HOWARD EARL AVERILL (1902-1983)

Earl Averill -- he went by his middle name -- was a relatively small player from a small town who made it big in major league . Born, raised, and retired in Snohomish, he didn’t begin his big-league career until 1929 when he was nearly 27, but quickly made up for the late start. In an era when many of the game’s legendary players were in their prime, Averill was an immediate and perennial star for the . He was selected to baseball’s first six All-Star Games and batted .318 over a 13-year career. His Cleveland team record for home runs in a career lasted 57 years; his runs-batted-in record still stands. Fans loved him and opponents respected him, but baseball writers choosing candidates for enshrinement in the sport’s hall of fame were not as impressed. They passed over him for more than three decades. Finally, a special selection committee made him a unanimous choice. In 1975, he became the first Washington state native to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. By then he had long been his hometown’s most famous citizen. In fact, his nickname put the town in baseball’s lexicon. He was called and is remembered as The Earl of Snohomish.

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A Hall of Famer At Last He had been eligible for 29 years when the call finally came. On February 3, 1975, a special committee formed to consider old-timers overlooked in the regular Hall of Fame balloting voted unanimously to include Averill. , former National League president and head of the committee, called to give him the news. "My ambition is reached. I really longed for this," Averill told the Associated Press. To a Seattle Times writer, he said being picked unanimously "kind of makes up for the long wait," and added "It’s wonderful to make it while you are still alive" (Zimmerman, The Seattle Times, 1975). Averill was officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on August 18, 1975, becoming the first player born in Washington state to achieve that honor (he has since been joined by two other native Washingtonians -- [b. 1959] of Spokane in 2005 and [1940-2010] of Seattle in 2011). Joining Averill for the ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, were his wife, their four sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. A trace of bitterness was evident in his acceptance speech. "I was convinced I was qualified to be a member, but apparently statistics alone are not enough to gain a player such recognition," he said. "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame" (Patton, Toronto Globe and Mail, 1983). The Cleveland Indians also honored Averill. They retired his jersey number, making him just the third Cleveland player to receive such recognition. ''They told me I was the greatest player ever to wear their uniform,'' Averill said. ''I thanked them but I didn't believe it'' (The New York Times, 1983).