John Arthur Halla (May 13, 1884 – September 30, 1947) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

from 1902 to 1917. He played one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

. Halla was 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighed 175 pounds."John Halla Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

Career

Halla was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, in 1884. He started his professional baseball career in 1902 with the Jefferson City Convicts of the

Missouri Valley League The Missouri Valley League was an American minor league baseball league which operated from 1901 through 1905. History The Missouri Valley league formed in 1901 as an Independent league. The league consisted of teams in Kansas and Missouri: Co ...

. In 1904, he had a

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 20-19 for the MVL's Pittsburg Coal Diggers. The following season, he went 15–11 in the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...

and was sold to the Cleveland Naps in August."John Halla Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011. Halla made three relief appearances for Cleveland, pitching 12.2 innings and giving up four

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

s. That was the only major league experience of his career. He began the 1906 season with the

Ohio–Pennsylvania League The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1905–1912) was a Class C (baseball), Class C and Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded b ...

's Sharon Steels but then joined the

's Topeka White Sox after losing four of his first five decisions. With Topeka, Halla went 10-3 for the rest of the season. In 1907, he stayed with the same club and went 24–9 to set a career-high in victories. He pitched a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

on August 1 of that year. Halla was then purchased by the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

and stayed with them for the next three seasons. In 1908, Halla had a win-loss record of 23-16 while pitching 336 innings, and in 1909, he went 17–12. However, he then went 10–23 in 1910 to lead the league in losses."1910 American Association Pitching Leaders"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011. He went to the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

for two seasons after that and posted two more losing records. Halla bounced around various minor leagues until 1917. In his final season, he went 18-15 for the Western League's

Lincoln Links The Lincoln Links were an American minor league baseball franchise that represented Lincoln, Nebraska, for 18 seasons over a 23-year period (1917–39) during the 20th century. They played in the Class A Western League (1917; 1924–27), the Cla ...

. He finished his professional baseball career with 195 wins and 166 losses, all in the minors. Halla died in

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...

, in 1947 and was buried in Pacific Crest Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halla, John 1884 births 1947 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Naps players Jefferson City Convicts players Kansas City Blue Stockings players Pittsburg Coal Diggers players Des Moines Underwriters players Oklahoma City Mets players Sharon Steels players Topeka White Sox players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Butte Miners players Salt Lake City Bees players Lincoln Tigers players Lincoln Links players Baseball players from St. Louis Dayton Veterans players