Halsey Hall

Halsey Hall

• Born May 23, 1898 in Minneapolis, MN USA
• Died December 30, 1977 in St. Louis Park, MN USA

Biographical Information

Halsey Hall was a broadcaster who described Minnesota Twins games on radio and television in the 1960s. He got his start as a sportswriter, covering the St. Paul Saints and Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. His first job, after being discharged from the United States Navy in 1919, was with the Minneapolis Tribune, but he moved around a lot, working at times for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Journal and the Minneapolis Star.

His broadcasting career began in the 1920s as he covered various sporting events and had a sports show on the local airwaves, his main jobs being the football games of the University of Minnesota Gophers, and the Minneapolis Millers. He would describe home games from Nicollet Park, but road games were done through recreation from a local studio, using reports received by telegraph. As a sideline, he also worked as a referee for basketball and football games.

In 1961, when the Twins relocated from Washington, DC, he was part of their original broadcast team alongside Herb Carneal and Ray Scott. Scott was later replaced by Merle Harmon. Much to his partners' dismay, he would often describe games while smoking a cigar, and once set off a small fire in the pressbox at Comiskey Park in 1968 when ashes from his cigar fell on a pile of ticker tape. He retired from the booth in 1972 but continued to work as a Baseball Ambassador for Midwest Federal Savings and Loan, which sponsored Twins games. His duties included presiding over pre-game ceremonies at Metropolitan Stadium.

The Minnesota regional chapter of SABR is named in his honor. He was inducted posthumously in the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

Further Reading

• Stew Thornley: "Halsey Hall", in Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: A Pennant for the Twin Cities: the 1965 Minnesota Twins, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2015, pp. 341-346. ISBN 978-1-943816-09-5

Related Sites

• Halsey Hall at the SABR Bio Project