May 25, 1951
Less than three weeks after his 20th birthday, Willie Mays makes his major league debut for the Giants, going 0-for-5 in New York’s 8-5 win over the Phillies.
Mays was called up after hitting an incredible .477/.524/.799 with eight homers and 30 RBI in 35 games for Minneapolis of the American Association.
The success didn’t immediately carry over, though. Mays went hitless in each game of the series in Philadelphia, opening his career 0-for-12. He homered off Warren Spahn in his fourth game, which was also his debut at the Polo Grounds. However, that was his only hit through seven games and he was hitting .038 (1-for-26) as of June 2.
Mays got a whole lot better from there, of course. He went on to win NL Rookie of the Year honors afer hitting .274/.356/.472 with 20 homers and 68 RBI in 121 games.