1991 Profile: Mel Hall

"In his rather unorthodox batting stroke, Mel Hall has found a swing quite appeasing to the Yankee Stadium dimensions.
In two seasons with the Yankees, Hall has slammed 29 home runs and collected 104 RBI in limited playing time. His aggressive play in the outfield has produced several memorable catches.
A fine all-around athlete, this 30-year-old left-hander will see time as a designated hitter and as a fourth outfielder. His explosive bat and skill with the glove make him invaluable coming off the bench in key situations. Last season he produced when asked and is looking forward to another season.
'This is where I want to play,' Hall says. 'The fans respect me and I respect them. It's the place for me to play. This park was tailor-made for me.'"

-The New York Yankees Official 1991 Yearbook

"Hall hit .258 with 23 doubles, 12 home runs and 46 RBIs over 113 games in 1990.
He had a slow first half of April (2-for-21) and then a torrid second half of the month (10-for-23) hitting .273 overall with two homers and seven RBIs over 13 games (11 starts). His hot streak started with a solo homer off Nolan Ryan at Texas on April 20. The home run was the first by the Yankees in 1990; the seven homerless games was the most by the Yankees at the start of a season since 1918. Two days later Hall hit a two-run shot off Kevin Brown.
Hall started out hot in May, getting five hits in his first 16 at-bats through May 5 and bringing his season batting average to what would be a season high .283. His average tailed off drastically over the course of the month as he hit .200 (13-for-65). On May 24 and 29, Mel drove in ninth-inning runs to bring the Yankees within one run, but the Yanks ended up losing both games. Overall in May, he appeared in 25 games (21 starts) and hit .222 with eight doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs.
June was by far his most productive month, with Mel hitting .286 with six doubles, five home runs and 15 RBIs. He started the month hot, getting five hits in his first 13 at-bats, including a three-run homer off Dennis Lamp on June 5 in Boston. From June 10-14 he had an RBI in four straight games, including three games against Boston. Mel was especially effective over an 11-game stretch from June 10-21 when he hit .289 (11-for-38) with two doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs (the Yankees were 6-5 in that stretch). On June 21 at Toronto he was 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. From June 12 through the end of June (18 games), Mel hit .318 (21-for-66), raising his season average 26 points to .259.
He continued his torrid hitting into July until sidelined with an injury in the middle of the month. He appeared in 11 games (all starts) and hit .325 (13-for-40). Hitting safely in 10 of 11 games, he raised his average 11 points to .270. From June 28 into the All-Star break, Mel hit safely in a season best 10 straight games with an average of .372 (16-for-43).
Over a 29-game period from June 12 through July 15, Mel hit .321 (34-for-106), raising his average from .233 to .270. In the July 15 game against Chicago, he doubled to right field and had to leave the game with a pulled right quadriceps which he injured sliding into second. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 16 and activated on August 1.
Hall had a horrendous August, hitting .211 with two home runs and seven RBIs while appearing in 26 games. His worst stretch was from August 8-14 when he was 0-for-16, dropping his batting average from .271 to .258. September was a month marred by injuries. On September 1 at Boston, while chasing a Wade Boggs double, Hall went headfirst into the left field wall, spraining his left wrist; he missed the next five games.
He came back and was 1-for-12 over the next six games before going 3-for-4 on September 11 against Texas. Starting with that game he had seven hits in his next 13 at-bats including a pinch-hit homer in Detroit off Ed Nunez. He made his final start on September 17 in Toronto and jammed his right shoulder diving for an errant throw into left field. The Yankees played 15 more games and Mel appeared twice as a pinch hitter.
Mel hit .268 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs in 71 games before the break, .237 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 42 games after the break. On June 2 against Baltimore, he played in career game No. 900. He made 95 starts in 1990 and the Yanks went 33-62 in those games.
He was 0-for-7 with an RBI with the bases loaded. Hall hit .268 (81-for-302) with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs against right-handed pitching and .207 (12-for-58) with a homer and five RBIs against lefties. He hit .273 with three home runs and 25 RBIs at home and .243 with nine homers and 25 RBIs on the road, hitting .333 (19-for-57) on astroturf. He hit .276 at night and .214 in day games. The Yankees were 6-6 in games in which Hall hit a home run.
