Al Zarilla

Who was Al Zarilla?

Allen Lee "Zeke" Zarilla was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, primarily as a right fielder. Zarilla batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Los Angeles, California.

In a ten-season career, Zarilla posted a .276 batting average with 61 home runs and 456 RBI in 1120 games played.

A solid outfielder with a strong arm and basically a line-drive hitter, Zarilla started his major league career in 1943 with the St. Louis Browns. In 1944 he hit .299 in 100 games, scoring and driving in a run in Game Three of the World Series. After that, he served in the military, returning to the majors in 1946.

Zarilla had his most productive season in 1948, when he posted career-highs in average, hits, home runs, doubles, stolen bases and games, while scoring 77 runs with 74 RBI and made his only appearance in the All-Star Game.

By 1949, Zarilla was the lone member of the pennant-winning 1944 Browns still on the roster. That year, the team sent Zarilla to the Boston Red Sox. He hit .281 in 124 games for his new team, and enjoyed another fine season in 1950 with a .325 average, joining Dom DiMaggio and Ted Williams in the Boston all-.300 outfield. He also collected career-highs in slugging percentage, runs and walks, and tied a major league record with four doubles in a game.