1958 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

1958

23 John Buzhardt 1958 Chicago Cubs 09-10-1958 22
31 Dick Ellsworth 1958 Chicago Cubs 06-22-1958 18
24 Gene Fodge 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-20-1958 26
24 Gabe Gabler 1958 Chicago Cubs 09-16-1958 28
22 Lou Jackson 1958 Chicago Cubs 07-23-1958 22
12 Footer Johnson 1958 Chicago Cubs 06-22-1958 26
27 Dolan Nichols 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-15-1958 28
22 Freddy Rodriguez 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-18-1958 33
20 Marcelino Solis 1958 Chicago Cubs 07-16-1958 27
15 Sammy Taylor 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-27-1958 25
5 Tony Taylor 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-15-1958 22
19, 23 Moe Thacker 1958 Chicago Cubs 04-20-1958 23
23 Chuck Coles 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 09-19-1958 27
31 Lefty Hayden 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 06-26-1958 23
45 Danny Morejon 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 07-11-1958 27
31 Jim O'Toole 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 09-26-1958 21
43 Orlando Pena 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 08-24-1958 24
5 Vada Pinson 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 04-15-1958 19
33 Ted Wieand 1958 Cincinnati Redlegs 09-27-1958 25
55 Ron Fairly 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-09-1958 20
16 Bob Giallombardo 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 06-21-1958 21
11 Dick Gray 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-15-1958 26
25 Frank Howard 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-10-1958 22
5 Norm Larker 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-15-1958 27
11, 30 Bob Lillis 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 08-17-1958 28
29 Ralph Mauriello 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-13-1958 24
45 Don Miles 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-09-1958 22
61 Earl Robinson 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-10-1958 21
35, 51 Larry Sherry 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-17-1958 22
40 Stan Williams 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-17-1958 21
16 Bob Wilson 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers 05-17-1958 33
11 Joe Koppe 1958 Milwaukee Braves 08-09-1958 27
16 Carl Willey 1958 Milwaukee Braves 04-30-1958 26
3 John Anderson 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 08-17-1958 25
27 Jimmie Coker 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-1958 22
41 Bob Conley 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 09-11-1958 24
25 Don Erickson 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 09-01-1958 26
37 Chuck Essegian 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1958 26
18 Pancho Herrera 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1958 23
19 Hank Mason 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 09-12-1958 27
48 Ray Semproch 1958 Philadelphia Phillies 04-15-1958 27
48 Ron Blackburn 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1958 22
8 Harry Bright 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-25-1958 28
47 George Perez 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-17-1958 20
34 Curt Raydon 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1958 24
7 R.C. Stevens 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1958 23
7 Dick Stuart 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-10-1958 25
35 Don Williams 1958 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-12-1958 26
49 Felipe Alou 1958 San Francisco Giants 06-08-1958 23
30 Orlando Cepeda 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-15-1958 20
12 Jim Davenport 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-15-1958 24
35 John Fitzgerald 1958 San Francisco Giants 09-28-1958 25
28 Willie Kirkland 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-15-1958 24
27 Bob Schmidt 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-16-1958 24
38 Joe Shipley 1958 San Francisco Giants 07-14-1958 23
14 Don Taussig 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-23-1958 26
45, 47 Nick Testa 1958 San Francisco Giants 04-23-1958 29
39 Leon Wagner 1958 San Francisco Giants 06-22-1958 24
48 Dom Zanni 1958 San Francisco Giants 09-28-1958 26
19 Ruben Amaro 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 06-29-1958 22
11 Ellis Burton 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 09-18-1958 22
27 Nelson Chittum 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 08-17-1958 25
22 Phil Clark 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 04-15-1958 25
32 Bob Mabe 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1958 28
30 Bill Smith 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 09-13-1958 24
19 Lee Tate 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 09-12-1958 26
24 Benny Valenzuela 1958 St. Louis Cardinals 04-27-1958 24
1958 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1958 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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