Earl Douglas Averill (September 9, 1931 – May 13, 2015) was an American professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

who was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

in the Major Leagues in 1956 and from 1958 to 1963 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. He was commonly called Earl Averill Jr. to distinguish him from his father, Howard Earl Averill, who was a

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

baseball player in his own right. Averill was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, where his father was a star for the Indians. The younger Averill threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

(UO) from 1951 to 1953, and while a sophomore had a .439

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 ...

. Averill was the UO's first All-American in baseball, and was named to the UO Hall of Fame in 1997. He signed with the Cleveland Indians as a free agent after his college career ended, and began his professional career in 1953 with the Reading Indians, who he played with for two seasons. In 1955, he played for the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

and

Nashville Volunteers The Nashville Vols were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1901 to 1963. Known as the Nashville Baseball Club during their first seven seasons, they became the Nashville Volunteers (regularly shortened to Vols) ...

. He spent 22 games with Indianapolis in 1956 and had a .241 batting average, but was promoted to the main roster that year and made his Major League debut on April 19. After playing in 42 games with the Indians in 1956, Averill spent 1957 and 1958 with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

, where he had his best seasons in the minors. In 1957, he had 19

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 67

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

in 119 games, and he followed that up in 1958 with a .347 batting average, 24 home runs, and 87 runs batted in 112 games and was named Pacific Coast League MVP. He was brought back up to the Indians for 17 games, then was traded to the Chicago Cubs with Morrie Martin for

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born in Ōpunake, Taranaki, to Irish immigrants. Bef ...

and John Briggs. He spent a season and a half with the Cubs, then was traded to the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

for Al Heist. After a month of not appearing in a game, he was traded to the White Sox and finished 1960 with them, only to be selected that December by the Los Angeles Angels in the

1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1960 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators. The Angels and Senators (who later became the Texas Rangers) were new franchises tha ...

. Averill had his best season in 1961 with the Angels. In 115 games, he had a .266 batting average and 21 home runs. The following year, Averill set an MLB record that he shares with Piggy Ward. He had the most consecutive plate appearances reaching a base by any means with 17, which he did from June 3 to June 10, 1962. He ended that season with a .219 batting average in 92 games, then was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jacke Davis. After 47 games with the Phillies, Averill was sent back to the minors, and spent two more seasons in the minor leagues before retiring. In 449 games over seven seasons, Averill posted a .242

(249-for-1031) with 137 runs, 41 doubles, 44

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 ...

, 159 RBI and 162

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

. He did not hit any

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

in his MLB career. Defensively, he recorded an overall .976

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. In 1980, Averill was a charter inductee to the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

. He died on May 13, 2015. In 2018, Averill was inducted into the

Everett Community College Everett Community College (EvCC) is a public community college in Everett, Washington. EvCC educates more than 19,000 students every year at locations throughout Snohomish County, Washington, with most students and faculty at the main campus in ...

Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Earl Averill
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Averill, Earl Jr. 1931 births 2015 deaths All-American college baseball players Baseball players from Cleveland Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players Los Angeles Angels players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball catchers Nashville Vols players Oregon Ducks baseball players Pacific Coast League MVP award winners Sportspeople from Snohomish, Washington Baseball players from Snohomish County, Washington Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players 20th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links