Backroads and Ballplayers #40
Stories of the famous and not-so-famous men and women from the days when baseball was "Arkansas' Game." Always free and always short enough to finish in one cup of coffee.
This issue of Backroads and Ballplayers will be brief. My wife, Susan, is working on a kidney stone. She is a tough competitor, but we are in waiting mode as the process continues.
Good News and Bad News
Good News About Backroadsballplayers.com
One of my first tasks of the new year is a rebuild of my website. While not a pleasant thought, this is way overdue. I don’t like bookselling as the overriding theme. You have bought books far beyond my expectations. Income from Backroads and Ballplayers and Hard Times and Hardball pays the bills, but keeping the stories of Arkansas baseball history alive is far more important. I want my improved website to reflect that priority. During this process, the web address backroadsballplayers.com may not be operational. Therefore I have included book ordering and contact information at the end of this post.
Always Free
I have written more than 50 stories in the amazing online magazine Only in Arkansas. I am humbled to be part of this collection of wonderful articles about the Natural State. Only in Arkansas updates content almost daily and offers interesting stories about travel, events, dining, and one baseball history guy. OIA is sponsored by First Security Bank and it is always free! Take a look. You might find a story about your favorite oldtimer. Jim Yeager in Only in Arkansas
Each Monday I post the Substack blog/column that you are reading. It will also always be free. If you want to subscribe to these posts, they will arrive in your email on Monday evenings. If you choose to access these posts on Facebook, readers can find a link to the Substack posts each Monday evening. Please join us in saving the stories of our state’s remarkable baseball history.
Bad News!
My buddy Ronny Clay loves this game and shares my affection for the “Good Ole Days” of Arkansas baseball history. Later this month, I plan to tell the remarkable story of Ronny’s research into an almost-lost story of one of the most outstanding pitchers of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. The 1992 movie A League of Their Own was loosely based on the AAGPBL, a women’s pro-baseball league that lasted from the World War II years until the early 1950s. Ronny and Joe Miles’ story about West Fork’s Mid Earp can be found on page 296 of Hard Times and Hardball.
So, what is the story of the T-shirt that arrived Saturday from my friend Ronny? The “BAD NEWS 5-6-4-3” represents one of the most unusual plays in baseball history.
Arvel Odell Hale was born in Hosston, Louisiana, on August 10, 1908, but, after coming to El Dorado during the oil boom, he called south Arkansas his home for the remainder of his life. He was discovered there by the Alexandria Reds of the Cotton States League in 1929 while playing semipro baseball for a refinery team.
Hale had several nicknames. His Native American ancestry led to “Chief,” a title given to almost every pro baseball player who claimed an indigenous heritage. On his death certificate his nickname is listed as “Bing,” and in his youth, his family called him “Sammy.” It might logically be assumed he preferred “Bad News,” the nickname he listed on his Baseball Hall of Fame information card.
After four excellent minor league seasons and a 25-game trial with the Cleveland Indians, Hale reached the major leagues for good in 1933. For the next seven years, Odell Hale was not only one of the Indians’ most versatile infielders but also one of the top hitters in the American League. From 1933 until an injury-ridden year in 1940 reduced his effectiveness, Hale averaged a cumulative .294 and 70 RBIs per year, including two consecutive years when he batted in 101 runs.
Bad News Hale was a good player, but his most publicized moment in baseball history came from a line drive he misplayed at third base. On September 7, 1935, Hale started a triple play. That, in itself, is not historic. According to Baseball Almanac, as of the 2023 season, there have been 735 triple plays, but only one like the bizarre fielding anomaly that Hale started that Saturday in 1935.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Joe Cronin of the Red Sox hit a screaming line drive toward third base. Hale did not react in time to get his glove up to make the play; consequently, the ball ricocheted off his forehead. Seeing the miscue, both base runners took off before they realized the deflected ball had been caught by shortstop Bill Knickerbocker. The startled shortstop threw to second base, where Roy Hughes stepped on the bag and threw to first baseman Hal Trosky for outs two and three that completed the triple play.
Although some legal version of the shift may eventually duplicate the unusual event, the triple play started by Odell Hale that day remains the only 5-6-4-3 triple play in baseball history. To add to the drama, the play occurred in the ninth inning to end the game with a walk-off triple play. Hale batted .304 in 1935, with 101 RBIs, but the day he started a triple play with his forehead remains his most enduring moment.
After his retirement in 1942, Hale returned to El Dorado where he worked for the Monsanto Chemical Company until his second retirement. Odell Hale died in his adopted hometown in 1980. He was elected to the Union County Hall of Fame in 2012.
Housekeeping:
Book ordering information:
Both Backroads and Ballplayers and Hard Times and Hardball are $18 each including shipping and sales tax.
One of each or two of the same title are $35 and all books after two are $15 each. For example, three books are $ 50, four books are $65, five books are $80, and six books are $95 as long as they are mailed to the same address.
If you want your books signed and personalized please include specific instructions. For example, To Jim.
Mail checks to Jim Yeager, 2350 W. 4th St. Russellville, AR 72801
Contact Jim Yeager by email: backroadsballplayers@gmail.com
We missed you last Saturday, Jim. Hope Susan feels better soon!