HAL TROSKY

Harold Arthur Trosky came out of Norway, Iowa, which is a small town with a big name, and he toted a left-handed bat that the American League learned to respect. Born in 1912, dead in 1979, and in between he played first base for the Cleveland Indians, with a later stop on the South Side of Chicago. Six-foot-two, two hundred and seven pounds, threw right, swung left, debuted in 1933 and hung up the spikes in 1946.

What a hitter he was. A career .302 average, .369 on-base, .522 slugging. A thousand and twelve runs batted in. Two hundred twenty-eight home runs. Three hundred thirty-one doubles. The man could hit, and hit with men aboard.

His peak was 1936, and it was a season for the ages. Forty-two home runs. A hundred and sixty-two runs batted in. Two hundred sixteen hits. A .343 average. He was not just a good ballplayer that year; he was the kind of hitter pitchers saw in their sleep. Two years earlier, in 1934, he had thirty-five home runs, a hundred and forty-two runs batted in, and a .330 average. Two loud summers, and he had made himself a name.

In 1939 he hit .335 with twenty-five home runs and a hundred four runs batted in across a hundred twenty-two games. In 1940 he slipped to .295 with twenty-five home runs and ninety-three runs batted in, still dangerous but quieter. He finished with 1,347 games, 1,561 hits, and a .302 lifetime average. A fine ballplayer, and for a couple of years, a great one.