Random Player Review: Mel Hall

Mel Hall was not the most famous Cleveland Indian, nor was he close to being one of the best; but his legacy in the Cleveland Indians fraternity lives on forever with guys like Alex Cole and Pat Tabler.

Hall was an Indians from the second half of the 1984 season until 1988. This was when the Indians were particularly shitty, losing more then 100 games in 1985 and 1987.

Mel Hall never hit over .300 in a season in which he appeared in more than 100 games, but was spectacularly solid. Hall was the type who you’d expect to show up to the ball park every year and hit .280 with 15-18 homeruns, 30 doubles, and 80 RBI. Despite looking the part of the flashy, Hall never stole more than 7 bases in a season, in fact he only stole 4 over the final 5 years of his career; all of them coming in 1992 when he was a New York Yankee.

Hall was a career .276 hitter and .981 fielder, but never appeared in a playoff game. He never was an All-Star.

In 1992, as a 32-year-old, Hall opted to leave the Major Leagues, agreeing to a 2-year $4 million contract to play in Japan. When he returned to play for the San Francisco Giants in 1996, Hall registered just three singles in 25 games with the big league club, retiring shortly thereafter.

Mel Hall and his hair have fallen on tough luck since retirement. Hall faces up to life in imprisonment for sexually molesting two young girls, but we don’t want that to be the focus (how can’t it be?).

The focus of this guy is he was the man with the curly, greasy showtime hair who roamed the outfield at old Cleveland Stadium and Yankee Stadium like a champ. We salute you Mel Hall, king and hero of all ordinary 80’s ballplayers!