2008 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."
"Baseball is the sport that cackles back at can't-miss kids. Baseball humbles every player sooner or later. Baseball confers greatness stingily, in its own sweet time. At least that's what the bow-tied essayists and sandlot scouts solemnly tell us." - Johnette Howard in Sports Illustrated
American League Debuts

2008

51 Randor Bierd 2008 Baltimore Orioles 04-02-2008 24
23 Alberto Castillo 2008 Baltimore Orioles 07-08-2008 33
41 Bob McCrory 2008 Baltimore Orioles 04-30-2008 25
31 Kam Mickolio 2008 Baltimore Orioles 08-20-2008 24
25 Jim Miller 2008 Baltimore Orioles 09-01-2008 26
3 Lou Montanez 2008 Baltimore Orioles 08-05-2008 26
63 Omir Santos 2008 Baltimore Orioles 09-05-2008 27
58 Alfredo Simon 2008 Baltimore Orioles 09-06-2008 27
14 Eider Torres 2008 Baltimore Orioles 04-26-2008 23
29 Chris Waters 2008 Baltimore Orioles 08-05-2008 27
64 Michael Bowden 2008 Boston Red Sox 08-30-2008 21
54 Chris Carter 2008 Boston Red Sox 06-05-2008 25
68 George Kottaras 2008 Boston Red Sox 09-13-2008 25
12 Jed Lowrie 2008 Boston Red Sox 04-15-2008 23
63 Justin Masterson 2008 Boston Red Sox 04-24-2008 23
59 Chris Smith 2008 Boston Red Sox 06-21-2008 27
30, 60 Jonathan Van Every 2008 Boston Red Sox 05-14-2008 28
51 Gil Velazquez 2008 Boston Red Sox 09-25-2008 28
51 Charles Zink 2008 Boston Red Sox 08-12-2008 28
38 Jason Bourgeois 2008 Chicago White Sox 09-09-2008 26
39 Chris Getz 2008 Chicago White Sox 08-12-2008 24
10 Alexei Ramirez 2008 Chicago White Sox 03-31-2008 26
54 Clayton Richard 2008 Chicago White Sox 07-23-2008 24
61 Adam Russell 2008 Chicago White Sox 06-17-2008 25
68, 23 Michael Aubrey 2008 Cleveland Indians 05-17-2008 26
30 Masahide Kobayashi 2008 Cleveland Indians 04-02-2008 23
46 Scott Lewis 2008 Cleveland Indians 09-10-2008 24
56 Rich Rundles 2008 Cleveland Indians 09-03-2008 27
49 Eddie Bonine 2008 Detroit Tigers 06-14-2008 27
32 Freddy Dolsi 2008 Detroit Tigers 05-06-2008 25
46 Mike Hollimon 2008 Detroit Tigers 06-09-2008 25
20 Matt Joyce 2008 Detroit Tigers 05-05-2008 23
40 Chris Lambert 2008 Detroit Tigers 08-26-2008 25
19 Jeff Larish 2008 Detroit Tigers 05-30-2008 25
52 Dusty Ryan 2008 Detroit Tigers 09-04-2008 24
36 Clete Thomas 2008 Detroit Tigers 03-31-2008 24
30 Mike Aviles 2008 Kansas City Royals 05-29-2008 27
25 Kila Ka'aihue 2008 Kansas City Royals 09-04-2008 24
52 Devon Lowery 2008 Kansas City Royals 09-05-2008 25
53 Carlos Rosa 2008 Kansas City Royals 06-14-2008 23
12 Matt Tupman 2008 Kansas City Royals 05-18-2008 28
27 Yasuhiko Yabuta 2008 Kansas City Royals 04-05-2008 24
34 Nick Adenhart 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 05-01-2008 21
66 Jose Arredondo 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 05-14-2008 24
65 Kevin Jepsen 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 09-08-2008 24
53 Darren O'Day 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 03-31-2008 25
18 Sean Rodriguez 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-19-2008 22
59 Freddy Sandoval 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 09-08-2008 26
68 Alex Serrano 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-16-2008 27
46 Bobby Wilson 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 04-28-2008 25
60 Brian Bass 2008 Minnesota Twins 04-01-2008 26
41 Bobby Korecky 2008 Minnesota Twins 04-26-2008 28
27 Matt Macri 2008 Minnesota Twins 05-24-2008 25
50 Jose Mijares 2008 Minnesota Twins 09-13-2008 23
11 Jason Pridie 2008 Minnesota Twins 09-03-2008 24
56 Randy Ruiz 2008 Minnesota Twins 08-01-2008 30
2 Denard Span 2008 Minnesota Twins 04-06-2008 22
