Hal King

Harold King (February 1, 1944 – March 23, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Mexican League as a catcher from to for the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and the Saraperos de Saltillo.

King is notable for hitting a season-changing home run on July 1, 1973, for the then-slumping Reds, pinch-hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth with the score at 3–1 Dodgers, two on base, and the count at 2 balls and 2 strikes. The play was credited with turning the season around, and the Reds ended the season by winning the division. The Cincinnati Enquirer called the home run one of the most dramatic in Reds history.

Early life King was born in Oviedo, Florida, and attended Oviedo High School.

Career King began his professional baseball career in 1962 with the barnstorming Negro league Indianapolis Clowns, and played for the team through 1964.

King was signed as an amateur free agent in 1965 by the California Angels. He was drafted by the Houston Astros from the California Angels in the minor league draft. His hitting performance earned him a late-season promotion to the major leagues.

He made his major league debut at age 23 with the Houston Astros on September 6, 1967 with an eighth-inning, pinch-hit ground out against future Baseball Hall of Fame member Gaylord Perry. His first major league hit came four days later on September 10, 1967, with a single off the Dodgers' Bill Singer. Later in the game he notched both his first triple and first run batted in, also against Singer, driving in Rusty Staub.

King spent the majority of the 1968 season in the minor leagues but, did appear in 27 games with the Astros. King started the 1972 season in a platoon role alongside right-hand hitting catcher, Dick Billings. He was sent back to the minor leagues in July, after posting only a .180 batting average. On December 1, 1972, the Rangers traded King with Jim Driscoll to the Cincinnati Reds for Jim Merritt.

King became the Reds' third string catcher, playing behind starter and future Baseball Hall of Famer Bench and second stringer Bill Plummer. In the 1973 season, while the Reds were in a slump, King hit a home run that is considered to have been a season-changer. He hit three pinch-hit home runs to either tie or win games for the Reds that season. King played his final major league game on October 1, 1974 at the age of 30. As a designated hitter for the Saltillo Saraperos in 1979, he hit 19 home runs and led the league with 124 walks.

Season-changing home run On July 1, 1973, the Reds were in a slump and trailing their National League Western Division rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers by 11 games in the standings; they had lost the previous night's game 8–7 in the 13th inning after starting with a 5–1 lead. King tore his cleats with the force of the hit. In the moment, Reds play-by-play announcer Al Michaels predicted, "Boy, I tell you, if anything can turn a season around it is that play right there." King's home run was cited by Anderson as a turning point in the season. He told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “It was one of those things that when it happens you immediately think, ‘This is going to turn us around.' ” He died in 2019 in Oviedo, where he had a power washing and home maintenance business.