Hall had 24 multi-hit games, three more than in 1989. He stroked 23 doubles, his most in one season since he had a  combined 24 in 1984 for the Cubs and Indians, and his 113 games matched his 1989 total. Hall's batting average was his lowest since hitting .257 in 83 games for the Cubs in '84. His seven game-tying RBIs tied for the team lead with Jesse Barfield and Steve Sax and 19 of his 46 RBIs (41%) came with two out.
He signed a three-year contract in November 1989. The contract extends through the 1992 season.
Hall was acquired from the Cleveland Indians on March 19, 1989 in exchange for catcher Joel Skinner and outfielder Turner Ward. He started out slowly, appearing in 15 games and hitting .258 (8-for-31) with two RBIs for the month of April. He made six starts, all in right field. Mel went on the disabled list on April 26 with a pulled right hamstring; the injury occurred on April 25 in Kansas City while he was trying to score from first base on a double and was hurt rounding third base.
He was reinstated on May 26 and hit in seven straight games from May 30-June 10 (11-for-26, .423) with three home runs and eight RBIs, raising his batting average 82 points from .235 to .317. From June 4-8, Hall hit home runs in three consecutive games for the third time in his career and the first time by a Yankee since Don Mattingly hit in eight straight in 1987. From June 4-13 he had an RBI in seven straight games and from June 22-28 hit in six straight (7-for-25, .280) with a homer and seven RBIs. On June 24 Mel hit a grand slam at Kansas City off Kevin Appier, his first since August 29, 1983 when, as a Cub, he hit one off Atlanta's Phil Niekro; it was also the second and final grand slam by a Yankee in 1989. For the month of June, Mel hit .288 with five home runs and 18 RBIs, raising his overall average from .250 to .274.
He maintained his average and power in July, hitting .278 with four home runs and 12 RBIs. At the break, he was hitting .279 with seven home runs and 25 RBIs over 46 games, averaging one RBI every 5.4 at-bats. August was his busiest month as he appeared in 28 games (24 starts- 13 LF, 9 DH, 2 RF), hitting .270 with a home run and 11 RBIs. Mel hit in a season best nine straight games from August 26-September 6 (12-for-33, .364) and in 12 of 13 games from August 26-September 10 (15-for-47, .319). He also scored a run in seven straight games (10 total) from August 26-September 6. On September 1 and 2, he homered in consecutive games against California- the second one, off Mike Witt in the bottom of the ninth, was the game-winner in a 2-1 Yankee win.
Hall went into a 10-game slump from September 12-25, hitting .083 (3-for-36) and dropping his average from .272 to .252. On September 21 in New York in the first game of a twin-bill with the Brewers, he was ejected for being involved in an incident when Luis Polonia was hit by a Mark Knudsen pitch. On September 29 against Detroit, Mel hit a pair of home runs off Jack Morris, the eighth two-homer game of his career and his first since September 29, 1987. He hit in five straight (8-for-20) to end the season and raise his average 10 points to .260.
He had 21 multi-hit games in 1989 and hit .267 with runners in scoring position. He hit .284 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs against right-handed pitchers and .159 with a home run and 11 RBIs against left-handers. He hit .282 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in Yankee Stadium and .233 with six homers and 29 RBIs on the road. The Yankees were 15-1 when Mel homered. His season average was 21 points lower than his career average entering 1989, yet his strikeout to at-bat ratio (1.9:8) was a career low.
Hall was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 2nd round of the June 1978 free agent draft. He was a Gulf Coast League All-Star at Bradenton that year, leading outfielders in putouts (97) and total chances (102) while finishing sixth in the loop with a .290 batting average. For Geneva in 1979, he was named to the New York-Penn League All-Star team and was tied for second in the league in doubles (18), fifth in RBIs (53) and 10th in batting (.315).
At Class A Quad City in 1980 Hall was the Midwest League's fourth-best hitter (.294) and was second in the league in fielding (.973) among outfielders. In 1981, he led the AA Texas League in hits (170) and total bases (286) while tying for the league lead in runs scored (98). He hit .319 with 24 homers and 95 RBIs at Midland and earned a September promotion to the Cubs, his first appearance in the big leagues.
