Tom Haller

Thomas Frank Haller

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 195 lb.
• School University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• High School Lockport (IL) High School
• Debut April 11, 1961
• Final Game October 4, 1972
• Born June 23, 1937 in Lockport, IL USA
• Died November 26, 2004 in Los Angeles, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Tom Haller was a major league catcher, coach, and front office executive.

He played twelve seasons in the majors, mostly for the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a good hitter, especially for a catcher, and he was a respected defensive catcher although he never won a Gold Glove.

Haller hit as many as 27 home runs in a season (1966) and hit as high as .286 (in 1970, when the National League hit .258). He was a lousy base-stealer, though, succeeding 14 times but getting caught 30 times.

He was a three-time All-Star and appeared in the 1962 World Series with the Giants, where he slugged .571, platooning with Ed Bailey. Bailey, interestingly enough, is the second most similar player to Haller (according to the similarity scores method) behind Ernie Whitt.

After his playing career ended, Haller was a Giants coach from 1977 to 1979, farm director from 1980 to 1981, and General Manager of the Giants from 1981 to 1985. He spent four months as assistant GM of the Chicago White Sox in 1986.

Tom's brother was longtime umpire Bill Haller. On July 14, 1972, during Tom's only season in the American League with the Detroit Tigers, Tom caught while Bill was the ump.

Notable Achievements

• 3-time NL All-Star (1966-1968)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1966)

Preceded by Spec Richardson

San Francisco Giants General Manager 1981-1985

Succeeded by Al Rosen

Related Sites

• Tom Haller at the SABR Bio Project