2009 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

2009

64, 35 Brad Bergesen 2009 Baltimore Orioles 04-21-2009 24
49 Jason Berken 2009 Baltimore Orioles 05-26-2009 25
63 David Hernandez 2009 Baltimore Orioles 05-28-2009 24
52 Brian Matusz 2009 Baltimore Orioles 08-04-2009 22
14 Nolan Reimold 2009 Baltimore Orioles 05-14-2009 26
54 Chris Tillman 2009 Baltimore Orioles 07-29-2009 21
83 Justin Turner 2009 Baltimore Orioles 09-08-2009 24
19 Koji Uehara 2009 Baltimore Orioles 04-08-2009 34
15 Matt Wieters 2009 Baltimore Orioles 05-29-2009 23
60 Daniel Bard 2009 Boston Red Sox 05-13-2009 24
50 Aaron Bates 2009 Boston Red Sox 07-06-2009 25
50 Dusty Brown 2009 Boston Red Sox 06-23-2009 27
62 Hunter Jones 2009 Boston Red Sox 04-20-2009 25
68 Josh Reddick 2009 Boston Red Sox 07-31-2009 22
54 Dustin Richardson 2009 Boston Red Sox 09-28-2009 25
63 Junichi Tazawa 2009 Boston Red Sox 08-07-2009 23
15 Gordon Beckham 2009 Chicago White Sox 06-04-2009 23
62 Jack Egbert 2009 Chicago White Sox 04-21-2009 26
39 Tyler Flowers 2009 Chicago White Sox 09-03-2009 23
54 Daniel Hudson 2009 Chicago White Sox 09-04-2009 22
65 Jhonny Nunez 2009 Chicago White Sox 08-02-2009 23
49 Aaron Poreda 2009 Chicago White Sox 06-12-2009 23
60 Carlos Torres 2009 Chicago White Sox 07-22-2009 27
47 Wes Whisler 2009 Chicago White Sox 06-02-2009 26
23 Michael Brantley 2009 Cleveland Indians 09-01-2009 22
59 Carlos Carrasco 2009 Cleveland Indians 09-01-2009 22
26 Trevor Crowe 2009 Cleveland Indians 04-09-2009 25
8 Chris Gimenez 2009 Cleveland Indians 06-03-2009 26
58 David Huff 2009 Cleveland Indians 05-17-2009 25
16, 7 Matt LaPorta 2009 Cleveland Indians 05-03-2009 24
4 Niuman Romero 2009 Cleveland Indians 09-08-2009 24
49 Tony Sipp 2009 Cleveland Indians 04-22-2009 26
15 Wyatt Toregas 2009 Cleveland Indians 08-01-2009 26
13 Alex Avila 2009 Detroit Tigers 08-06-2009 22
27 Brent Dlugach 2009 Detroit Tigers 09-13-2009 26
41 Casey Fien 2009 Detroit Tigers 07-26-2009 26
43 Alfredo Figaro 2009 Detroit Tigers 06-20-2009 25
53 Luke French 2009 Detroit Tigers 05-15-2009 24
59 Fu-Te Ni 2009 Detroit Tigers 06-29-2009 26
45 Ryan Perry 2009 Detroit Tigers 04-08-2009 22
48 Rick Porcello 2009 Detroit Tigers 04-09-2009 20
60 Wilkin Ramirez 2009 Detroit Tigers 05-20-2009 24
31 Dusty Hughes 2009 Kansas City Royals 09-06-2009 27
47 Victor Marte 2009 Kansas City Royals 09-06-2009 28
70 Trevor Bell 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 08-12-2009 23
57 Daniel Davidson 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-19-2009 28
60 Robert Mosebach 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 07-25-2009 25
55 Sean O'Sullivan 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 06-16-2009 22
49 Anthony Ortega 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-25-2009 24
33 Chris Pettit 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 09-11-2009 25
56 Fernando Rodriguez 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 05-02-2009 25
59 Rafael Rodriguez 2009 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-15-2009 25
52 Brian Duensing 2009 Minnesota Twins 04-10-2009 26
63 Armando Gabino 2009 Minnesota Twins 08-25-2009 26
49 Jeff Manship 2009 Minnesota Twins 08-15-2009 24
61 Kevin Mulvey 2009 Minnesota Twins 07-20-2009 24
51 Anthony Swarzak 2009 Minnesota Twins 05-23-2009 23
39 Anthony Claggett 2009 New York Yankees 04-18-2009 24
31 Mike Dunn 2009 New York Yankees 09-04-2009 24
39 Mark Melancon 2009 New York Yankees 04-26-2009 24
19 Ramiro Pena 2009 New York Yankees 04-06-2009 23
49 Brett Anderson 2009 Oakland Athletics 04-10-2009 21
40 Andrew Bailey 2009 Oakland Athletics 04-06-2009 25
53 Trevor Cahill 2009 Oakland Athletics 04-07-2009 21
25 Matt Carson 2009 Oakland Athletics 09-18-2009 28
21 Tommy Everidge 2009 Oakland Athletics 07-28-2009 26
39 Brad Kilby 2009 Oakland Athletics 09-02-2009 26
54 Vin Mazzaro 2009 Oakland Athletics 06-02-2009 23
35 Landon Powell 2009 Oakland Athletics 04-11-2009 27
63 Henry Rodriguez 2009 Oakland Athletics 09-21-2009 22
59 Mike Carp 2009 Seattle Mariners 06-17-2009 22
58 Doug Fister 2009 Seattle Mariners 08-08-2009 25
41 Chris Jakubauskas 2009 Seattle Mariners 04-08-2009 30
23 Shawn Kelley 2009 Seattle Mariners 04-10-2009 24
50 Adam Moore 2009 Seattle Mariners 09-17-2009 25
55 Michael Saunders 2009 Seattle Mariners 07-25-2009 22
58 Wade Davis 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 09-06-2009 23
59 Dale Thayer 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 05-22-2009 28
1 Elvis Andrus 2009 Texas Rangers 04-06-2009 20
29 Julio Borbon 2009 Texas Rangers 06-29-2009 23
30 Neftali Feliz 2009 Texas Rangers 08-03-2009 21
68 Craig Gentry 2009 Texas Rangers 09-06-2009 25
45 Derek Holland 2009 Texas Rangers 04-22-2009 22
58 Guillermo Moscoso 2009 Texas Rangers 05-30-2009 25
61 Kevin Richardson 2009 Texas Rangers 08-17-2009 28
64 Pedro Strop 2009 Texas Rangers 08-28-2009 24
27 Brett Cecil 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 05-05-2009 23
59 Brad Mills 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 06-18-2009 24
31 Kyle Phillips 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 09-14-2009 25
60 Robert Ray 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 05-02-2009 25
24 Ricky Romero 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 04-09-2009 24
34 Marc Rzepczynski 2009 Toronto Blue Jays 07-07-2009 24
2009 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 2009 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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."

Ted Cox made his Major League debut in 1977 with the Boston Red Sox and over two games on September 18 and 19, Cox went six for six before he made an out.
     

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