1960 American League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1960 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."

"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)

American League Debuts 1960
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
29, 59	Steve Barber	1960 Baltimore Orioles	04-21-1960	22
44	Ray Barker	1960 Baltimore Orioles	09-13-1960	24
16, 1	Marv Breeding	1960 Baltimore Orioles	04-19-1960	26
23	Chuck Estrada	1960 Baltimore Orioles	04-21-1960	22
33	Dave Nicholson	1960 Baltimore Orioles	05-24-1960	20
21	Tom Borland	1960 Boston Red Sox	05-15-1960	27
4	Lou Clinton	1960 Boston Red Sox	04-22-1960	22
2	Marlan Coughtry	1960 Boston Red Sox	09-02-1960	25
21	Arnold Earley	1960 Boston Red Sox	09-27-1960	27
8	Ed Sadowski	1960 Boston Red Sox	04-20-1960	29
39	Tracy Stallard	1960 Boston Red Sox	09-14-1960	23
40	Stan Johnson	1960 Chicago White Sox	09-18-1960	23
3	Floyd Robinson	1960 Chicago White Sox	08-10-1960	24
12	Walt Bond	1960 Cleveland Indians	04-19-1960	22
26	Ty Cline	1960 Cleveland Indians	09-14-1960	21
34, 1	Mike de la Hoz	1960 Cleveland Indians	07-22-1960	21
38	Frank Funk	1960 Cleveland Indians	09-03-1960	25
34	Wynn Hawkins	1960 Cleveland Indians	04-22-1960	24
20	Mike Lee	1960 Cleveland Indians	05-06-1960	18
32, 30	Carl Mathias	1960 Cleveland Indians	07-31-1960	24
22	Dick Stigman	1960 Cleveland Indians	04-22-1960	24
25	Carl Thomas	1960 Cleveland Indians	04-19-1960	27
23	Em Lindbeck	1960 Detroit Tigers	04-22-1960	25
3	Dick McAuliffe	1960 Detroit Tigers	09-17-1960	20
16	Phil Regan	1960 Detroit Tigers	07-19-1960	23
27	Ray Blemker	1960 Kansas City Athletics	07-03-1960	22
47	Chet Boak	1960 Kansas City Athletics	09-18-1960	25
5	Bob Johnson	1960 Kansas City Athletics	04-19-1960	24
48	Jim McManus	1960 Kansas City Athletics	09-21-1960	24
37	Leo Posada	1960 Kansas City Athletics	09-21-1960	24
45	Dave Wickersham	1960 Kansas City Athletics	09-18-1960	24
27	Jesse Gonder	1960 New York Yankees	09-23-1960	24
6	Deron Johnson	1960 New York Yankees	09-20-1960	22
46	Bill Short	1960 New York Yankees	04-23-1960	22
22	Bill Stafford	1960 New York Yankees	08-17-1960	21
29	Hal Stowe	1960 New York Yankees	09-30-1960	23
11	Rudy Hernandez	1960 Washington Senators	07-03-1960	28
4	Jake Jacobs	1960 Washington Senators	09-13-1960	23
39	Hector Maestri	1960 Washington Senators	09-24-1960	25
28, 32	Don Mincher	1960 Washington Senators	04-18-1960	21
35	Ted Sadowski	1960 Washington Senators	09-02-1960	24
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1960 American League Debuts

1960 N.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1960 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.

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.

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