ST. LOUIS – In a Cardinals franchise rich with World Series banners, legendary figures and superstar players, few fans likely know the stories of Wally Moon and Keith McDonald and their spectacular starts with the club.
Moon made his MLB debut on April 13, 1954, and immediately faced boos from the crowd at Sportsman’s Park and chants for fan favorite Enos Slaughter. However, Moon turned those jeers into cheers when he hit a towering homer out of the stadium and onto a nearby street. Moon, a Cardinal from 1954-58, would not only win the National League Rookie of the Year Award, but he hit a homer in his first and last at-bat of the '54 season.
Then there’s McDonald, who crafted one of the most statistically odd careers in MLB history. McDonald, a reserve catcher, drilled a pinch-hit homer in his MLB debut on July 4, 2000. Two days later, McDonald homered again to tie Bob Nieman’s 1951 mark with his first two MLB hits being homers. Then on July 15, McDonald smashed his third homer in his sixth career MLB at-bat. McDonald got back to the big leagues once more – for two at-bats in 2001 – but he ended his career with all three of his hits being homers.
Moon and McDonald had two of the most memorable MLB debuts in Cardinals history – better than Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton and Ted Simmons and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. Here are the top 10 MLB debuts in club history. Mind you, these are not St. Louis debuts, but MLB debuts as members of the Cards.
1. RF Stan Musial
Sept. 17, 1941
“Stan the Man” smashed 725 doubles in his legendary career – third most in NL/AL history – and the first one came in his MLB debut in a 3-2 win over the Boston Braves in Game 2 of a doubleheader. Musial, 20 at the time, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Of course, the Hall of Famer would go on to craft one of the best careers in MLB history over 22 seasons with the Cardinals.
2. RHP Danny Cox
Aug. 6, 1983
The burly 6-foot-4, 235-pound Cox pitched a gem in his MLB debut, only to be saddled with a no-decision. Cox shut out the Phillies over 10 innings while striking out eight, walking two and scattering seven hits. Unfortunately, Philadelphia rallied for a run in the 11th inning, and St. Louis lost, 1-0.
3. RHP Dizzy Dean
Sept. 28, 1930
The famed right-hander, who was born Jay Hanna Dean, started his Hall of Fame career in a fitting way. The 20-year-old Dean got his first MLB win by limiting the Pirates to three hits and one run in a complete-game 3-1 victory. He struck out five and walked three to begin a career in which he would post a 150-83 record and a 3.02 ERA.
4. C Yadier Molina
June 3, 2004
Where else but No. 4 for No. 4? The 21-year-old catcher wasted no time putting his indelible stamp on the franchise by playing especially well in his MLB debut. Molina not only went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, but he threw out a runner – the Pirates' Jack Wilson – trying to steal second base in St. Louis' 4-2 win. When Molina retired in 2022 following 2,226 games – all with the Cardinals – he was first among all catchers with 14,997 putouts and first at the position with 184 defensive runs saved (per FanGraphs, since '02 when the stat was first tracked). Molina led NL catchers in caught-stealing percentage four times and assists three times.
5. 1B Joe Cunningham
June 30, 1954
The lefty-hitting Cunningham began a distinguished career with the Cardinals by driving in five runs and going 2-for-5 with a homer and two runs scored in an 11-3 win over the Reds. Following his 12-year MLB career – seven with the Cardinals from 1954-61 – Cunningham returned to the club and was a coach on the '82 World Series championship team. While working in sales with the organization, he created community nights and the tradition of high school games being played at Busch Stadium – a tradition that lives on in 2026.
6. RHP Michael Wacha
May 30, 2013
The 21-year-old Wacha’s MLB debut was a huge hit, but it ended in frustration. Wacha retired the first 13 Royals he faced, and he even had a single in his first at-bat. Over seven innings, he allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts. However, reliever Mitchell Boggs allowed a tying homer in the ninth, and the Cards lost, 4-2.
7. RHP Michael McGreevy
July 31, 2024
The current Cardinal shut down the defending World Series champion Rangers in his MLB debut, a 10-1 St. Louis win. That day, McGreevy mixed speeds beautifully and limited Texas to one run, five hits and one walk over seven innings.
8. CF Vince Coleman
April 18, 1985
The speedy Coleman showed off how he would become an integral part of Whitey Herzog’s speed-based Cardinals teams in his MLB debut. Coleman went 1-for-3, but more importantly, he stole two bases in St. Louis' 7-1 loss to the Expos. Coleman would go on to steal a rookie record 110 bases that season and 549 in six years with the Cards from 1985-90.
9. RF Oscar Taveras
May 31, 2014
Taveras – the organization’s top prospect at the time – smashed a projected 418-foot homer in a 2-0 victory over the Giants, and he received a standing ovation and a curtain call from excited Busch Stadium fans. Sadly, Taveras died on Oct. 26, 2014, in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic.
10. (tie) RF Rick Ankiel, Aug. 9, 2007
RHP Adam Wainwright, May 24, 2006
This one comes with two asterisks. Both had an unspectacular MLB debut as a pitcher, but each later made a memorable splash in a different debut. After washing out as pitcher and going nearly three years without appearing in an MLB game, Ankiel debuted as a position player against the Padres and drilled a three-run homer in St. Louis' 5-0 win. Wainwright’s MLB debut came on Sept. 11, 2005, when he allowed three runs in one inning of relief against the Mets. However, in his MLB debut as a hitter, Wainwright hit the first pitch he saw for a homer off Giants left-hander Noah Lowry in the Cardinals' 10-4 win.