George Hall (baseball)

Infobox MLB retired
name=George Hall
position=Outfielder


bgcolor1=black
bgcolor2=black
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
bats=Left
throws=??
birthdate=March 29, 1849
city-state|Stepney|England
deathdate=death date and age|1923|6|11|1849|3|29
city-state|Ridgewood|New Jersey
debutdate= May 5
debutyear= 1871
debutteam= Washington Olympics
finaldate=October 6
finalyear=1877
finalteam=Louisville Grays
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.322
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=13
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=249
teams=
* Washington Olympics (1871)
* Baltimore Canaries (1872-1873)
* Boston Red Stockings (1874)
* Athletic of Philadelphia (1875-1876)
* Louisville Grays (1877)
highlights=
* National League home run champion: 1876 George William Hall (March 29 1849–June 11 1923) was a professional baseball player who played in the National Association and later the National League. Born in Stepney, England, Hall later immigrated to the U.S. He made his professional debut on May 5, 1871.cite web| title = George Hall's statistics | work = retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Phallg101.htm | accessdate = 2007-12-18 ]

Early career

George began his professional career with the Washington Olympics of the National Association in by|1871, hitting .294 in 32 games. He moved onto the Baltimore Canaries for the by|1872 and by|1873 seasons, hitting .336 and .345 respectively. Playing mostly center field up to this point, he moved around from center to right field the following year when he played for the by|1874 Champions, the Boston Red Stockings.cite web| title = 1874 National Association Standings | work = retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1874/Y_1874.htm | accessdate = 2007-12-18 ] After just one season with the Red Stockings, he moved on to play for the Philadelphia Athletics where he had another good season at the plate, hitting .299, and four home runs, which was good for second place behind Jim O'Rourke's six.cite web| title = 1875 National Association Leaders | work = baseball-reference.com | url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NA_1875_t.shtml | accessdate = 2007-12-23 ]

National League

After the 1875 season the National Association folded, leaving room for a new league to begin. In by|1876, the National League came into existence, the first official "Major League". George's team, the Athletics, followed that movement with very little success, finishing seventh out of eight teams.cite web| title = 1876 National League Standings | work = baseball-reference.com | url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_1876.shtml | accessdate = 2007-12-23 ] One of the bright spots that year for the Athletics was the hitting prowess of their star hitter, George Hall. He led the team in almost all major hitting categories including a .366 batting average, 51 runs scored, and a league leading five home runs. On June 17, 1876, he became the first Major League baseball player to hit 2 home runs in one game.cite web| title = George Hall Chonology | work = baseballlibrary.com | url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=George_Hall_1849&page=chronology | accessdate = 2007-12-23 ] Those 5 home runs stood as the single season home run record until Charley Jones hit 9 in by|1879.

For the by|1877 baseball season, Philadelphia had been expelled from the league for refusing to go on a western road trip, late in the 1876 season, for financial reasons, so George moved on to play for the Louisville Grays. Again, he had an excellent season, hitting .323, scoring 51 runs, and hitting 8 triples. Surprisingly, after appearing in the league leaders for home runs the last 2 season, he did not hit one in 1877.

Gambling Scandal and Banning

On October 26, 1877, Louisville club vice president Charles Chase confronted George and fellow Gray, Jim Devlin, with charges that they threw some road games in August and September. Both admit only to throwing non-league games. One of which was an exhibition game in Lowell‚ Mass on August 30, and another in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 3). The admissions also implicated teammates Al Nichols and Bill Craver. Hall claimed that he and Devlin helped in losses to the Cincinnati Reds on September 6 and to the minor league Indianapolis Blues on September 24‚ but he argues that since the Reds were about to be suspended and the games nullified‚ it amounted to an exhibition game. As a result of the scandal, all four players were banned for life from Major League Baseball.

Hall died in Ridgewood, New Jersey at the age of 74. He was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

References

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball home run champions

External links

*baseball-reference|id=h/hallge01
*findagrave|19993