Darren Hall

Michael Darren Hall

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• School Dallas Baptist University
• High School Nimitz High School (Irving)
• Debut April 30, 1994
• Final Game August 11, 1998
• Born July 14, 1964 in Marysville, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Darren Hall had an excellent rookie season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1994. Coming up in late April, he quickly worked his way to the closer's job for the defending World Champions and saved 17 games in 30 appearances before the strike put an end to the season in early August. He had the opportunity because incumbent closer Duane Ward was felled by a career-ending injury, and other experienced pitchers such as Tony Castillo and Mike Timlin failed to capitalize on the opportunity. He 2-3, 2.41 with 28 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings. But he was never able to recapture that success. In 1995, he went 0-2, 4.41 with 3 saves in 17 games. He missed a couple of weeks with an injury in late June, when his ERA had ballooned to 6.50, and while he pitched better after that, his last appearance came on July 23rd.

He became a free agent after 1995 and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and pitched for them from 1996 to 1998. He had another good season in 1997, with a 2.30 ERA in 63 games with a couple of saves, but his other two seasons were quite poor. He ended up with a record of 5-12, 3.93 in 130 games, all in relief, over five seasons, with 22 saves.

When he emerged as the closer in 1994, he had already been pitching in the Blue Jays organization for 8 seasons, having been a 28th round pick in the 1986 amateur draft and was already 29, so it was not a huge surprise that he had relatively little staying power after establishing himself in the big leagues. His best season had come in 1988, when he went 3-2, 2.23 with 17 saves in 37 games for the Knoxville Blue Jays, and in 1993, he did save 13 games for the AAA Syracuse Chiefs, but with an ERA of 5.33, so his success the next year was completely out of the blue.

• 2002 Pitching coach Medicine Hat Blue Jays