1931 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."
"You never forget your first hit in the Major Leagues. It was in my third at bat. That was kind of a relief. You could start off 0-for-34." - Ralph Kiner
American League Debuts

1931

8 Pat Creeden 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-14-1931 24
16 Johnny Lucas 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-15-1931 28
7 Ollie Marquardt 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-14-1931 28
7 Bill Marshall 1931 Boston Red Sox 06-20-1931 20
30 Jud McLaughlin 1931 Boston Red Sox 06-23-1931 19
27 Bill McWilliams 1931 Boston Red Sox 07-08-1931 20
29 Walter Murphy 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-19-1931 23
10 Marv Olson 1931 Boston Red Sox 09-13-1931 24
1, 8, 34 Urbane Pickering 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-18-1931 31
16 Gene Rye 1931 Boston Red Sox 04-22-1931 24
9 John Smith 1931 Boston Red Sox 09-17-1931 24
16, 19 Howie Storie 1931 Boston Red Sox 09-07-1931 20
23 George Stumpf 1931 Boston Red Sox 09-19-1931 20
19 Grant Bowler 1931 Chicago White Sox 08-21-1931 23
24 Vic Frazier 1931 Chicago White Sox 04-18-1931 26
25 Lou Garland 1931 Chicago White Sox 08-31-1931 26
- Hank Garrity 1931 Chicago White Sox 07-26-1931 23
9 Frank Grube 1931 Chicago White Sox 05-12-1931 26
34 Bill Norman 1931 Chicago White Sox 08-08-1931 21
2 Mel Simons 1931 Chicago White Sox 04-14-1931 30
26 Billy Sullivan 1931 Chicago White Sox 06-09-1931 20
37 Bruce Connatser 1931 Cleveland Indians 09-15-1931 28
21 Howard Craghead 1931 Cleveland Indians 04-30-1931 22
7 Odell Hale 1931 Cleveland Indians 08-01-1931 22
34 Oral Hildebrand 1931 Cleveland Indians 09-08-1931 24
7 Louis Brower 1931 Detroit Tigers 06-13-1931 30
28 Orlin Collier 1931 Detroit Tigers 09-11-1931 24
29 Marv Owen 1931 Detroit Tigers 04-16-1931 25
- George Quellich 1931 Detroit Tigers 08-01-1931 25
26 Ivey Shiver 1931 Detroit Tigers 04-14-1931 25
2 Gee Walker 1931 Detroit Tigers 04-14-1931 23
1 Hub Walker 1931 Detroit Tigers 04-15-1931 24
22, 34 Ivy Andrews 1931 New York Yankees 08-15-1931 24
28 Myril Hoag 1931 New York Yankees 04-15-1931 23
2 Red Rolfe 1931 New York Yankees 06-29-1931 22
35 Dixie Walker 1931 New York Yankees 04-28-1931 20
19 Sol Carter 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 04-15-1931 22
44 Lou Finney 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 09-12-1931 21
18 Lew Krausse 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 06-11-1931 19
16 Hank McDonald 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 04-16-1931 20
21 Joe Palmisano 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 05-31-1931 28
17 Jim Peterson 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 07-09-1931 22
20 Bob Cooney 1931 St. Louis Browns 09-06-1931 24
24 Ed Grimes 1931 St. Louis Browns 04-19-1931 25
27 Wally Hebert 1931 St. Louis Browns 05-01-1931 23
- Nap Kloza 1931 St. Louis Browns 08-16-1931 27
21 Buck Stanton 1931 St. Louis Browns 09-05-1931 25
25 Frank Waddey 1931 St. Louis Browns 04-16-1931 25
9 Russ Young 1931 St. Louis Browns 04-16-1931 28
- Bill Andrus 1931 Washington Senators 09-19-1931 24
10 Cliff Bolton 1931 Washington Senators 04-20-1931 24
18 Walt Masters 1931 Washington Senators 07-09-1931 24
- Babe Phelps 1931 Washington Senators 09-17-1931 23
- Monte Weaver 1931 Washington Senators 09-20-1931 25
1931 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1931 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.

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.
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