The Best Major League Debuts In Seattle Mariners History

As I've been saying for several days, Dustin Ackley could be promoted any day, now. And once he's up, he's going to play, at least four or five times a week. But that first time I see his name in the lineup - that first time is going to be special. I'll be brimming with irrational confidence that Ackley will hit the ground running, and that the Mariners' offense will find a good groove as a consequence.

Thinking about Ackley's debut got me thinking about other debuts, and thinking about other debuts got me thinking about the best debuts in Mariners history. And I didn't have to just think about them for long; Baseball-Reference makes it easy to look them up, since Baseball-Reference does everything from telling me that Eddie Kasko went 13-for-53 against Juan Marichal to ripening my avocados (ed. note: not a euphemism). So let's get right to the list.

Position Players

Alvin Davis, 4/11/84: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 BB
Davis' opponent that day? One Dennis Eckersley. I don't know why Davis debuted in the Mariners' seventh game of the season, but the timing worked out.

Quinn Mack, 6/16/94: 3-5, 2 2B
Mack's three hits in his Major League debut were one more than he'd have over the rest of his career. Mack went 5-for-21 over five games between June 16th and June 21st, and was never heard from again.

Kenji Johjima, 4/3/06: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 HBP
This is kind of cheating since Johjima wasn't a normal rookie making a normal debut, but it was still a debut, and he hit a dinger. Unfortunately for him, this game will be remembered not for his home run, but for Roberto Petagine's.

Al Chambers, 7/3/83: 2-4
Chambers' opponent that day? One Dennis Eckersley. Chambers batted in the first and laced a two-run single. Chambers batted in the second and laced a two-run single. The Mariners beat the Red Sox 5-0. Chambers' second single produced one of my favorite lines in play-by-play history:

Single to RF; Sweet Scores; Moses Scores; Owen to 3B

Greg Dobbs, 9/8/04: 1-1, 1 HR
Dobbs made his debut as a pinch-hitter for Jose Lopez in the bottom of the ninth of a game against the Indians. Facing Bob Wickman, Dobbs worked an eight-pitch at bat before blasting an unlikely home run. The Mariners lost by four.

Pitchers

Enrique Romo, 4/7/77: 7 IP, 2 R, 9 K
Romo started the second game in Mariners franchise history, and shut down the Angels for seven innings. Unfortunately Angels starter Nolan Ryan shut down the Mariners even more, and for nine innings, and the Angels won 2-0. In 1977, Nolan Ryan was the Angels' #2 starter.

Jim Converse, 5/22/93: 7 IP, 2 R, 7 K
Converse threw seven innings in his debut. He would never have a longer outing, and he finished with a career ERA of 7.21. But on that one day, he excelled. He excelled and lost to Kevin Appier and the Royals.

Pat Rice, 5/18/91: 5.2 IP, 0 R, 3 K
In the middle of May, Erik Hanson went on the disabled list with a sore elbow. The Mariners needed a starter, so they called on Rice from Calgary, and he turned in a good effort to beat the Yankees on the 18th. Rice then had his next start skipped, and then Hanson came back, pushing Rice into the bullpen. He threw 21 innings over a month, and then disappeared.

Clint Zavaras, 6/3/89: 8 IP, 4 R, 6 K
Two of the guys on the position players list debuted against Dennis Eckersley. Two of the guys on the pitchers list debuted opposite Nolan Ryan. Try and guess whether Zavaras won or lost.

Mark Langston, 4/7/84: 7 IP, 2 R, 5 K
Langston started the Mariners' fourth game of the 1984 season. He also started their ninth, and 16th, and 21st, and by the end of the year he had 33 starts, 35 appearances, and 225 innings. On April 7th, he went up against Jaime Cocanower - not Nolan Ryan - and beat a lineup featuring Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Cecil Cooper. Molitor went 0-4, Yount went 0-3, and Cooper went 1-4, but got picked off.

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Update: I missed this one. You can go ahead and eliminate, I dunno, Zavaras, I guess.

Ken Cloude, 8/9/97: 6 IP, 3 R, 6 K
While Cloude's final line doesn't look exceptional, the 22-year-old retired the first 16 batters he faced, and took a no-hitter into the seventh. He left with the bases loaded, and Paul Spoljaric allowed all three runners to score. That debut, and then Cloude finished with a career ERA of 6.56, and didn't pitch in the Majors after turning 25.