The MMOB Daily Quote - Earl Averill

Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 - August 16, 1983)

Today's subject of the MMOB Daily Quote is Cleveland Indians centerfielder and Hall of Famer Earl Averill. I understand that Earl didn't campaign for induction into the Baseball HOF, but he very publicly indicated that he had instructed his family to refuse it if it was awarded posthumously. Good thing he got his wish and was elected 8 years before his death.

I wasn't able to locate a single quote from Mr. Averill so in a first for this segment I'm posting a quote about him and a pretty humorous annecdote I picked up on Wikipedia: let's see what Mr. Averill had to say.

“No other left-hander gave me so much trouble. When I think about how many points in Earl Averill's lifetime batting average (.318) came off Gomez deliveries, I thank the good Lord he wasn't twins. One more like him would probably have kept me out of the Hall of Fame.” Lefty Gomez

He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game. He insisted on bringing his own bat, which was no big deal. The problem was that he insisted on bringing it in a gun case!

Cheers! - Jason