Hal Rhyne

Who was Hal Rhyne?

Harold J. Rhyne was an infielder in Major League Baseball, playing mainly at shortstop from 1926 through 1933 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. He batted and threw right-handed.

In a seven-season career, Rhyne was a .250 hitter with two home runs and 192 RBI in 655 games, including 252 runs, 98 doubles, 22 triple, and 13 stolen bases. His best season statistically was 1931, when he posted career numbers in average, runs, RBI, hits and on-base percentage, and also was considered in the American League MVP vote.

Rhyne's minor league career spanned twenty seasons, between 1921 and 1940. After starting his career with the Des Moines Boosters, he joined the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. With the exception of the seasons he spent in the majors, he played for the Seals until 1938, when he joined the Tacoma Tigers of the Western International League partway through the season. He played for the Tigers through the end of his professional playing career.

Rhyne is one of only two major leaguers to have been born in Paso Robles, CA. The other is Jason Botts. He died at the age of 71 in Orangevale, California.