Debuting in the Leadoff Position
Posted by Raphy on June 30, 2008
Tonight, Brett Gardner made his major league debut leading off for the Yankees. I was a bit surprised because I thought that leadoff type players usually start off their careers in the "double leadoff" spot. I did a PI search for all players making their debut batting leadoff in games with a DH. Here are the results. (There is one player (not in the link) who made his debut hitting leadoff in an interleague game with a DH. Bonus points if you knew that it was Mike Colangelo. )
60 previous times since 1973, including 5 in 2002. (Some teams, such as the '95 Royals and the '94 Mariners tried it twice.) However, Gardner is the first since 2002.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:37 pm
In keeping with the "HR v. Triples" theme from a couple of posts ago, the debut player in the leadoff spot was more likely to triple in his first game than homer.
Triples: Johnny Damon, Jeff Frye, Mickey Brantley (first AB), Daryl Boston (first AB)and Sergio Ferrer.
Homers: George Wright and Dave Machemer (first AB).