SAN DIEGO – How historic was Kevin McGonigle’s 4-for-5, two-double, two-RBI performance in his Major League debut?
Only one Tiger in the franchise’s previous 125 seasons had posted a four-hit game in his first big league game. That was Billy Bean, who went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI against the Royals and future All-Star pitcher Mark Gubicza on April 25, 1987, at Tiger Stadium.
No Tiger had even posted a three-hit game in his MLB debut in 31 years since Shannon Penn – a 58th-round Draft pick by Texas in 1988 who had signed with the Tigers as a Minor League free agent – went 3-for-4 against the Mariners in the Kingdome on April 28, 1995. Penn played just two more games with Detroit that season, six more the following season, and recorded only one more hit in his big league career, finishing 4-for-23.
McGonigle is just the 21st Major Leaguer to debut with a four-hit game since 1900. That list includes Hall of Famers Willie McCovey (4-for-4 with two triples for the Giants against the Phillies on July 30, 1959) and former Toledo Mud Hen Kirby Puckett (4-for-5 for the Twins against the Angels on May 8, 1984). It also includes such interesting stories as the Phillies’ Ed Freed, who fell a triple shy of the cycle in his debut against Cincinnati on Sept. 11, 1942, joined the Army after the season to serve in World War II and never played again, his career lasting just 13 games.
Before Casey Stengel became a Hall of Fame manager, he was a Brooklyn center fielder who singled in four straight at-bats, drew a walk and stole two bases in his debut against the Pirates on Sept. 17, 1912. Mack Jones debuted for the Milwaukee Braves against Bob Gibson and the Cardinals on July 13, 1961, and went 4-for-5 with a double, helping hand the 25-year-old Gibson the loss.
Until McGonigle, the last Major Leaguer to debut with a four-hit game was former Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia, whose debut was among the greatest ever: He went 4-for-5 with two homers, one double and three RBIs against the Rays on Aug. 7, 2010. He had only one more four-hit game over his six-year Major League career, but he hit 80 home runs.
Until McGonigle, the last Major Leaguer to make his debut on Opening Day with a four-hit game was Delino DeShields Sr., who made the Montreal Expos’ roster as the starting second baseman and went 4-for-6 with a double and a stolen base on April 9, 1990, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
At 21 years, 220 days, McGonigle is the fourth-youngest player to post a four-hit game in his debut, older than only McCovey (21 years, 201 days), DeShields (21 years, 84 days) and Cecil Travis, whose 5-for-7 debut for the Washington Senators against Cleveland on May 16, 1933, remains the record hit total for an MLB debutante. He was just 19 years, 281 days old when he did it.
McGonigle is one of five Tigers to post multiple extra-base hits in his Major League debut, along with Bean, but the only one to do so while debuting on Opening Day.
Time will tell where McGonigle’s career falls on these amazing lists. But his prospect pedigree and his quality of at-bats suggest he’s off to a pretty good start and not just a flash in the pan.