Thursday, March 12, 2009

Indians Named Harold

I noticed Steve over at "Wait 'til Next Year" has presented his "All-Steve" team. I have decided to list all the Indians from the past 50 years who are named "Harold". There are not many:

Hal Naragon - Catcher. He hit .279 in 239 games
Hal Woodeshick - Pitcher. Was 6-6 in 14 games
Hal Jones - Outfield, First Base. Hit .216 in 17 games
Harold Baines - Designated Hitter. In 28 games he hit .271
Gomer Hodge - First, Second & Third Base. Hit .205 in 80 games.





I think Hal Jones was very lucky to get his own baseball card, the 17 games he played with the Tribe marked his entire career in the majors. On the other hand, poor Gomer played 80 games for Cleveland and as far as I know never got his own major league card. The two above were when he managed the Waterloo Indians and were printed by Larry Fritsch. I nearly forgot all about Gomer and the fact he was named "Harold." He will always be remembered for starting his major league career with four straight pinch hits. He then told reporters "Gollee, Fellas, I'm hittin' four thousand! Ain't that somethin'?" Unfortunately, his "4.000" batting average soon dropped to .205 and he was sent down, never to return. The Gomer quote was from "The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition" by Russell Schneider.

1 comment:

  1. I need to brush up on my history, I never heard of Gomer !!

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