From Hall of Famers like Earl Averill, whose first at-bat home run led to a legendary career, to journeymen like Dave Machemer, whose long-awaited first at-bat proved that dreams can sometimes take years to achieve, each of the players highlighted on this page tells the tale of a professional baseball player’s resilience, accomplishment, and pure enjoyment in playing the game.
Below, find a team-by-team look at the first at-bat home runs hit by players for each of the 30 current Major League Baseball franchises, with links to their SABR biographies and SABR Games Project recaps, along with stats, box scores, and video clips.
To every player who has ever stepped up to the plate for the first time and hit a home run: Congratulations on your achievement! We are so appreciative of the joy you bring to the game.
To the next generation of players: May your first home runs be just the beginning. We can’t wait to see what you will do.
— Giselle Stancic
Sources
Stats: Baseball-Reference.com | Box scores: Retrosheet.org | Videos: MLB.com
“I hit the first pitch and I thought it was going to be a base hit. I thought it was a double. I was getting ready to slide into second base when I saw the umpire say that it was out of the ballpark and I just started laughing. … It was a fastball. … I had never faced Dick LeMay before and that was my first at-bat. … It was a big to-do because [Cubs broadcasters] Lou Boudreau was in the press box and Jack Quinlan, both of them were saying, ‘Boy, they’ve been waiting a long time for Cuno to get in the lineup.’ ”
“My bats didn’t arrive from Salt Lake, so I got a bat from [teammate] Merv Rettenmund. That was a 35 and a half-inch bat. My word! … When I hit it, I’m watching the third-base umpire because I knew it was going to be close. I saw the umpire circling his hand [for a] home run. And the next thing I heard was [Angels coach] Bob Clear saying, ‘Hold it, you might want to come back and touch the base!’ I had ran completely by first base and never touched it. It was a floating feeling around those bases. … When I came in, the first guy to pick me up over his head was Nolan Ryan and they just mobbed me.”
