2009 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 a certain amount of fascination to the big league debut of any athlete. Sometimes they are incredible successes. Sometimes they are frenetic failures." - Sportswriter Arthur Daley
National League Debuts

2009

25 Brandon Allen 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-22-2009 23
50 Jairo Asencio 2009 Atlanta Braves 07-12-2009 25
60 Mitch Atkins 2009 Chicago Cubs 07-29-2009 24
44 Bryan Augenstein 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-13-2009 23
59 John Axford 2009 Milwaukee Brewers 09-15-2009 26
58 Antonio Bastardo 2009 Philadelphia Phillies 06-02-2009 23
54 Ronald Belisario 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-07-2009 26
64 Justin Berg 2009 Chicago Cubs 08-13-2009 25
22, 8 Kyle Blanks 2009 San Diego Padres 06-19-2009 22
40 Madison Bumgarner 2009 San Francisco Giants 09-08-2009 20
40 Greg Burke 2009 San Diego Padres 05-16-2009 26
62 Josh Butler 2009 Milwaukee Brewers 09-21-2009 24
1 Everth Cabrera 2009 San Diego Padres 04-08-2009 22
25 Barbaro Canizares 2009 Atlanta Braves 06-11-2009 29
33 Esmailin Caridad 2009 Chicago Cubs 08-10-2009 25
26 Cesar Carrillo 2009 San Diego Padres 08-13-2009 25
45 Jhoulys Chacin 2009 Colorado Rockies 07-25-2009 21
8 Chris Coghlan 2009 Florida Marlins 05-08-2009 24
19 Tyler Colvin 2009 Chicago Cubs 09-21-2009 24
32 Carlos Corporan 2009 Milwaukee Brewers 05-06-2009 25
31 Matt Daley 2009 Colorado Rockies 04-25-2009 27
6 Ian Desmond 2009 Washington Nationals 09-10-2009 23
37 Matt Downs 2009 San Francisco Giants 06-16-2009 25
3 Luis Durango 2009 San Diego Padres 09-15-2009 23
53 Sergio Escalona 2009 Philadelphia Phillies 05-17-2009 24
46 Carlos Fisher 2009 Cincinnati Reds 05-24-2009 26
64 Juan Francisco 2009 Cincinnati Reds 09-14-2009 22
12, 23 David Freese 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 04-06-2009 26
39 Ernesto Frieri 2009 San Diego Padres 09-26-2009 24
56 Victor Garate 2009 Washington Nationals 09-05-2009 24
63 Samuel Gervacio 2009 Houston Astros 08-14-2009 24
30 Reid Gorecki 2009 Atlanta Braves 08-17-2009 28
27 Tyler Greene 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 04-30-2009 26
57 Luke Gregerson 2009 San Diego Padres 04-06-2009 25
29 Jesus Guzman 2009 San Francisco Giants 05-21-2009 24
17 Eric Hacker 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-22-2009 26
48 Tommy Hanson 2009 Atlanta Braves 06-07-2009 23
53 Blake Hawksworth 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 06-06-2009 26
59 Brett Hayes 2009 Florida Marlins 05-22-2009 25
27 Diory Hernandez 2009 Atlanta Braves 05-21-2009 25
31 John Hester 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-28-2009 25
30 Jamie Hoffmann 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-22-2009 25
34 Jarrett Hoffpauir 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 07-03-2009 26
58 Steven Jackson 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-01-2009 27
35 Jason Jaramillo 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-16-2009 25
60 Waldis Joaquin 2009 San Francisco Giants 08-04-2009 22
23 Chris Johnson 2009 Houston Astros 09-09-2009 25
17 Mitch Jones 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-16-2009 32
11 Kenshin Kawakami 2009 Atlanta Braves 04-11-2009 34
38 Mat Latos 2009 San Diego Padres 07-19-2009 21
45 Brent Leach 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-06-2009 26
63 Chris Leroux 2009 Florida Marlins 05-26-2009 25
26 Jose Lobaton 2009 San Diego Padres 07-05-2009 24
38 Arturo Lopez 2009 San Diego Padres 04-29-2009 26
59 Wilton Lopez 2009 Houston Astros 08-28-2009 26
56 Matt Maloney 2009 Cincinnati Reds 06-06-2009 25
60 Robert Manuel 2009 Cincinnati Reds 07-09-2009 26
