Former Orioles pitcher and Pirates outfielder Dick Hall dies at the age of 92

Former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Dick Hall of St. Louis, Missouri passed away on Sunday according to ESPN on Monday. Hall began his Major League Baseball career as an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1952 to 1954, before transitioning to a pitcher with the Pirates starting in 1955. Hall remained a pitcher for the rest of his MLB career. He would pitch with the Pirates in 1957 and 1959, with the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, with the Baltimore Orioles from 1961 to 1966 and again from 1969 to 1971, and with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1967 to 1968. As a pitcher, Hall was nicknamed Turkey because of his jerky delivery.

Career Hitting Statistics

Hall batted .210 in 821 plate appearances and 714 at bats. He had four home runs and 56 runs batted in. Hall scored 79 runs and had 150 hits, four doubles, four triples, six stolen bases, 61 walks, 185 total bases, 34 sacrifice bunts, an on base percentage of .271 and a slugging percentage of .259. Of Hall’s 821 plate appearances, 545 were with the Pirates.

Much Better Pitcher

There is no doubt that Hall was a much better pitcher than outfielder. He pitched in 495 games (421 games as a reliever and 74 games as a starter). Hall had a record of 93 wins and 75 losses with an earned run average of 3.32. In 1259 2/3 innings pitched, he gave up 1152 hits, 464 earned runs, 130 home runs, and 236 walks, to go along with 741 strikeouts, 20 complete games, three shutouts, and 71 saves, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.10.

Three Career Shutouts

Hall’s first career complete game shutout came in a 10-0 Kansas City Athletics win over the Baltimore Orioles on May 10, 1960. He gave up six hits and had six strikeouts. Hall’s next two complete game shutouts came with the Orioles in 1961. He blanked the Washington Senators 5-0 on April 27, 1961 and then the Senators again 2-0 on July 5, 1961. In his first shutout over the Senators, Hall gave up two hits and one walk, and had three strikeouts. In Hall’s second shutout over the Senators, he had nine strikeouts compared to zero walks, and gave up four hits.

World Series Champion

Hall won two World Series with the Orioles. The first came in 1966 and the second came in 1970. In game two of the 1970 World Series, Hall picked up the save in a 6-5 Orioles win over the Cincinnati Reds.