A Little All-American football end at Swarthmore College, the 6'6" Hall went straight
to the Pirate outfield after signing for a substantial bonus. When he failed to hit
well, he switched to pitching. Hall struggled with his new craft in the minors and
missed the 1958 season with hepatitis, before emerging to lead the Pacific Coast
League in wins, winning percentage, and ERA in 1959. After marginal success as a
ML starter, he became one of the top relievers of the 1960s, exhibiting exceptional
control despite an awkward-looking herky-jerky motion. In his last 462 ML innings,
he unintentionally walked only 23 batters. He led the AL in relief wins in 1970. (ME)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»September 12, 1962: Washington's Tom Cheney sets a ML mark with 21 strikeouts in a 16-inning game at Baltimore. Bud Zipfel's 16th-inning home run off Dick Hall gives the Senators a 21 win.
»August 17, 1963: Oriole Dick Hall's perfect inning of relief against the Athletics gives him 28 consecutive batters retired since July 24th (5 appearances). The Orioles win, 61.
»July 24, 1970:
Hall beats Hall as the Orioles reliever Dick Hall tops the Twins Tom Hall, 65. Dick singles in the 8th for his first hit of the year and Don Buford follows with a game-winning home run.
»September 27, 1970:
The Orioles rally for two runs in the 8th inning to beat the Indians Sam McDowell, 43. Dick Hall wins his 10th game with three innings of hitless relief. He also walks no one and ends the year with more wins than walks10 wins and only six walks in 61 innings. Not since Slim Sallee's 21 wins in 1919 when he walked 20 has a pitcher accomplished this. Bret Saberhagen in 1994 will be the next, winning 14 and walking 13. Before Sallee, Christy Mathewson had two seasons of more wins than walks.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