12 Tommy Manzella 2009 Houston Astros 09-08-2009 26
60 J.D. Martin 2009 Washington Nationals 07-20-2009 26
51 Cristhian Martinez 2009 Florida Marlins 05-21-2009 27
26 Fernando Martinez 2009 New York Mets 05-26-2009 21
53 Joe Martinez 2009 San Francisco Giants 04-07-2009 26
40 John Mayberry 2009 Philadelphia Phillies 05-23-2009 25
18 Mike McCoy 2009 Colorado Rockies 09-09-2009 28
22 Andrew McCutchen 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 06-04-2009 22
62 Daniel McCutchen 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-31-2009 26
54 Kris Medlen 2009 Atlanta Braves 05-21-2009 24
46 Edwin Moreno 2009 San Diego Padres 04-07-2009 28
54 Clay Mortensen 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 06-29-2009 24
31, 20 Bud Norris 2009 Houston Astros 07-29-2009 24
16 Trent Oeltjen 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-06-2009 26
8 Jorge Padilla 2009 Washington Nationals 08-05-2009 28
19 Matt Pagnozzi 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 09-29-2009 26
9 Gerardo Parra 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-13-2009 22
54 David Patton 2009 Chicago Cubs 04-08-2009 25
3 Xavier Paul 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-07-2009 24
59 Luis Perdomo 2009 San Diego Padres 04-15-2009 24
28 Buster Posey 2009 San Francisco Giants 09-11-2009 21
34 Cesar Ramos 2009 San Diego Padres 09-16-2009 25
28 Colby Rasmus 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 04-07-2009 22
33 Shane Robinson 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 05-07-2009 24
48 Esmil Rogers 2009 Colorado Rockies 09-12-2009 24
37 Dan Runzler 2009 San Francisco Giants 09-04-2009 24
4 Rusty Ryal 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-10-2009 26
56 Ryan Sadowski 2009 San Francisco Giants 06-28-2009 26
24 Bobby Scales 2009 Chicago Cubs 05-05-2009 32
24 Jordan Schafer 2009 Atlanta Braves 04-05-2009 23
46 Daniel Schlereth 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-29-2009 23
49 Travis Schlichting 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-07-2009 25
27 Walter Silva 2009 San Diego Padres 04-08-2009 32
35 Craig Stammen 2009 Washington Nationals 05-21-2009 25
52 Jeff Stevens 2009 Chicago Cubs 07-10-2009 26
29 Tobi Stoner 2009 New York Mets 09-10-2009 24
6 Drew Stubbs 2009 Cincinnati Reds 08-19-2009 25
27, 15 Drew Sutton 2009 Cincinnati Reds 07-02-2009 26
36 Ken Takahashi 2009 New York Mets 05-02-2009 40
30 Craig Tatum 2009 Cincinnati Reds 07-21-2009 26
50 Graham Taylor 2009 Florida Marlins 04-26-2009 25
30 Josh Thole 2009 New York Mets 09-03-2009 23
30 Jess Todd 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 06-05-2009 23
32 Esmerling Vasquez 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 04-26-2009 25
56 Donnie Veal 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-07-2009 24
50 Pedro Viola 2009 Cincinnati Reds 09-08-2009 26
43 Jason Waddell 2009 Chicago Cubs 05-31-2009 28
19 Neil Walker 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-01-2009 23
62 P.J. Walters 2009 St. Louis Cardinals 04-17-2009 24
58 Ryan Webb 2009 San Diego Padres 07-08-2009 23
45 Sean West 2009 Florida Marlins 05-23-2009 23
64 Tim Wood 2009 Florida Marlins 06-25-2009 26
3 Eric Young 2009 Colorado Rockies 08-25-2009 24
35 Clay Zavada 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-21-2009 25
27 Jordan Zimmermann 2009 Washington Nationals 04-20-2009 22
2009 National League Debuts


 

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

Rich Amaral spent nine seasons in the Minor Leagues and upon his callup he commented, "I've been to every baseball park in America, except those in the American and National League."
     

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