Carmen Hill

Carmen Proctor Hill
(Specs or Bunker)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Corry High School
• Debut August 24, 1915
• Final Game May 4, 1930
• Born October 1, 1895 in Royalton, MN USA
• Died January 1, 1990 in Indianapolis, IN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Yes, Dorothy, the man gave your daddy a low curve on the inside this time." - Babe Ruth speaking to his daughter, after he had hit a home run off of Carmen Hill in the 1927 World Series

Carmen Hill pitched 10 seasons in the majors between 1915 and 1930. He started Game 4 of the 1927 World Series, a game in which Babe Ruth hit a home run off of him; however, Hill neither won nor lost the game as the New York Yankees scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th off of reliever Johnny Miljus. Hill had gone 22-11 during the regular season.

Hill was born in Royalton, MN, about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis, MN. He attended high school in Corry, PA, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania near Erie, PA.

He began his pro baseball career pitching for minor league teams in Pennsylvania and Ohio in 1914 and 1915 before breaking into the majors in August 1915. Although he pitched a few major league games in each of 1915, 1916, 1918, 1919, 1922 and 1926, the most appearances he ever had in a season was 8 until 1927.

Meanwhile, he was having a long minor league career, winning 19 for Youngstown in 1915, 26 for Birmingham in 1917 and 21 for Indianapolis in 1926. He pitched six seasons for Indianapolis, winning in double figures each year.

Carmen had two big major league seasons: the 1927 season, when he went 22-11, and the 1928 season, when he was 16-10. Back in the minors in 1931, he won 18 games for Rochester.

One of his nicknames, "Bunker", is obvious due to his last name Hill. The other nickname, "Specs", came about because he was one of the very earliest players to wear glasses, perhaps one of the first five in the majors.

A letter published in the October 1988 issue of Baseball Digest stated that Hill was the last surviving member of the 1927 Pirates, and that he still lived in Indianapolis, IN after moving there in 1920.

Notable Achievements

• 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1927 & 1928)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1927)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1927 & 1928)
• Won a World Series with the New York Giants in 1922 (he did not play in the World Series)

Related Sites

• Carmen Hill at the SABR Bio Project