While it took until the age of 27 for the late and great Earl Averill to make it to the big leagues, it didn’t take long for him to establish himself as a Hall of Fame baseball player.

Career (1929-1941):

.318 BA, 2,019 HITS, 238 HR, 1,164 RBI, .395 OBP, 1,224 RUNS

  • 6x All-Star

In eleven of his thirteen seasons, Averill played Centerfield for the Cleveland Indians, now Guardians. Among Cleveland Indian/Guardians franchise records, he’s the all-time leader in RBIs, Runs, & Triples—third in Hits & Doubles and Fourth in Home Runs & Walks. Averill was the first player to hit four home runs in a doubleheader, three in Game 1 and one in Game 2 on September 17th, 1930. 

Averill had the complete package regarding hitting 20-25 home runs a year but averaged 113 RBI and great power. He was excellent in hitting for contact averaging just under 200 Hits in a season, and his baserunning was excellent, averaging 119 Runs scored a year, as well as a healthy number of Doubles and Triples. Unfortunately, Averill would leave a lot of meat still on the bone. In 1937, coming off his career season in 1936…

.378 BA, 232 HITS, 28 HR, 126 RBI, 136 RUNS, .438 OBP

Averill was diagnosed with a Congenital Spine condition and would even experience temporary paralysis in his legs. While he did recover and played a few more seasons, the condition greatly impacted his ability to play at the level he once was. He would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, a few years before his death.

References:

  1. Earl Averill Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/averiea01.shtml
  2. Earl Averill via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Averill