EARL AVERILL

The 18 home runs and .331 batting average Earl Averill compiled in his rookie season helped to establish him as one of the Cleveland ballclub’s most popular players. Nicknamed “The Earl of Snohomish” after his hometown in Washington state, Averill was a graceful but unspectacular centerfielder. Still, he hit over .300 during eight seasons, allowing him to become the only American League outfielder to be named to the first six All-Star Games (1933-1938). Despite suffering temporary paralysis in his legs in 1937 - the result of a congenital spinal malformation - Averill played four more years in the major leagues. He retired in 1941 with a lifetime batting average of .318.

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Text and images courtesy of Dick Perez’s The Immortals - An Art Collection of Baseball’s Best