Thomas Edward Hall (born November 23, 1947) is an American former professional baseball left-handed

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 ...

who played 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), ...

(MLB) from 1968 to 1977. Listed at tall and , he was nicknamed "The Blade", owing to his slender physique.

Early life

Hall was born in

Thomasville, North Carolina Thomasville is a city in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,183 at the 2020 census. The city was once notable for its furniture industry, as were its neighbors High Point and Lexington. This Piedmont Triad commu ...

, and attended Ramona High School in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. He graduated from

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

in 1966 and was drafted by

Bill Rigney William Joseph Rigney (January 29, 1918 – February 20, 2001) was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. A 26-year big-league veteran, Rigney played for the New York Giants from to , then spent 18 seasons as the skipper o ...

in the same year.

Career

Hall was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1966 MLB January Draft – Regular Phase. Hall pitched for the Twins, Cincinnati Reds,

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, and Kansas City Royals during his big league career. He was with the Reds during their early years as the "

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division ti ...

", during which time they won two National League Western Division championships and one

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) pennant. Hall was traded by the Twins to the Reds for

Wayne Granger Wayne Allan Granger (born March 15, 1944) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1968, 1973), Cincinnati Reds (1969–1971), Minnesota Twins (1972), New York Yankees (1973), Chicago Wh ...

on December 3, 1971. Hall made his final Major League appearance on May 21, 1977, with the Royals. He had a career record of 52-33 with 32 saves. After retiring from baseball, Hall worked as a supervisor at Rohr, Inc. After being laid off in 1981, he joined the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

as a mail carrier. He retired after 20 years.

References

External links

Tom Hall
at Baseball Almanac 1947 births Living people African-American baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from North Carolina Minnesota Twins players Cincinnati Reds players New York Mets players Kansas City Royals players Tacoma Twins players Denver Bears players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Wisconsin Rapids Twins players Orlando Twins players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub