nieman then was purchased by the browns and was added to their active roster in september 1951, setting the stage for his dramatic big league debut. on september 14 of at fenway park, nieman hit two home runs in his first two major league at-bats. the blows—a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run shot in the third—were hit off red sox left-hander mickey mcdermott. nieman added a single and drove in three runs on the day, but boston won the game, 9–6. nieman became the first player in big league history to hit two homers in his first game. bert campaneris (1964), mark quinn (1999), j.p. arencibia (2010) and trevor story (2016) are the only others to accomplish the feat. also, nieman is one of two players in mlb history to homer in each of his first two big league at bats. keith mcdonald, in 2000, is the other.