Harold Arthur Trosky Sr. (born Harold Arthur Trojovsky; November 11, 1912 – June 18, 1979) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(1933–1941) and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1944, 1946). Trosky, who had a career batting average of .302, is notable for being the 1936 American League RBI champion as a member of the Cleveland Indians. He was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 1951.

Baseball career

Trosky was born in

Norway, Iowa Norway is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 466 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is approximately southwest of downtown Cedar Rapids. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. Norway is ...

. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Trosky had a career .302

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with a high of .343 in 1936. He hit 228 career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and had 1,012

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He had 1,561 career hits. His 216 HRs with the Indians ranks him fifth on the team's all-time list, behind

Earl Averill Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-ti ...

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, L ...

Albert Belle Albert Jojuan Belle (born August 25, 1966), known until 1990 as Joey Belle, is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1989 to 2000, most notably for the Cleveland Indians. Known for his fierce, competitive temperament ...

, and

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during the ...

. In his rookie season, 1934, he finished second in the AL in RBIs (142) and third in hits (206) and home runs (35). His 374 total bases set a rookie record that has since been tied by

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the Minneso ...

in 1964. Trosky's best numbers came in his third full year in the major leagues, 1936, when he led the American League in RBIs and total bases. His 162 RBIs also set a team record that stood for 63 years, while his 405 total bases that year remain a franchise best. He also had a career-high 42 home runs, .343 batting average, 216 hits, and a .644 slugging percentage. Despite being hailed as the next Babe Ruth, he is widely considered one of the best players to never make an All-Star team. The reason for this omission was the ill-fortune of being an American League first baseman at the same time as Hall of Fame first basemen

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

. Starting in 1938, Trosky started experiencing near constant migraine headaches, which began to affect his vision. After nearly being hit by a pitch, he announced on July 12, 1941, to Indians manager

Roger Peckinpaugh Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (February 5, 1891 – November 17, 1977) was an American professional baseball player shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 through 1927, during which he played for the Cleveland Nap ...

and reporters, "a fellow can't go on like this forever. If I can't find some relief, I'll simply have to give up and spend the rest of my days on my farm in Iowa." Trosky told a sportswriter in February 1942 that he had visited doctors in several American cities for help with his headaches but found none. He revealed that he had told the Indians that he would be retiring but may seek to return to baseball if his condition improved after a year of rest (as it would turn out, the migraine pain would eventually be lessened with daily vitamin B-1 shots and a lessened intake of dairy products). After being deemed unsuitable for service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

due to his migraines, Trosky returned to baseball with the Chicago White Sox in 1944, playing with the team for that year before taking 1945 off and returning to play for one final year in 1946. Trosky retired in 1946 at age 33, although he dabbled in semiprofessional baseball as a manager in 1947 along with serving as a scout for the White Sox until 1950 before he left each position to focus more time on his farm. He eventually took up real agricultural real-estate sales along with serving as a lecturer from time to time with the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. His son,

Hal Trosky Jr. Harold Arthur Trosky Jr. (September 29, 1936 – November 23, 2012) was an American professional baseball player who appeared as a pitcher in Major League Baseball in two games for the Chicago White Sox during the season. Born in Cleveland, Ohio ...

, pitched briefly (three innings) with the White Sox in 1958.

Highlights

*Led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in RBIs (162), extra-base hits (96), and total bases (405) in 1936 *Top 10 in the AL in slugging percentage and home runs six times each in his career *Hit 3 home runs in a game twice: 5/30/1934 vs. Chicago White Sox and 7/5/1937 vs. St. Louis Browns

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trosky, Hal 1912 births 1979 deaths American League RBI champions Baseball players from Iowa Burlington Bees players Cedar Rapids Bunnies players Chicago White Sox players Chicago White Sox scouts Cleveland Indians players Dubuque Tigers players Major League Baseball first basemen People from Benton County, Iowa Quincy Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players

Baseball career

Highlights

See also

References

External links