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 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 ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

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

(1944, 1946). Trosky, who had a career batting average of .302, led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

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 1936 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. 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 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 had 1,012 RBIs. 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,

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played wit ...

, Albert Belle, and Jim Thome. 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 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 In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. 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 ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, 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 ...

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 ...

and Hank Greenberg. HalTroskyGoudeycard

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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., pitched briefly (three innings) with the White Sox in 1958. He died in Cedar Rapids Iowa in 1979 age 66

Highlights

*Led the

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 20th-century American sportsmen

Baseball career

Highlights

See also

References

External links