Hal Trosky

Who was Hal Trosky?

Harold Arthur Trosky, Sr., born Harold Arthur Trojovsky, was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox. Trosky was born in Norway, Iowa. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. His son, Hal Trosky, Jr., played one season with the White Sox in 1958.

Trosky had a career .302 batting average, with a high of .343 in 1936. He hit 228 career home runs and had 1012 RBIs. He had 1561 career hits. His 216 HRs with the Indians ranks him fifth on the team's all-time list, behind Earl Averill, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, and Jim Thome. His best numbers came in 1936, when he had 42 home runs, 162 RBIs, and a .644 slugging percentage. He is considered one of the best players to never make an All-Star team. The probable reasoning behind it was he played during the time of Hall of Fame first basemen Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg, all of whom had great seasons year after year. Due to constant migraine headaches first experienced in 1938, Trosky announced on July 12, 1941, to Indians manager Roger Peckinpaugh and reporters the migraines he had been experiencing for more than half of the season for each of the last three seasons. "Gosh, a fellow can't go on like this forever. If I can't find some relief, I'll simply have to give up and spend the rest of my days on my farm in Iowa," Trosky said. Peckinpaugh replaced Trosky with Oscar Grimes. Trosky retired in 1946 at age 33.