20 Matt Tolbert 2008 Minnesota Twins 04-01-2008 25
91 Alfredo Aceves 2008 New York Yankees 08-31-2008 25
64 Francisco Cervelli 2008 New York Yankees 09-18-2008 22
17 Justin Christian 2008 New York Yankees 06-24-2008 28
48 Phil Coke 2008 New York Yankees 09-01-2008 26
11 Brett Gardner 2008 New York Yankees 06-30-2008 24
66 Juan Miranda 2008 New York Yankees 09-18-2008 25
30 Scott Patterson 2008 New York Yankees 06-01-2008 28
30 David Robertson 2008 New York Yankees 06-29-2008 23
77 Humberto Sanchez 2008 New York Yankees 09-18-2008 25
52 Jeff Baisley 2008 Oakland Athletics 09-09-2008 25
45 Wes Bankston 2008 Oakland Athletics 07-02-2008 24
62 Brooks Conrad 2008 Oakland Athletics 07-21-2008 28
57 Aaron Cunningham 2008 Oakland Athletics 08-31-2008 22
28 Carlos Gonzalez 2008 Oakland Athletics 05-30-2008 22
47 Gio Gonzalez 2008 Oakland Athletics 08-06-2008 22
60 Jeff Gray 2008 Oakland Athletics 09-08-2008 26
56 Fernando Hernandez 2008 Oakland Athletics 04-09-2008 23
55 Josh Outman 2008 Oakland Athletics 09-02-2008 23
56 Cliff Pennington 2008 Oakland Athletics 08-12-2008 24
2 Gregorio Petit 2008 Oakland Athletics 05-18-2008 23
23 Greg Smith 2008 Oakland Athletics 04-09-2008 24
31 Brad Ziegler 2008 Oakland Athletics 05-31-2008 28
23 Tug Hulett 2008 Seattle Mariners 07-12-2008 25
39 Bryan LaHair 2008 Seattle Mariners 07-18-2008 25
60 Justin Thomas 2008 Seattle Mariners 09-01-2008 24
27 Matt Tuiasosopo 2008 Seattle Mariners 09-05-2008 22
61 Luis Valbuena 2008 Seattle Mariners 09-02-2008 22
44 Reid Brignac 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 07-04-2008 22
28 John Jaso 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 09-06-2008 24
43 Elliot Johnson 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 04-05-2008 24
3 Evan Longoria 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 04-12-2008 22
34 Jeff Niemann 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 04-13-2008 25
38 Fernando Perez 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 09-05-2008 24
14 David Price 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 09-14-2008 23
51 Mitch Talbot 2008 Tampa Bay Rays 09-15-2008 24
41 Brandon Boggs 2008 Texas Rangers 04-29-2008 25
19 Chris Davis 2008 Texas Rangers 06-26-2008 22
6 German Duran 2008 Texas Rangers 04-17-2008 23
14 Kazuo Fukumori 2008 Texas Rangers 03-31-2008 31
52 Brian Gordon 2008 Texas Rangers 09-17-2008 29
54 Matt Harrison 2008 Texas Rangers 07-08-2008 22
35 Tommy Hunter 2008 Texas Rangers 08-01-2008 22
37 Eric Hurley 2008 Texas Rangers 06-12-2008 22
60 Warner Madrigal 2008 Texas Rangers 07-02-2008 24
49 Doug Mathis 2008 Texas Rangers 05-12-2008 24
51 Max Ramirez 2008 Texas Rangers 06-22-2008 23
2 Taylor Teagarden 2008 Texas Rangers 07-18-2008 24
43, 39 Jesse Carlson 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 04-10-2008 27
14 Robinzon Diaz 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 04-23-2008 24
25 David Purcey 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 04-18-2008 25
48 Scott Richmond 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 07-30-2008 29
45 Travis Snider 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 08-29-2008 20
59 Randy Wells 2008 Toronto Blue Jays 04-05-2008 25
2008 American League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 2008 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

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."

When Christy Mathewson made his Major League debut the newspaper wrote, "The untried semi-professional possessed great speed and plenty of confidence in himself, but could not control his curves."
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