1999 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

1999

48 Rod Barajas 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 09-25-1999 24
44 Erubiel Durazo 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 07-26-1999 25
49 Byung-Hyun Kim 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 05-29-1999 20
45 Vicente Padilla 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 06-29-1999 21
65 Rob Ryan 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 08-20-1999 26
56 Erik Sabel 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks 07-09-1999 24
42 Micah Bowie 1999 Atlanta Braves 07-24-1999 24
51 David Cortes 1999 Atlanta Braves 08-30-1999 25
50 Derrin Ebert 1999 Atlanta Braves 04-06-1999 22
11 Pascual Matos 1999 Atlanta Braves 05-11-1999 24
30 Kevin McGlinchy 1999 Atlanta Braves 04-05-1999 21
51 Joe Winkelsas 1999 Atlanta Braves 04-10-1999 25
58 Richie Barker 1999 Chicago Cubs 04-25-1999 26
28 Roosevelt Brown 1999 Chicago Cubs 05-18-1999 23
44 Kyle Farnsworth 1999 Chicago Cubs 04-29-1999 23
56 Ray King 1999 Chicago Cubs 05-21-1999 25
18 Cole Liniak 1999 Chicago Cubs 09-03-1999 23
33 Brian McNichol 1999 Chicago Cubs 09-07-1999 25
20 Chad Meyers 1999 Chicago Cubs 08-06-1999 23
19 Jose Molina 1999 Chicago Cubs 09-06-1999 24
35 Bo Porter 1999 Chicago Cubs 05-09-1999 26
41 Steve Rain 1999 Chicago Cubs 07-17-1999 24
6 Gookie Dawkins 1999 Cincinnati Reds 09-03-1999 20
57 Rick Greene 1999 Cincinnati Reds 06-19-1999 28
26 Jason LaRue 1999 Cincinnati Reds 06-15-1999 25
43 B.J. Ryan 1999 Cincinnati Reds 07-28-1999 23
48 Scott Williamson 1999 Cincinnati Reds 04-05-1999 23
19 Luther Hackman 1999 Colorado Rockies 09-01-1999 24
54 David Lee 1999 Colorado Rockies 05-22-1999 26
2 Chris Petersen 1999 Colorado Rockies 05-25-1999 28
15 Ben Petrick 1999 Colorado Rockies 09-01-1999 22
53 Mike Porzio 1999 Colorado Rockies 07-09-1999 26
4 Chris Sexton 1999 Colorado Rockies 05-03-1999 27
2 Juan Sosa 1999 Colorado Rockies 09-10-1999 24
55 Armando Almanza 1999 Florida Marlins 07-29-1999 26
59 Hector Almonte 1999 Florida Marlins 07-26-1999 23
48 Brent Billingsley 1999 Florida Marlins 05-20-1999 24
43 A.J. Burnett 1999 Florida Marlins 08-17-1999 22
6 Ramon Castro 1999 Florida Marlins 08-27-1999 23
30 Chris Clapinski 1999 Florida Marlins 07-17-1999 27
45 Amaury Garcia 1999 Florida Marlins 07-05-1999 24
37 Julio Ramirez 1999 Florida Marlins 09-10-1999 22
58 Michael Tejera 1999 Florida Marlins 09-08-1999 22
29 Glen Barker 1999 Houston Astros 04-07-1999 27
22 Lance Berkman 1999 Houston Astros 07-16-1999 23
4 Carlos Hernandez 1999 Houston Astros 05-26-1999 23
52 Wade Miller 1999 Houston Astros 07-07-1999 22
52 Jamie Arnold 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-20-1999 25
48 Eric Gagne 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-07-1999 23
49 Matt Herges 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers 08-03-1999 29
55, 70 Onan Masaoka 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers 04-05-1999 21
54 Jeff Williams 1999 Los Angeles Dodgers 09-12-1999 27
22 Kevin Barker 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 08-19-1999 24
50 Robinson Cancel 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 09-03-1999 23
51 Carl Dale 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 09-07-1999 26
51 Horacio Estrada 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 05-04-1999 23
41 Kyle Peterson 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 07-19-1999 23
54 Hector Ramirez 1999 Milwaukee Brewers 08-28-1999 27
51 Tony Armas, Jr. 1999 Montreal Expos 08-16-1999 21
33 Peter Bergeron 1999 Montreal Expos 09-07-1999 21
50 Geoff Blum 1999 Montreal Expos 08-09-1999 26
53 Trace Coquillette 1999 Montreal Expos 09-07-1999 25
37 Darron Cox 1999 Montreal Expos 04-06-1999 31
14 Jose Fernandez 1999 Montreal Expos 07-03-1999 24
28 Ted Lilly 1999 Montreal Expos 05-14-1999 23
40 Guillermo Mota 1999 Montreal Expos 05-02-1999 25
56 J.D. Smart 1999 Montreal Expos 04-06-1999 25
43 Dan Smith 1999 Montreal Expos 06-08-1999 23
34 Chris Stowers 1999 Montreal Expos 07-10-1999 24
52 Scott Strickland 1999 Montreal Expos 08-14-1999 23
29 Octavio Dotel 1999 New York Mets 06-26-1999 25
26 Terrence Long 1999 New York Mets 04-14-1999 23
6 Melvin Mora 1999 New York Mets 05-30-1999 27
48 Dan Murray 1999 New York Mets 08-09-1999 25
30 Jorge Toca 1999 New York Mets 09-12-1999 24
3 Vance Wilson 1999 New York Mets 04-24-1999 26
52 Steve Schrenk 1999 Philadelphia Phillies 07-03-1999 30
37 Anthony Shumaker 1999 Philadelphia Phillies 07-23-1999 26
54 Randy Wolf 1999 Philadelphia Phillies 06-11-1999 22
55 Jimmy Anderson 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-04-1999 23
34 Kris Benson 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-09-1999 24
60 Jason Boyd 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-10-1999 26
64 Mike Garcia 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-10-1999 31
31 Yamid Haad 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-05-1999 21
3 Chad Hermansen 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-07-1999 21
30 Warren Morris 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-05-1999 25
26 Jason Phillips 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-05-1999 25
47 Scott Sauerbeck 1999 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-05-1999 27
58 Buddy Carlyle 1999 San Diego Padres 08-29-1999 21
26 Mike Darr 1999 San Diego Padres 05-23-1999 23
7 Wiki Gonzalez 1999 San Diego Padres 08-14-1999 25
46 Domingo Guzman 1999 San Diego Padres 09-09-1999 24
21 Gary Matthews, Jr. 1999 San Diego Padres 06-04-1999 24
24 David Newhan 1999 San Diego Padres 06-04-1999 25
37 Miguel Del Toro 1999 San Francisco Giants 04-06-1999 26
2 Edwards Guzman 1999 San Francisco Giants 04-06-1999 22
8 Calvin Murray 1999 San Francisco Giants 06-22-1999 27
36 Joe Nathan 1999 San Francisco Giants 04-21-1999 24
66 Rick Ankiel 1999 St. Louis Cardinals 08-23-1999 20
48, 62 Rick Heiserman 1999 St. Louis Cardinals 05-23-1999 26
8 Adam Kennedy 1999 St. Louis Cardinals 08-21-1999 23
1999 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1999 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.

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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