Harlin Pool

Harold G Pool
(Samson)
also known as Harlin Welty Pool

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 195 lb.

• Debut May 30, 1934
• Final Game June 2, 1935
• Born March 12, 1908 in Lakeport, CA USA
• Died February 15, 1963 in Rodeo, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Harlin Pool was an outfielder for 10 years (1930-1939), two in the Majors (1934-1935) and ten in the minors (1930-1939). According to research by Dr. Bruce Brown and Sean Forman, Pool is one of only about 300 players for whom both names (given name and surname) are unique. He was usually referred to as Harlan Pool.

He broke into Organized Baseball at age 22 in 1930 with the Phoenix Senators in the Arizona State League, hitting .409, third in the high-offense league. He was with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1931-1933. In 1933, his best year in the minors, he had 219 hits, 103 runs, 48 doubles, 10 triples, 5 home runs, 126 RBI and 21 stolen bases at .348/.~388/.479 in 165 games.

At 26 years of age, Pool broke into the big leagues on May 30, 1934, with the Cincinnati Reds. He played for the Reds in 1934-1935. In 1934, his best year in MLB, he had 117 hits, 38 runs, 22 doubles, 5 triples, 2 home runs, 50 RBI and 3 stolen bases at .327/.369/.433 in 99 games. On May 24, 1935 in the first night game in MLB history, singles by Pool and Billy Sullivan Jr. and Gilly Campbell's infield out produced the winning Red marker in the fourth inning in a 2-1 ball game. He played his final MLB game on June 2, 1935 at age 27. Overall in MLB, he had 129 hits, 46 runs, 28 doubles, 7 triples, 2 home runs, 61 RBI and 3 41 stolen bases at .303/.343/.415 in 127 games.

He returned to the minors with Oakland (1934), the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League (1935-1936), Oakland again in 1936, the Seattle Rainiers (PCL) (1937), the Dallas Steers in the Texas League (1938) (winning the batting title at .330) and the San Francisco Seals (PCL) (1939). He was a high-priced acquisition by Trois-Rivières of the outlaw 1939 Quebec Provincial League but was released after 20 games and a .226 batting average, ending his baseball career at age 31. Overall in the minors, he had 1,000 hits, 435 runs, 197 doubles, 43 triples, 27 home runs, 473 RBI and stolen bases at .339/~.382/.463 in 884 games.

Pool was a TSGT in the U.S. Army (HQ CO BASE I APO 75 QMC) during World War II [(htttp:/gravelocator.cem.va.gov) (BN/VA/CM))] According to VA Hospital records, he died at age 54 at his home in Rodeo, CA on February 15, 1963 and is buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, CA, Section Z, Site SITE 2331.

Veterans Administration and Cemetery Records

Pool, Harlin W, bormn 03/13/1908, died 02/15/1963, T/SGT HQ CO BASE I APO 75 QMC, Plot: Z 2331, bur. 02/20/1963, * POOL, HARLIN WELTY TSGT US ARMY WORLD WAR II DATE OF BIRTH: 03/13/1908 DATE OF DEATH: 02/15/1963 BURIED AT: SECTION Z SITE 2331 GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL CEMETERY 1300 SNEATH LANE SAN BRUNO, CA 94066 (650) 589-7737

Sources

Principal sources for Harlin Pool include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) and The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903-1957 by Dennis Snelling; SABR's Minor League Baseball Stars, Volume III; The Texas League in Baseball, 1888-1958 by Marshall D. Wright; and The International League: Year-by-year Statistics, 1884-1953 by Marshall D. Wright and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Harlin Pool at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)