Irvin Gladstone Hall (October 7, 1918 – December 12, 2006) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player from Alberton, Maryland. He played four seasons 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) ...

, 1943–1946, for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

. In his four seasons as a second baseman and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, Hall had 496 hits in 1,904

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s for a .261

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 ...

over 787 games. While Hall hit 58

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s and 19

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

s during his career, none of his major league hits were home runs, and his 1,904 career homerless at bats placed him second (behind

Tom Oliver Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British-born Australian retired actor who started his career in theatre in his native country, before emigrating to Australia. Oliver, a staple of the small screen since the early 1960s, is best known for h ...

) among major league batters since 1900 who never hit a home run during their major league career. Hall played 151 games for the A's in 1943, with a .256 batting average for the season on 139 hits in 544 at bats. In 1944, Hall had 150 hits in 559 at bats, ending the season with a .268 average, his best in the majors. Hall batted .261 in the 1945 season, with 161 hits in 616 at bats, his 148 singles and his 484 outs both leading 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 ...

that season. In 1946, his last season in the majors, Hall had 46 hits in 185 at bats, hitting for a .259 average.Irv Hall
Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed June 29, 2009. There were bursts of slugging power while playing 12 seasons of minor league baseball, during which Hall hit 34 home runs overall during his career both before and after his Major League stint. In his first two full seasons in professional baseball, Hall hit nine home runs in both 1938 and 1939 for the Class D

Pocomoke City Red Sox The Pocomoke River stretches approximately U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At it ...

of the

Eastern Shore League The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a class D minor league baseball league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were no ...

. After leaving the majors, Hall hit a career-best 11 home runs in 1949 for the

Aberdeen Pheasants The Aberdeen Pheasants was the primary moniker minor league baseball teams located in Aberdeen, South Dakota between 1920 and 1997. The Pheasants played in the Northern League from 1946 until the league folded in 1971. Aberdeen was the Class C ...

, the minor-league affiliate of the St. Louis Browns in the Class C

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

.IrvHall minor league statistics
Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed June 29, 2009. He was a playing

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

that season, during a four-year stint as a minor league skipper in the Browns' and Athletics' systems. Hall died on December 12, 2006, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

, and is buried at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Irv 1918 births 2006 deaths Aberdeen Pheasants players Baseball players from Maryland Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Rebels players Elmira Pioneers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball managers Philadelphia Athletics players People from Howard County, Maryland Pocomoke City Red Sox players Springfield Browns players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Williamsport Grays players Burials at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens