1965 National League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1965 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 1965
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
18	Glenn Beckert	1965 Chicago Cubs	04-12-1965	24
29	Byron Browne	1965 Chicago Cubs	09-09-1965	22
42	Chuck Hartenstein	1965 Chicago Cubs	09-11-1965	23
30	Ken Holtzman	1965 Chicago Cubs	09-04-1965	19
25	Chris Krug	1965 Chicago Cubs	05-30-1965	25
7, 28, 41	Roberto Pena	1965 Chicago Cubs	04-12-1965	27
23	Don Young	1965 Chicago Cubs	09-09-1965	19
56	Ted Davidson	1965 Cincinnati Reds	07-24-1965	25
23	Lee May	1965 Cincinnati Reds	09-01-1965	22
54	Darrell Osteen	1965 Cincinnati Reds	09-02-1965	22
12	Art Shamsky	1965 Cincinnati Reds	04-17-1965	23
46	Don Arlich	1965 Houston Astros	10-02-1965	22
35	Chuck Harrison	1965 Houston Astros	09-15-1965	24
34	Norm Miller	1965 Houston Astros	09-11-1965	19
27	Gene Ratliff	1965 Houston Astros	05-15-1965	19
21	Jim Ray	1965 Houston Astros	09-16-1965	20
41	Carroll Sembera	1965 Houston Astros	09-28-1965	24
42	Bruce Von Hoff	1965 Houston Astros	09-28-1965	21
37	Mike Kekich	1965 Los Angeles Dodgers	06-09-1965	20
5	Jim Lefebvre	1965 Los Angeles Dodgers	04-12-1965	23
31	Don LeJohn	1965 Los Angeles Dodgers	06-30-1965	31
17	Hector Valle	1965 Los Angeles Dodgers	06-06-1965	24
41, 42	Jim Bethke	1965 New York Mets	04-12-1965	18
10	Kevin Collins	1965 New York Mets	09-01-1965	19
29	Rob Gardner	1965 New York Mets	09-01-1965	20
10	Greg Goossen	1965 New York Mets	09-03-1965	19
3	Bud Harrelson	1965 New York Mets	09-02-1965	21
45	Tug McGraw	1965 New York Mets	04-18-1965	20
34, 36	Dennis Musgraves	1965 New York Mets	07-09-1965	21
16, 48	Danny Napoleon	1965 New York Mets	04-14-1965	23
45	Dick Selma	1965 New York Mets	09-02-1965	21
14	Ron Swoboda	1965 New York Mets	04-12-1965	20
29	Grant Jackson	1965 Philadelphia Phillies	09-03-1965	22
46	Fergie Jenkins	1965 Philadelphia Phillies	09-10-1965	21
24	Billy Sorrell	1965 Philadelphia Phillies	09-02-1965	24
64, 31	Gary Wagner	1965 Philadelphia Phillies	04-18-1965	24
20	Frank Carpin	1965 Pittsburgh Pirates	05-25-1965	26
27	Bob Oliver	1965 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-10-1965	22
23	George Spriggs	1965 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-15-1965	28
31	Luke Walker	1965 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-07-1965	22
1	Bob Barton	1965 San Francisco Giants	09-17-1965	24
48	Ollie Brown	1965 San Francisco Giants	09-10-1965	21
23	Tito Fuentes	1965 San Francisco Giants	08-18-1965	21
32	Bill Hands	1965 San Francisco Giants	06-03-1965	25
23	Ken Henderson	1965 San Francisco Giants	04-23-1965	18
10	Bob Schroder	1965 San Francisco Giants	04-20-1965	20
35	Dennis Aust	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	09-06-1965	24
34	Nelson Briles	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	04-19-1965	21
32	Steve Carlton	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	04-12-1965	20
29	Don Dennis	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	06-18-1965	23
39	Larry Jaster	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	09-17-1965	21
30	George Kernek	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	09-05-1965	25
17	Bobby Tolan	1965 St. Louis Cardinals	09-03-1965	19
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1965 National League Debuts

1965 A.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1965 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Did you know that on September 27, 1963 the Houston Colt .45s fielded an all-rookie lineup that included future stars Joe Morgan, Jerry Grote, and Rusty Staub?

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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