Mel's final season of minor league action, in 1982, was also his best. He led AAA Iowa in homers (32), RBIs (125), hits (165), runs (116), doubles (34) and game-winning RBIs (17). He led the American Association in the three latter departments and was named to the All-Star squad. He hit .329 and was tabbed as the league's Rookie of the Year.
Mel had a fine rookie season with the Cubs in 1983, batting .283 with 17 home runs and 56 RBIs in 112 games, and finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting. He was the NL's Player of the Month for August when he hit .333 with nine homers and 17 RBIs- the first NL rookie to win that award since Fernando Valenzuela in April 1981- and hit his first major league grand slam off Phil Niekro on August 29.
On June 13, 1984, Hall was traded with outfielder Joe Carter and pitchers Don Schulze and Darryl Banks to the Cleveland Indians for catcher Ron Hassey and pitchers Rick Sutcliffe and George Frazier. He hit his first American League home run against Minnesota on June 27, a game-winner in the 10th inning off Ron Davis. He had five RBIs that night.
He was leading the Indians with a .318 average in 1985 when he was felled in a freak car accident on May 9 in Texas. Mel was sidelined for the remainder of the season with a fractured left clavicle, a fractured right side of the pelvic bone, a slight concussion and a neck strain. He returned to Cleveland in mid-September and took batting practice and also spent a week at the Tribe's Florida League Instructional League complex.
In 1986 Mel set career highs in batting average (.296), homers (18) and RBIs (77). In a 50-game span, he batted .346 with 12 homers, 47 RBIs and 34 runs.
He tied his career best in 1987 with 18 homers and was tied for eighth among AL outfielders with a .989 fielding percentage. In a 63-game stretch from July 7-September 25, Mel hit .340 with nine homers and 44 RBIs. In a three-game set against Minnesota from September 11-13, he batted .600 (9-for-15) with four homers and six RBIs; Mel was named American Player of the Week for September 7-13. He hit his first career home run off a left-handed pitcher on September 25 off Gary Lucas of the Angels (after 170 previous career at-bats against lefties).
Mel had the most playing time of his career in 1988 and set season highs in most offensive departments, but his home run output (6) was a career low. Mel set career highs in games (150), at-bats (515), runs (69), hits (144), doubles (32), triples (4), stolen bases (7) and game-winning RBIs (5) and ranked third on the club with 71 RBIs. He struck out just 50 times and led the club with 12 intentional walks.
Named a co-captain on April 4, Hall batted .333 (21-for-63) with nine RBIs through April 24, endured a 27-for-119 (.227) slide in his next 38 games, through June 9, with no homers and nine RBIs, then hit .381 (24-for-63) from June 10-29. Included in that span was his first home run of the season on June 23, off Rick Rhoden at Yankee Stadium, his first homer since the previous October 4 (in 223 at-bats).
Mel hit .352 in 43 games from June 10-July 31 with four homers and 28 RBIs, raising his batting average from .264 to .305. This included a career-high 16 straight games from July 3-20 (23-for-66, .348) with two homers and 13 RBIs. He hit an inside-the-park home run on July 6 against Oakland, the first by an Indian since Joe Carter's on September 10, 1985 and the first in Cleveland since Andre Thornton's on August 29, 1977. Mel hit the homer off Rick Honeycutt, just his second career homer off a southpaw.
He had another hot streak in August, batting .339 in 17 games from the 12th to the 30th with eight doubles, a homer and 15 RBIs. He cooled off in September/October, batting .184 in 25 games with a homer and nine RBIs. He hit his last homer on September 4 against Chicago, his only one after August 16.
For the 1988 season, Mel tied for second best on the Indians with a .290 average (40-for-138) and 63 RBIs with runners in scoring position and was 3-for-7 with eight RBIs with the bases loaded. He was tops on the club in driving home runners from third with less than two out, being successful 24 of 32 times. He was third on the club with 41 multi-hit games but against left-handers was 5-for-46 with a home run, five RBIs, three walks and seven strikeouts.
Mel graduated in 1978 from Port Byron (NY) High School where he was a baseball All-American. He was All-State twice in football and once in basketball. He played Little League, Babe Ruth, and American Legion ball as a youngster. Hall's father, Mel Sr., played minor league baseball, and a cousin, Oscar Bennett, was an infielder in the Oakland organization."

-1991 New York Yankees Information Guide