartolome Fortunato 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-29-2004 29
50 Frank Francisco 2004 Texas Rangers 05-14-2004 24
54 Jason Frasor 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 04-16-2004 26
43 Joey Gathright 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 06-25-2004 23
31 Byron Gettis 2004 Kansas City Royals 05-27-2004 24
24 Adrian Gonzalez 2004 Texas Rangers 04-18-2004 21
30 Ruben Gotay 2004 Kansas City Royals 08-03-2004 21
57 Alex Graman 2004 New York Yankees 04-20-2004 26
26 Curtis Granderson 2004 Detroit Tigers 09-13-2004 23
23 Zack Greinke 2004 Kansas City Royals 05-22-2004 20
21 Gabe Gross 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 08-07-2004 24
54 Matt Guerrier 2004 Minnesota Twins 06-17-2004 25
53 Jeremy Guthrie 2004 Cleveland Indians 08-28-2004 25
57, 61 Brad Halsey 2004 New York Yankees 06-19-2004 23
52 Matt Hensley 2004 Anaheim Angels 05-04-2004 25
57 Travis Hughes 2004 Texas Rangers 09-26-2004 26
37 Justin Huisman 2004 Kansas City Royals 04-25-2004 25
33 Bucky Jacobsen 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-16-2004 28
57 Scott Kazmir 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-23-2004 20
35 Casey Kotchman 2004 Anaheim Angels 05-09-2004 21
1 Jason Kubel 2004 Minnesota Twins 08-31-2004 22
35 Brandon League 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 09-21-2004 21
57 Justin Lehr 2004 Oakland Athletics 06-20-2004 26
26 Justin Leone 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-02-2004 27
44 Kameron Loe 2004 Texas Rangers 09-26-2004 22
40 Nook Logan 2004 Detroit Tigers 07-21-2004 24
22 Jose Lopez 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-31-2004 20
30 Mickey Lopez 2004 Seattle Mariners 09-06-2004 30
56 Bobby Madritsch 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-21-2004 28
49 John Maine 2004 Baltimore Orioles 07-23-2004 23
63 Val Majewski 2004 Baltimore Orioles 08-20-2004 23
60 Sam Marsonek 2004 New York Yankees 07-11-2004 26
67 Anastacio Martinez 2004 Boston Red Sox 05-22-2004 25
7 Joe Mauer 2004 Minnesota Twins 04-05-2004 20
39, 11 Darnell McDonald 2004 Baltimore Orioles 04-30-2004 25
23 Dallas McPherson 2004 Anaheim Angels 09-10-2004 24
49 Arnie Munoz 2004 Chicago White Sox 06-19-2004 21
31 Donnie Murphy 2004 Kansas City Royals 09-18-2004 21
37 Clint Nageotte 2004 Seattle Mariners 06-01-2004 23
49 Sam Narron 2004 Texas Rangers 07-30-2004 23
68 Dioner Navarro 2004 New York Yankees 09-07-2004 20
51 Roberto Novoa 2004 Detroit Tigers 07-29-2004 24
47 Franklin Nunez 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-14-2004 27
61 Juan Padilla 2004 New York Yankees 07-16-2004 27
59 Adam Peterson 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 06-24-2004 25
39 Andy Phillips 2004 New York Yankees 09-14-2004 27
3 Paul Phillips 2004 Kansas City Royals 09-09-2004 27
18 Simon Pond 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 04-07-2004 27
56, 57 Scott Proctor 2004 New York Yankees 04-20-2004 27
16 Guillermo Quiroz 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 09-04-2004 22
55 Ryan Raburn 2004 Detroit Tigers 09-12-2004 23
47 Aaron Rakers 2004 Baltimore Orioles 09-08-2004 27
58 Jeremy Reed 2004 Seattle Mariners 09-08-2004 23
57 Nick Regilio 2004 Texas Rangers 07-09-2004 25
15 Alex Rios 2004 Toronto Blue Jays 05-27-2004 23
59 Rene Rivera 2004 Seattle Mariners 09-22-2004 21
49 Jake Robbins 2004 Cleveland Indians 09-20-2004 28
40 Eddy Rodriguez 2004 Baltimore Orioles 05-31-2004 22
6 Mike Rose 2004 Oakland Athletics 10-01-2004 28
53 Phil Seibel 2004 Boston Red Sox 04-15-2004 25
50 Jimmy Serrano 2004 Kansas City Royals 08-07-2004 28
30 Chris Shelton 2004 Detroit Tigers 04-15-2004 23
52 George Sherrill 2004 Seattle Mariners 07-16-2004 27
24 Grady Sizemore 2004 Cleveland Indians 07-21-2004 21
49 Ryan Snare 2004 Texas Rangers 08-06-2004 25
33 Nick Swisher 2004 Oakland Athletics 09-03-2004 23
32 Kazuhito Tadano 2004 Cleveland Indians 04-27-2004 24
10 Shingo Takatsu 2004 Chicago White Sox 04-09-2004 35
24 Rich Thompson 2004 Kansas City Royals 04-07-2004 24
43 Matt Thornton 2004 Seattle Mariners 06-27-2004 27
32 Terry Tiffee 2004 Minnesota Twins 09-01-2004 25
3 Mike Tonis 2004 Kansas City Royals 06-20-2004 25
35, 9 B.J. Upton 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-02-2004 19
45 Lino Urdaneta 2004 Detroit Tigers 09-09-2004 24
39 Wilson Valdez 2004 Chicago White Sox 09-07-2004 26
59 Jorge Vasquez 2004 Kansas City Royals 08-13-2004 26
59 Eduardo Villacis 2004 Kansas City Royals 05-01-2004 24
53 John Webb 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 08-02-2004 25
41 Randy Williams 2004 Seattle Mariners 09-11-2004 28
20 Kevin Youkilis 2004 Boston Red Sox 05-15-2004 25
49 Chris Young 2004 Texas Rangers 08-24-2004 25
2004 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 2004 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.

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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