Earl Averill
| Earl Averill | ||
|---|---|---|
Runs batted in | 1,164 | |
| Teams | ||
| ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
| ||
| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
| Induction | 1975 | |
| Election method | Veterans Committee | |
Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional
Major League Baseball career
Born in
Averill was the first major league player to hit four home runs in a doubleheader (three home runs in the first game, one in the second game) on September 17, 1930; he was also one of the first players to hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat (April 16, 1929, opening day). Averill batted .378 in 1936, leading the American League in hits with 232, but finishing second to Luke Appling in the batting race (Appling batted .388 for the White Sox).
During a July 1 incident in 1935, Averill was lighting firecrackers with his four children as part of a pre-July 4 celebration. One exploded while he was holding it, and he suffered lacerations on the fingers of his right hand, as well as burns on his face and chest. After several weeks, he made a full recovery.[4]
In 1937, Averill experienced temporary paralysis in his legs and was diagnosed with a congenital spine condition. This caused him to alter his batting style and become less of a power hitter.[5]
Averill was traded to the
In 1941, Averill struggled with the
In a 13-year career, Averill was in 1,669
After baseball
After his career, he was very outspoken on being elected to the Hall of Fame. While he did not campaign for induction, he did make the statement that, "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame."[8] Averill was inducted in 1975, eight years before his death.
He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game, insisting on bringing his own bat in a gun case.[9]
His son,
See also
- List of players with a home run in first major league at-bat
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
References
- ^ "Earl Averill is Outstanding Rescruit of Season". The Pittsburgh Press. June 7, 1929.
- ^ "Earl Averill". baseballhall.org. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ "The Dizzy Dean Injury Cascade". www.hardballtimes.com. March 3, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ "Diamond Star is Pre-July 4 Victim". The Bend Bulletin. July 7, 1935. p. 1.
- ^ "Averill, Howard Earl (1902-1983), Baseball Player - HistoryLink.org". www.historylink.org. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ^ "Earl Averill Statistics and History". Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
- ^ "Earl Averill Top Performances at Retrosheet". retrosheet.org. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ "Baseball's Hall gets an earful".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "They Say in the Dugouts". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. UPI. August 12, 1962. Retrieved November 13, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Obituary Archived April 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at The Deadball Era
External links
- Earl Averill at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Earl Averill at Find a Grave
