Earl Averill, Jr.

Earl Douglas Averill (September 9, 1931 – May 13, 2015) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and outfielder in the Major Leagues in 1956 and from 1958 to 1963 for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies. He was commonly called Earl Averill Jr. to distinguish him from his father, Howard Earl Averill, who was a Hall of Fame baseball player in his own right.

Averill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father was a star for the Indians. The younger Averill threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He played college baseball for the University of Oregon (UO) from 1951 to 1953, and while a sophomore had a .439 batting average. Averill was the UO's first All-American in baseball, and was named to the UO Hall of Fame in 1997.

He signed with the Cleveland Indians as a free agent after his college career ended, and began his professional career in 1953 with the Reading Indians, who he played with for two seasons. In 1955, he played for the Indianapolis Indians and Nashville Volunteers. He spent 22 games with Indianapolis in 1956 and had a .241 batting average, but was promoted to the main roster that year and made his Major League debut on April 19.

After playing in 42 games with the Indians in 1956, Averill spent 1957 and 1958 with the San Diego Padres, where he had his best seasons in the minors. In 1957, he had 19 home runs and 67 runs batted in in 119 games, and he followed that up in 1958 with a .347 batting average, 24 home runs, and 87 runs batted in 112 games

Averill had his best season in 1961 with the Angels. In 115 games, he had a .266 batting average and 21 home runs. He ended that season with a .219 batting average in 92 games, then was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jacke Davis. After 47 games with the Phillies, Averill was sent back to the minors, and spent two more seasons in the minor leagues before retiring.

He died on May 13, 2015.

In 2018, Averill was inducted into the Everett Community College Athletic Hall of Fame.