Remembering Earl Averill

With the Angels playing the San Diego Padres this week, it got me thinking about Earl Averill, one of the original Angels, who won a Most Valuable Player award while playing for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1958.  The Major League Padres began as a franchise in 1969, but there had been a team in San Diego in the PCL called the Padres ever since 1936 when they had a teenaged outfielder named Ted Williams playing for them.  Earl Averill played for them in ’58 when he won the MVP award not only for being among the league’s batting leaders with his .347 average, 24 home runs, and 87 RBI, but also because of his mind-boggling defensive prowess.  He played 12 games that season as the Padres’ catcher, 10 as their first baseman, 32 as their second baseman, 16 as their third baseman, and 55 as one of their outfielders.

But when I went onto the internet to do a little research on him, I discovered that just over a week ago, he had passed away.  His obituary in the Tacoma News Tribune explained that he passed after having complications following surgery on May 13th at the age of 83.  The following day, at Safeco Field, the Mariners observed a moment of silence before their game against the Boston Red Sox in honor of Averill.

Earl was born in Cleveland, Ohio towards the end of his father’s third season as a Major Leaguer.  Both Earl and his father were named Earl Averill, although they both had different middle names.  The senior Averill would go on to play for 13 seasons, be selected to six All-Star teams, play terrific defense, fashion a .318 career batting average, and become inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1975.  His son grew up around baseball, and the younger Averill soon developed a talent for the sport.  He played college ball for the University of Oregon and became the first Duck to be named a baseball All-American.

He spent five years in the minors before his breakout season for the 1958 Padres when he beat out other PCL luminaries like Felipe Alou, Willie McCovey, and Vada Pinson for the MVP award.  After being called up to the Majors and playing as a back-up for the Indians, Cubs, and White Sox, Earl was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 Expansion Draft and enjoyed his best season as a Major Leaguer with the 1961 Angels in the franchise’s very first season.  He was the Halos’ primary catcher that season and hit .266 with 21 home runs and 59 RBI in 115 games.

The next season, Bob “Buck” Rodgers became the Angels’ regular catcher, which pushed Averill to the bench where he was still able to be a valuable player on a team that was in second place as deep as September 11th, just four games behind the Mantle/Maris Yankees.  He was a chatterbox in the dugout, keeping the guys loose and in good spirits, and even though he was a bench player, manager Bill Rigney was able to use him in 92 games due to his defensive flexibility.  Earl had a terrific .366 on-base percentage that season and at one point he had a remarkable string of 17 consecutive plate appearances where he reached base safely, which, to this day, is the Major League record held by him and Piggy Ward, who first accomplished the feat way back in 1893.  During Earl’s streak, from June 3rd to June 10th, he reached base on a force out, reached another on an error, walked eight times, hit four singles, two doubles, and one home run.

That off-season, Earl Averill was traded to Philadelphia where he played one last season in the Majors before playing a couple of effective seasons with the Seattle Rainiers/Seattle Angels back in the PCL.  Earl returned to the Tacoma area after he retired from baseball, working as a computer programmer, a businessman and a consultant.