| Jimmie Hall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1938-03-17)March 17, 1938 (age 87) Mount Holly, North Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 9, 1963, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 13, 1970, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .254 |
| Home runs | 121 |
| Runs batted in | 391 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Jimmie Randolph Hall (born March 17, 1938) is an American formerMajor League Baseballoutfielder and left-handed batter who played eight seasons in the big leagues. A two-timeAll-Star, Hall made his debut with theMinnesota Twins (1963–66), followed by stints with theCalifornia Angels (1967–68),Cleveland Indians (1968–69),New York Yankees (1969),Chicago Cubs (1969–70) andAtlanta Braves (1970).
Hall was born on March 17, 1938, inMount Holly, North Carolina. At six years old, he was doing farmwork behind a plough. He was a star baseball player at Belmont High School, and inAmerican Legion baseball under coachLawrence "Crash" Davis. In 1954, his American Legion team was runner up in the American Legion World Series.[1][2][3] His father, James Hall, convinced Hall to pursue a baseball career.[4]
Hall was signed as an amateur free agent by theWashington Senators on June 21, 1956 following his high school graduation, who had outbid theBaltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, andPittsburgh Pirates for Hall's services.[1][2] After signing, Hall was assigned to theSuperior Senators in theClass DNebraska State League where he made an immediate impression-hitting .385 with 15home runs, 6triples, and 11doubles in only 58 games.[5] However, he would fail to build on, or even equal, this level of production at the plate and would languish for the next six full seasons in the minors before seeing the major leagues.[5]
Promoted to theKinston Eagles in theClass BCarolina League in 1957 on the strength of his debut season, Hall would regress in his sophomore season and only hit .233 with 6 home runs in 133 games. Forced to repeat the same level in 1958, Hall regained some of his power stroke, belting 17 home runs and 14 doubles to go along with a .267 batting average in 75 games for theFox Cities Foxes in theIllinois–Indiana–Iowa League before being promoted toSingle-ACharlotte Hornets in theSouth Atlantic League for the final 9 games of their season.[5]
In 1959, Hall was promoted to theDouble-ASouthern Association and spent the entire seasons with theChattanooga Lookouts. However, he continued to be unimpressive at the plate, hitting .245 with 11 home runs and 57runs batted in (RBI) in 133 games.[5] Hall also was given an extended tryout at shortstop (with the Senators typically only having all-field, no-hit options on the major league roster[6]), but he would struggle in the field at this new position and commit 24errors in only 78 games.[5]
Although Hall would be promoted to theTriple-ACharleston Senators in 1960, he would hit only .227 with 9 home runs and 30 RBI in 110 games, in which he would see double digit starts at second, third, shortstop, and the outfield. The 1961 and 1962 seasons saw Hall appear in only 54 total games spread over three AAA teams, theSyracuse Chiefs,Toronto Maple Leafs, andVancouver Mounties, hitting a combined .232. The only bright spot would be that the Senators gave up trying to convert Hall into a utility infielder and he saw all his playing time in the outfield. Maybe coincidentally, Hall would hit .313 with 3 home runs and 18 RBI in 24 games with Vancouver in 1962.[5]
After not spending a day in the major leagues, Hall went north with the Twins in 1963 as a reserve outfielder behind futureHall of FamerHarmon Killebrew in left field,All-Star and formerRookie of the YearBob Allison in right, and veteranLenny Green in center.[7] Hall would get off to an inauspicious start, hitting only .185 through the first 48 games,[8] but a mid-June injury to Green would give Hall the chance to showcase himself for an extended period of time and he never looked back. Hall started 125 games of the 143 games he played in, ultimately replacing Green.[1][3]
Starting on June 8,[9] Hall would be the starting centerfielder and he would sparkle, hitting .276 with 31 of his 33 home runs, 72 of his 80 RBI, and 72 of his 88runs over the Twins' final 116 games.[10] Hall's home run total would set a career high, rank fourth in the AL in 1963 (and stood for more than 50 years as the AL record for home runs by a first-year player with not even a game of prior major league experience until broken byJose Abreu in 2014),[citation needed] toppingTed Williams' 31 homers in 1939. He is one of only two players in the modern era of major league baseball history, along with Dodgers outfielderJoc Pederson (2015), to have two streaks of home runs in four consecutive games or more in their rookie season.[11]
At the end of the season, he would finish third in the Rookie of the Year voting behind a pair ofChicago White Sox, third basemanPete Ward and starting pitcherGary Peters.[12] Hall's breakout rookie season was more than enough for him to supplant Green as the Twins' center fielder going forward and Green would be traded early in the 1964 season to theLos Angeles Angels as part of a three-team trade with theBaltimore Orioles with the Twins receiving utilitymanFrank Kostro and infielderJerry Kindall in return.[13]
Handed the center fielder job to start the 1964 season, Hall had a decent sophomore season but did not quite reproduce his 1963 production. Although he would raise his batting average to .282, his power would fall off somewhat with a 24% drop in home runs (from 33 to 25) and a 40% drop in triples (5 to 3).[1] The Twins would also see a drop off, going from a 91 win, third-place finish in 1963 to 79 wins and sixth in the 10-team AL.[14] However, Hall would be named to his firstAll-Star game in 1964, along with teammates Killebrew, Allison,Tony Oliva, andCamilo Pascual, and would be a 9th inning defensive replacement for the AL starter in centerfield,Mickey Mantle.[15]
