Saturday, March 11, 2023

#61 Jimmie Hall - Cleveland Indians


Jimmie Randolph Hall
Cleveland Indians

Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  March 7, 1938, Mount Holly, NC
Signed:  Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent, June 21, 1956
Major League Teams:  Minnesota Twins 1963-1966; California Angels 1967-1968; Cleveland Indians 1968-1969; New York Yankees 1969; Chicago Cubs 1969-1970; Atlanta Braves 1970
World Series Appearances:  Minnesota Twins 1965

Jimmie Hall played in parts of eight major league seasons, finding his most success early as the starting center fielder and two-time All-Star for the Twins.  Given the chance to start in center field in 1963 when regular Lenny Green was injured, Hall enjoyed a career year, batting .260 with 33 home runs and 80 RBIs, finishing third in the league's Rookie of the Year voting.  He'd follow that with another big season in 1964, batting .282 with 25 home runs and 75 RBIs and going to his first All-Star Game.  In the Twins' pennant-winning season of 1965, Hall went to his second All-Star Game and finished the season batting .285 with 25 doubles, 20 home runs and 86 RBIs.  He struggled in the World Series, batting just .143 (1 for 7) as the Twins fell to the Dodgers in seven games.

His production fell off steadily following that season.  After three fantastic seasons, Hall was relegated to a platoon and back-up role beginning in 1966, and he'd fill that role for five more seasons in the majors with the Angels, Indians, Yankees, Cubs and Braves.  Hall played in 963 major league games, collecting 724 hits, 100 doubles, 121 home runs, 391 RBIs and batting .254.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / 
Card #42
January 17, 2023 from Greg Morris Cards - Los Angeles, CA
On the evening of January 8th, I found myself sitting in Terminal C of the Philadelphia International Airport waiting to board my flight to Dallas.  Earlier that day, I had enjoyed watching our oldest son Doug at a winter track meet as he pole vaulted for his high school.  I was in a good mood despite the the fact that like most flights that day, my flight had been delayed.  This was for a work trip, and I was doing my best to stay positive and keep myself in the post-holiday happiness hangover that had lingered into the year's second week.  eBay seller Greg Morris Cards, based out of Los Angeles, somehow seems to post cards from various vintage baseball card set breaks on a weekly basis, with the cards typically all in fantastic condition.  With time to kill, knowing that bidding on baseball cards was a surefire good mood sustainer, and having only 40 cards so far for our 1969 Topps set, I pleasantly passed the time by bidding on 62 commons, all with no previous bidders, and all ending within the next 30 hours.

The next afternoon, while on a break at our work conference in the Hilton Anatole, I checked on the auctions, noting I had been outbid on a few, but was still the high bidder for most of the 62 cards.  That night, as auctions were close to ending, and as I was enjoying a few adult beverages at the fine Rodeo Goat establishment across the street from the Hilton, my Apple Watch began vibrating every few seconds as I was outbid on dozens of auctions.  When the dust had settled, I had won 24 new cards at an average price of about $2.50 per card.  This Hall card was $1.55, and arrived a week after I had made the return trip home from Dallas.

The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Hall is hatless and wearing an Angels uniform in this photo likely taken in 1967.  The back of the card mentions his trade from the Angels, and highlights his hunting and fishing hobbies.

Accuracy Index:  Hall drops three points for being hatless, and another five points for the Angels jersey.

1969 Season
Hall had been traded by the Angels to the Indians on June 15, 1968 for Vic Davalillo (#275).  On April 14, 1969, less than a week into the season, he was sold to the Yankees.  Hall would move on again on September 11, 1969, dealt to the Cubs for a player to be named later and cash.  He was 0 for 10 in four games for the Indians, batted .236 in 80 games for the Yankees, and batted just .208 (5 for 24) in his limited time with the Cubs.  For the season, Hall played in 95 games, batting .224 with three home runs and 27 RBIs.

1964 Topps #73
1965 Topps #580
1966 Topps #190
1968 Topps #121
1970 Topps #649

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #73
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1964-1970
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1970 Topps #649
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  37 in the Beckett online database as of 1/26/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

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