Charles Louis Hall (July 27, 1884 – December 6, 1943) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. 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) ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

, St. Louis Cardinals, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He pitched in 118 games totalling 909.2

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s. He had 427 strikeouts, a 3.09

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA), and 3

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s. He started 81 games. As a hitter, Hall was a better than average hitting pitcher, posting a .197

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 i ...

(73-for-371) with 32 runs, 2

home runs 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 is ...

, 40

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 batt ...

and 17

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

. In the 1912 World Series, in two pitching appearances, he hit .750 (3-for-4) with 1 double and 1 walk.

Early life

Hall was born on July 27, 1884, in Ventura, California, to Arthur and Elvira (Mungari) Hall; he was christened Carlos Luis Hall. His mother was a descendant of the

Californios Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...

who founded the

Presidio of Santa Barbara A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were cent ...

in the eighteenth century and both Spanish and English were spoken in the home. One of his Red Sox teammates, Eddie Cicotte, later jokingly insisted that Hall’s real name was "Carlos Cholo", which some reference works have repeated as fact.

Early years in baseball

Hall broke into the minor leagues with the Seattle Siwashes of the "near-major"

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

in 1904. Beginning in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

, he soon became a starter, achieving a 29-19 record his first year over a phenomenal 425

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...

. He worked even more innings the following year, notching a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

and producing a 23-27 record. Hall also pitched and coached third base in the semi-pro leagues in Southern California during the off-season. His voice often grew hoarse from shouting commands to baserunners, which led fans to imitate his bark when he came to bat and, later, inspired Red Sox fans to give him the nickname "Sea Lion". Hall pitched another no-hitter in 1906 before joining the Cincinnati Reds, where he pitched as both a starter and reliever for parts of two years before going down to the minor-league

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and Ame ...

. Hall went from Columbus to the St. Paul Saints for part of the 1909 season, then on to the Red Sox in June of that year.

Major League career

Hall pitched both in relief and as a starter for the Red Sox from 1909 through 1913, winning the first game played in the new

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ** German geophysicist Alfred ...

, before being released at the end of the 1913 season. After two years back in the minors with the Saints, where he won 15 games in a row, he returned to the majors with the Cardinals in 1916, where his struggles with control led the team to sell him to the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

of the PCL mid-season. Hall pitched for a year and a half with the Angels, then returned to the Saints in 1918. The

picked him up after the Saints' season ended early due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, then released him at the end of the year.

Later years in baseball

In 1919 Hall went back to the Saints, who were about to embark on some of the best seasons ever played by any minor league team. His performance during the 1920 season, in which he accumulated a 27-8 record with a 2.06 ERA, helped lead the Saints to first place in the American Association. He moved on to the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began p ...

of the PCL in 1924, then, after a brief stint with the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

, ended his baseball career in 1925 at age 41 with the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

. He had amassed 277 wins and 224 losses and a 3.17 ERA in his 668-game pitching career in the minors.https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/p-f442d879

Personal life

Hall married his first wife Emma in 1906; they had a son, Marshall. After Emma died in childbirth in 1912 Marshall was raised by her parents. He remarried Marie Cullen in 1911; they had two sons, Charley and Kenneth. Charley, then six years old, accidentally shot and killed his three-year-old brother in 1920. Hall worked as a policeman, jailer, and deputy sheriff after he retired from baseball. He died from

Parkinson’s disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms become ...

in 1943. Sportswriter Fred Lieb's obituary of Hall in ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' marked his passing: "Many a player who played with Charley or batted against him must have felt a passing regret that the big Sea Lion had roared his last."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Charley 1884 births 1943 deaths Cincinnati Reds players Boston Red Sox players St. Louis Cardinals players Detroit Tigers players Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Seattle Siwashes players Columbus Senators players St. Paul Saints (AA) players St. Paul Apostles players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Sacramento Senators players Birmingham Barons players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Burials at Ivy Lawn Cemetery