1962 American League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac

1962 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)

1962 American League Debuts 1962 A.L. Rookies \| 1962 N.L. Rookies \| Baseball Firsts (All Years)
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
8	Andy Etchebarren	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-26-1962	19
26	Dick Luebke	1962 Baltimore Orioles	08-11-1962	27
34	Mickey McGuire	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-07-1962	21
19	Dave McNally	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-26-1962	19
17	John Miller	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-22-1962	21
27	Art Quirk	1962 Baltimore Orioles	04-17-1962	24
27	Nate Smith	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-19-1962	27
28	Pete Ward	1962 Baltimore Orioles	09-21-1962	25
42, 28	Hal Kolstad	1962 Boston Red Sox	04-22-1962	26
47	Billy Macleod	1962 Boston Red Sox	09-13-1962	20
15, 19	Merlin Nippert	1962 Boston Red Sox	09-12-1962	24
17	Dick Radatz	1962 Boston Red Sox	04-10-1962	25
49	Pete Smith	1962 Boston Red Sox	09-13-1962	22
30	Bob Tillman	1962 Boston Red Sox	04-15-1962	25
4	Ken Berry	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-09-1962	21
9	Ramon Conde	1962 Chicago White Sox	07-17-1962	27
22	Dave DeBusschere	1962 Chicago White Sox	04-22-1962	21
20, 50	Deacon Jones	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-08-1962	28
23	Mike Joyce	1962 Chicago White Sox	07-02-1962	21
25	Dick Kenworthy	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-08-1962	21
29	Frank Kreutzer	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-20-1962	23
8	Brian McCall	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-18-1962	19
41	Verle Tiefenthaler	1962 Chicago White Sox	08-19-1962	24
6	Al Weis	1962 Chicago White Sox	09-15-1962	24
4	Tommie Agee	1962 Cleveland Indians	09-14-1962	20
10	Max Alvis	1962 Cleveland Indians	09-11-1962	24
25	Doc Edwards	1962 Cleveland Indians	04-21-1962	25
22	Ron Taylor	1962 Cleveland Indians	04-11-1962	24
26	Dave Tyriver	1962 Cleveland Indians	08-21-1962	24
23	Floyd Weaver	1962 Cleveland Indians	09-30-1962	21
19	Bill Faul	1962 Detroit Tigers	09-19-1962	22
31	Tom Fletcher	1962 Detroit Tigers	09-12-1962	20
32, 51	Doug Gallagher	1962 Detroit Tigers	04-09-1962	22
5, 54	Purnal Goldy	1962 Detroit Tigers	06-12-1962	24
46	Bob Humphreys	1962 Detroit Tigers	09-08-1962	27
46	Frank Kostro	1962 Detroit Tigers	09-02-1962	25
16	Ed Charles	1962 Kansas City Athletics	04-11-1962	28
12	Manny Jimenez	1962 Kansas City Athletics	04-11-1962	23
14	Bill Kern	1962 Kansas City Athletics	09-19-1962	29
17	Hector Martinez	1962 Kansas City Athletics	09-30-1962	23
36	Fred Norman	1962 Kansas City Athletics	09-21-1962	20
31	Dan Osinski	1962 Kansas City Athletics	04-11-1962	28
24	Diego Segui	1962 Kansas City Athletics	04-12-1962	24
15	Jose Tartabull	1962 Kansas City Athletics	04-10-1962	23
31	Rupe Toppin	1962 Kansas City Athletics	07-28-1962	20
17	John Wojcik	1962 Kansas City Athletics	09-09-1962	20
36	Bo Belinsky	1962 Los Angeles Angels	04-18-1962	25
22	Bob Botz	1962 Los Angeles Angels	05-08-1962	27
34	Bobby Darwin	1962 Los Angeles Angels	09-30-1962	19
39	Ed Kirkpatrick	1962 Los Angeles Angels	09-13-1962	17
35	Julio Navarro	1962 Los Angeles Angels	09-03-1962	28
17	Fred Newman	1962 Los Angeles Angels	09-16-1962	20
10	Dick Simpson	1962 Los Angeles Angels	09-21-1962	19
19	Felix Torres	1962 Los Angeles Angels	04-10-1962	29
12	Bernie Allen	1962 Minnesota Twins	04-10-1962	22
11	George Banks	1962 Minnesota Twins	04-15-1962	23
33	Joe Bonikowski	1962 Minnesota Twins	04-12-1962	21
42	Jim Manning	1962 Minnesota Twins	04-15-1962	18
38	Marty Martinez	1962 Minnesota Twins	05-02-1962	20
37	Tony Oliva	1962 Minnesota Twins	09-09-1962	24
44	Jim Roland	1962 Minnesota Twins	09-20-1962	19
56	Jim Bouton	1962 New York Yankees	04-22-1962	23
40	Jack Cullen	1962 New York Yankees	09-09-1962	22
41	Jake Gibbs	1962 New York Yankees	09-11-1962	23
34	Phil Linz	1962 New York Yankees	04-13-1962	22
25	Joe Pepitone	1962 New York Yankees	04-10-1962	21
17	Bob Baird	1962 Washington Senators	09-03-1962	22
19	Jim Hannan	1962 Washington Senators	04-17-1962	22
1	Jack Jenkins	1962 Washington Senators	09-13-1962	19
34	John Kennedy	1962 Washington Senators	09-05-1962	21
25	Don Lock	1962 Washington Senators	07-17-1962	25
20	Ray Rippelmeyer	1962 Washington Senators	04-14-1962	28
15	Dave Stenhouse	1962 Washington Senators	04-18-1962	28
#	Name (sort)	Team (sort)	Debut (sort)	Age (sort)
1962 American League Debuts

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the American League during the 1962 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."

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?

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