1974 National League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1974 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 1974
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
27	Mike Beard	1974 Atlanta Braves	09-07-1974	24
45	Jamie Easterly	1974 Atlanta Braves	04-06-1974	21
39	John Fuller	1974 Atlanta Braves	05-09-1974	24
28	Ron Dunn	1974 Chicago Cubs	09-03-1974	24
40	Herb Hutson	1974 Chicago Cubs	04-10-1974	24
16	Rob Sperring	1974 Chicago Cubs	08-11-1974	24
9	Steve Swisher	1974 Chicago Cubs	06-14-1974	22
39	Jim Todd	1974 Chicago Cubs	04-29-1974	26
45	Oscar Zamora	1974 Chicago Cubs	06-18-1974	29
51	Tom Carroll	1974 Cincinnati Reds	07-07-1974	21
58	Pat Darcy	1974 Cincinnati Reds	09-12-1974	24
49	Rawly Eastwick	1974 Cincinnati Reds	09-12-1974	23
11	Junior Kennedy	1974 Cincinnati Reds	08-09-1974	24
25	Ray Knight	1974 Cincinnati Reds	09-10-1974	21
37	Will McEnaney	1974 Cincinnati Reds	07-03-1974	22
46	Pat Osburn	1974 Cincinnati Reds	04-13-1974	24
24	Ramon de los Santos	1974 Houston Astros	08-21-1974	25
10	Larry Milbourne	1974 Houston Astros	04-06-1974	23
31	Paul Siebert	1974 Houston Astros	09-07-1974	21
14	Ivan DeJesus	1974 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-13-1974	21
43	John Hale	1974 Los Angeles Dodgers	09-08-1974	21
40	Rex Hudson	1974 Los Angeles Dodgers	07-27-1974	20
4	Kevin Pasley	1974 Los Angeles Dodgers	10-02-1974	21
36	Rick Rhoden	1974 Los Angeles Dodgers	07-05-1974	21
28	Dennis Blair	1974 Montreal Expos	05-26-1974	19
57	Gary Carter	1974 Montreal Expos	09-16-1974	20
49	Warren Cromartie	1974 Montreal Expos	09-06-1974	20
25	Don DeMola	1974 Montreal Expos	04-13-1974	21
55	Terry Enyart	1974 Montreal Expos	06-17-1974	23
27	Dale Murray	1974 Montreal Expos	07-07-1974	24
50	Larry Parrish	1974 Montreal Expos	09-06-1974	20
42	Pat Scanlon	1974 Montreal Expos	09-27-1974	22
37	Jerry White	1974 Montreal Expos	09-16-1974	22
18	Benny Ayala	1974 New York Mets	08-27-1974	23
26	Bruce Boisclair	1974 New York Mets	09-11-1974	21
48	Nino Espinosa	1974 New York Mets	09-13-1974	21
20	Ike Hampton	1974 New York Mets	09-12-1974	23
2	Brock Pemberton	1974 New York Mets	09-10-1974	20
6	Rich Puig	1974 New York Mets	09-13-1974	21
35	Randy Sterling	1974 New York Mets	09-16-1974	23
15	Alan Bannister	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	07-13-1974	22
47	Jesus Hernaiz	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	06-14-1974	29
11	Jerry Martin	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	09-07-1974	25
9	John Stearns	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	09-22-1974	23
48	Erskine Thomason	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	09-18-1974	26
34	Tom Underwood	1974 Philadelphia Phillies	08-19-1974	20
44	Larry Demery	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	06-02-1974	20
37	Miguel Dilone	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-02-1974	19
14	Art Howe	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	07-10-1974	27
56	Juan Jimenez	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-09-1974	25
34	Ken Macha	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-14-1974	23
11	Mario Mendoza	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	04-26-1974	23
46	Jim Minshall	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	09-14-1974	27
27	Ed Ott	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	06-10-1974	22
32	Jim Sadowski	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	04-27-1974	22
50	Kent Tekulve	1974 Pittsburgh Pirates	05-20-1974	27
6	Bill Almon	1974 San Diego Padres	09-02-1974	21
43	Dave Freisleben	1974 San Diego Padres	04-26-1974	22
38	Rusty Gerhardt	1974 San Diego Padres	07-27-1974	23
25	Larry Hardy	1974 San Diego Padres	04-28-1974	26
22	Mike Johnson	1974 San Diego Padres	07-25-1974	23
24	Joe McIntosh	1974 San Diego Padres	04-05-1974	22
34	John Scott	1974 San Diego Padres	09-07-1974	22
48	Dan Spillner	1974 San Diego Padres	05-21-1974	22
42	Jerry Turner	1974 San Diego Padres	09-02-1974	20
28	Ed Halicki	1974 San Francisco Giants	07-08-1974	23
46	Gary Lavelle	1974 San Francisco Giants	09-10-1974	25
48	Butch Metzger	1974 San Francisco Giants	09-08-1974	22
50	John Montefusco	1974 San Francisco Giants	09-03-1974	24
20	Glenn Redmon	1974 San Francisco Giants	09-08-1974	26
36	John Denny	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	09-12-1974	21
31	Bob Forsch	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	07-07-1974	24
24	Danny Godby	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	08-10-1974	27
18	Keith Hernandez	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	08-30-1974	20
46	Larry Herndon	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	09-04-1974	20
29	Jerry Mumphrey	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	09-10-1974	22
29	Stan Papi	1974 St. Louis Cardinals	04-11-1974	23
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1974 National League Debuts

1974 A.L. Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1974 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

On the final day of the 1930 season, Dizzy Dean was called up and pitched a three-hitter. In Spring Training the following year, Dean had a fight with catcher Gabby Street and the franchise left him in the Minor Leagues all season long.

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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