On May 2, 1964, Minnesota became the third club in the MLB history to hit four consecutive home runs in the same inning, as Oliva, Allison, Hall, and Killebrew all connected in the top of the 11th inning in a 3–3 tie game. With 3 home runs offKansas City Athletics relieverDan Pfister and Killebrew's off his replacement,Vern Handrahan, the Twins would pull out a 7–3 victory.[16][17]
On May 27 versus the Los Angeles Angels, he led off the fifth inning and was hit on the cheek by a pitch from fire-balling southpawBo Belinsky.[18] Hall immediately exited the game, but returned to the starting lineup about a week later and then played well for the remainder of the season while wearing a special protective flap on his batting helmet. However, this beaning and his already feeble showing against left-handed pitchers - hitting .187 with only 4 of his 121 career home runs off them[19] - contributed to his being timid and ineffective versus southpaws, and could contribute to why he ended up finished as a productive player by his sixth season. This theory has been called into question.[20]
In 1963, before thebeaning, he hit .235 with one home run in 68 at-bats against left-handed pitching, while hitting .263 with 32 home runs against right-handers.[21] In the year after Belinsky hit him, 1965, Hall had a .240 average against lefthanders with one home run in 96 at-bats, while hitting .296 with 19 home runs against right handers.[22] In 1966 and 1967, his average against left-handers fell to .163 and .098 respectively, with only 1 home run combined in 84 total at-bats those two years.[23]
Hall was almost traded to the Mets before the 1965 season, but the deal fell through.[24] His 1965 would basically be a carbon copy of the previous season and would see him hit career highs in average (.285), RBI (86), doubles (25), and stolen bases (14), but would also see another drop in home runs to 20. Showcasing both his power and speed, Hall not only hit 20 home runs in 1965 but also beat out 20 infield singles.[1][25] He would be named to his last all-star team in the July 13 game that was played at Minnesota'sMetropolitan Stadium, along with five fellow Twins (first basemanHarmon Killebrew, catcherEarl Battey, pitcherMudcat Grant, shortstopZoilo Versalles andTony Oliva), and went hitless with a walk and a run in two plate appearances after pinch hitting for pitcherPete Richert in the bottom of the fifth inning and moving over to center field in place of starterVic Davalillo to begin the sixth.[26]
Hall's struggles against lefties in 1965 (a .240 batting average) continued in that year's World Series against the NL championLos Angeles Dodgers. With five of the seven games started by southpawsSandy Koufax, the 1965Cy Young Award winner, andClaude Osteen, Hall would only play in the two games started by right handerDon Drysdale (in which he would strike out five times with one hit and one walk in 7 plate appearances). With no help from Hall's righthanded substitute the Twins would lose the Series four games to three.[27]
Hall would see a big drop in playing time in 1966 (from 148 games to 120) as the Twins would more often sit him against tough lefties. Rookie left handerTed Uhlaender would be given significant playing time in center as Hall would play all three outfield positions, with most of his time being in left in place of ailing slugger Allison. With reduced playing time, Hall saw an across-the-board drop in all statistical categories, hitting only .239 with 20 home runs, 47 RBI, and 7 doubles (falling off a cliff from 1965's 25 doubles), but would still slug at least 20 home runs for the fourth season in a row. Deciding to employ the light-hitting Uhlaender full-time in center, the Twins traded Hall on December 2[28] to the Angels along with relieverPete Cimino and first basemanDon Mincher for starterDean Chance and a player to be named (which would become infielderJackie Hernandez on April 10, 1967).
Employed similarly in 1967, Hall would share time in a lefty/righty platoon withBubba Morton, getting only 41 at-bats against left handers in 129 games (hitting a pathetic .098 with one extra base hit), and would put up similar numbers to 1966 (.249, 16 HRs and 55 RBI) and reaching double figures in home runs for the fifth consecutive season. However, he would be finished as a full-time player.
Hall was batting .214 with one homer and eight RBI in 46 games when he was traded from theAngels to theCleveland Indians forVic Davalillo before the trade deadline on June 15, 1968.[29] The change of scenery would not help Hall as he would hit only .198 in 53 games.[1]
Hall started 1969 with the Indians but ended up with theNew York Yankees andChicago Cubs before the season was out.[1][30]
Hall started 1970 with the Cubs but ended it with theAtlanta Braves.[31][30] He retired after the 1970 season.
In eight seasons, Hall batted .254 with 121 home runs, 391 RBI, 387 runs, 100 doubles, 24 triples, 38 stolen bases and 287 walks in 963 games. Defensively, Hall recorded a .981fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions and first base.[1]
In 2008, Hall was inducted into the Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame.[2]
During the 1967-68 offseason, Hall worked as a furniture salesman inDenver, North Carolina. and as a sports announcer at radio stationWCGC. He had a sports talk radio show, and called the play-by-play forGaston College's basketball games. After retiring, he worked for Carolina Freight.[2]
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