Averill, Earl (Howard Earl)
Baseball
b. May 21, 1902, Snohomish, WA
d. Aug. 16, 1983
Averill became a major league player rather late in life and his career lasted less than 13 seasons, yet he made the hall of fame with a live bat and a good glove.
He played semi-pro baseball until he was twenty-four, then joined the San Francisco team in the Pacific Coast League. After three good seasons there, the Cleveland Indians bought his contract for $50,000 and he became their starting centerfielder in 1929. Averill hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.
A right-handed thrower but left-handed hitter, Averill batted .332 as a rookie and had 388 putouts to lead AL outfielders. On September 17, 1930, he hit four home runs in five times at bat during a doubleheader.
The 5-foot-9½, 172-pound Averill had his most productive seasons in 1931 and 1932. He hit 32 home runs each year, with 140 runs scored and 143 RBI in 1931, 116 scored and 124 RBI in 1932.
After being troubled by a series of injuries in 1935, Averill led the AL in hits with 232 and triples with 15 in 1936, when he batted .378. In 8 major league seasons, he had batted over .300 7 times, scored more than 100 runs 7 times, and driven in more than 100 runs 5 times.
Midway through the 1937 season, Averill suffered a brief paralysis of his legs, caused by congenital spinal problem. He played the entire season, hitting .299 with 21 home runs, and in 1938 he batted .330 but had only 14 home runs. Cleveland traded him to Detroit early in the 1939 season and he became a part-time player. He finished his major league career by playing eight games with the Boston Braves in 1941.