Once again, it’s time for Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” those one-of-a-kind accomplishments or statistics.
Here are the usual disclaimers: Given statistical accuracy and game formats, I am restricting myself to the Modern Era (post-1900) and not all Negro League game stats have been fully documented and incorporated into the MLB record books. (In 2020, the Negro leagues from 1920-48 were designated major leagues.)
This Tuesday, we start with what seems like a straightforward trivia question: Who is the only player to collect four hits in both his first and last MLB game?
The answer: Ray Jansen. Jansen’s place as an MLB unicorn, however, is not as straightforward as it may seem. That’s because Jansen’s first MLB game was also his last MLB game. (There was a slight hint in the question, it did say “first and last MLB “game,” not “games.” Jansen’s game came on September 30, 1910 – as Jansen found himself playing third base and batting second for the St. Louis Browns, facing the White Sox in St. Louis. In a contest that produced an unusual line score, Jansen produced four singles in five at bats. Despite his output, the Browns (who had sixteen hits) fell to the White Sox (who had just nine safeties) by a lopsided score of 9-1. (The Browns’ seven errors, three by Jansen, didn’t help their cause.)
Still, four-for-five? You’d think Jansen would have found himself in another MLB game at some time, but this proved to be his first and last time on a regular-season MLB field.
Perhaps a little background is in order. The Browns came into the game with a 45-102 record – 54 ½ games out of first place (with a fan-interest level to match). Jansen was a 21-year-old local boy (St. Louis native) who played that season with the Class-D Paragould Scouts. In a lost season, why not give a St. Louis fellow a chance? Who knows, it might even sell some tickets. Long story short, Jansen got his chance and his four-hit game and, in 1911, was back at Class-D (Keokuk Indians). He played in the minors through 1918, rising as high as Class-A, but never saw the major leagues again.
Now, about that four-hit day. It gives Jansen a share of the NL record for hits in a debut MLB game and a share of the overall MLB record for a final MLB game.
Only one player has ever collected more safeties in his MLB debut and that was Cecil Travis of the 1933 White Sox – and that was in a 12-inning contest. Travis poked five singles in seven at bats – the last hit coming in the tenth frame. Overall, just 18 players have collected four hits in their debut MLB games (nine innings) – two more, if you include extra-inning contests. A few notables include: Casey Stengel, Willie McCovey and Kirby Puckett. Travis, by the way, played in 12 MLB seasons (1933-41, 1945-47 … Nationals), hitting .314-27-657.
Moving on to final-MLB-game four-hit performances. Six players (including Jansen) have delivered four hits in their final (nine-inning) MLB game – and one in a final MLB game that went extra-innings.
Photo: James G, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
While I have you here, let’s look at another MLB debut-game record holder. You’ll see why I include this here in the next paragraph. In the search that uncovered Ray Jansen, I also came across the sterling debut game of J.P Arencibia, who had one of the best batter’s box debuts in MLB history. Arencibia not only tied the record for hits (in a nine-inning MLB-debut game) with four, he also tied the record for home runs in an MLB-debut game (two) and took sole possession of the record for total bases in a debut game with 11. He made his debut with the Blue Jays on May 7, 2010 and delivered four hits in five at bats, including a double and two home runs, three runs scored, three RBI and 11 total bases. (The Blue Jays won 17-11.)
What caught my eye was that Arencibia appeared in 10 more games for the Blue Jays that season and collected just one more hit (a single) in 30 at bats (he did draw two walks). Arencibia played in six MLB seasons (2010-2015 … Blue Jays, Rangers, Rays) and hit .212-80-245. Arencibia was a first-round pick in the 2007 MLB draft – out of the University of Tennessee, where he hit .333-33-165 in three seasons (174 games). The year he was called up to the Blue Jays, he hit .301-32-85 at Triple-A Las Vegas.
Others with two homers in a debut game are: Trevor Story, Mark Quinn, Bert Campaneris and Bob Nieman.
Finally, what about RBI? The record for RBI in both a first and final MLB games is six. Cubs’ 20-year-old SS Starlin Castro made his MLB debut on May 7, 2010, batting in the eight-hole. He went two-for-five (one home run), with six RBI in a Cubs’ 14-7 win. Castro went on to twelve-season MLB career (2010-2021 … Cubs, Yankees, Marlins, Nationals). The four-time All Star went .280-138-678 over 1,573 games.
The Rays’ Joey Butler holds the final-MLB-game records for both home runs (two) and RBI (six). On October 4, 2015, in a game against the Blue Jays, Butler (at DH and in the eight-hole) went three-for-four, with two home runs and six RBI in a 12-3 Rays’ win. Butler played in just three MLB seasons (2013-15 … Rangers, Cardinals, Rays), hitting .276-8-31 in 102 MLB games. Butler was a 15th round draft pick (2008) out of the University of New Orleans. He made his MLB debut in his sixth professional season. His final professional season was 2017, with the Triple-A Syracuse chiefs.
Primary Resources: Stathead.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
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