1965 American League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1965 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 1965
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
38	Ed Barnowski	1965 Baltimore Orioles	09-08-1965	22
33	Mark Belanger	1965 Baltimore Orioles	08-07-1965	21
3	Curt Blefary	1965 Baltimore Orioles	04-14-1965	21
6	Davey Johnson	1965 Baltimore Orioles	04-13-1965	22
43	Darold Knowles	1965 Baltimore Orioles	04-18-1965	23
22	Jim Palmer	1965 Baltimore Orioles	04-17-1965	19
16	Jim Lonborg	1965 Boston Red Sox	04-23-1965	23
41	Jerry Moses	1965 Boston Red Sox	05-09-1965	18
4	Bill Schlesinger	1965 Boston Red Sox	05-04-1965	23
30	Tom Egan	1965 California Angels	05-27-1965	18
12	Jackie Hernandez	1965 California Angels	09-14-1965	25
40	Rudy May	1965 California Angels	04-18-1965	20
45	Jim McGlothlin	1965 California Angels	09-20-1965	21
25	Dick Wantz	1965 California Angels	04-13-1965	25
47	Greg Bollo	1965 Chicago White Sox	05-09-1965	21
34	Bill Heath	1965 Chicago White Sox	10-03-1965	26
46	Duane Josephson	1965 Chicago White Sox	09-15-1965	23
23	Bob Locker	1965 Chicago White Sox	04-14-1965	27
40	Bill Voss	1965 Chicago White Sox	09-14-1965	21
12	Bill Davis	1965 Cleveland Indians	09-16-1965	23
13	Ralph Gagliano	1965 Cleveland Indians	09-21-1965	18
34	Steve Hargan	1965 Cleveland Indians	08-03-1965	22
41	Mike Hedlund	1965 Cleveland Indians	05-08-1965	18
25, 28	Richie Scheinblum	1965 Cleveland Indians	09-01-1965	22
39	John Hiller	1965 Detroit Tigers	09-06-1965	22
19	Vern Holtgrave	1965 Detroit Tigers	09-26-1965	22
46	Leo Marentette	1965 Detroit Tigers	09-26-1965	24
35	Jackie Moore	1965 Detroit Tigers	04-18-1965	26
1	Ray Oyler	1965 Detroit Tigers	04-18-1965	26
32	Wayne Redmond	1965 Detroit Tigers	09-07-1965	19
20	Don Buschhorn	1965 Kansas City Athletics	05-15-1965	19
23, 35	Tom Harrison	1965 Kansas City Athletics	05-07-1965	20
23	Jesse Hickman	1965 Kansas City Athletics	06-05-1965	26
27	Catfish Hunter	1965 Kansas City Athletics	05-13-1965	19
34	Dick Joyce	1965 Kansas City Athletics	09-03-1965	21
37, 11	Rene Lachemann	1965 Kansas City Athletics	05-04-1965	20
32	Paul Lindblad	1965 Kansas City Athletics	09-15-1965	24
8	Skip Lockwood	1965 Kansas City Athletics	04-23-1965	18
21	Santiago Rosario	1965 Kansas City Athletics	06-23-1965	25
15, 36	John Sanders	1965 Kansas City Athletics	04-13-1965	19
38	Randy Schwartz	1965 Kansas City Athletics	09-08-1965	21
46	Ron Tompkins	1965 Kansas City Athletics	09-09-1965	20
35	Pete Cimino	1965 Minnesota Twins	09-22-1965	22
8	Andy Kosco	1965 Minnesota Twins	08-13-1965	23
26	Jim Merritt	1965 Minnesota Twins	08-02-1965	21
11	Frank Quilici	1965 Minnesota Twins	07-18-1965	26
20, 25, 41	John Sevcik	1965 Minnesota Twins	04-24-1965	22
12	Cesar Tovar	1965 Minnesota Twins	04-12-1965	24
34	Ted Uhlaender	1965 Minnesota Twins	09-04-1965	24
47, 28	Sandy Valdespino	1965 Minnesota Twins	04-12-1965	26
23	Rich Beck	1965 New York Yankees	09-14-1965	25
28	Gil Blanco	1965 New York Yankees	04-24-1965	19
23	Jim Brenneman	1965 New York Yankees	07-09-1965	24
20	Horace Clarke	1965 New York Yankees	05-13-1965	24
29	Mike Jurewicz	1965 New York Yankees	09-07-1965	19
57	Art Lopez	1965 New York Yankees	04-12-1965	27
53	Ross Moschitto	1965 New York Yankees	04-15-1965	20
17	Bobby Murcer	1965 New York Yankees	09-08-1965	19
48	Roy White	1965 New York Yankees	09-07-1965	21
25	Brant Alyea	1965 Washington Senators	09-11-1965	24
32	Paul Casanova	1965 Washington Senators	09-18-1965	23
36	Joe Coleman	1965 Washington Senators	09-28-1965	18
37	Jim French	1965 Washington Senators	09-12-1965	24
17	Barry Moore	1965 Washington Senators	05-29-1965	22
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1965 American League Debuts

1965 N.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1965 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.

Copyright © 2000-2009. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Design by Geisler Young. Hosted by Hosting 4 Less.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Football Almanac | Pigskin Fever | Today in Baseball History.