Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

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Monday, December 19, 2005

Former Dirtbag Justin Hall Retires

From the St. Paul Saints website:

JUSTIN HALL RETIRES

December 7, 2005 - The Saints have lost one of the best players in their history to the business world. Justin Hall, a three-time All Star who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 Northern League Championship Series, is leaving baseball for a career in real estate.

"Justin has been the heart and soul of this team for the past three years and he will be missed," said St. Paul manager George Tsamis. "He played hard every time out."

Hall became just the third player in team history to record 1000 career at-bats in the regular season finale at Schaumburg, September 4. He retires ranked in the top three all-time in Saints' history in seven offensive categories. He is the team's all-time leader in Triples with 11 and ranks second in Runs with 242. He ranks third in Hits (304), Doubles (55), Games Played (242) and Extra Base Hits (75). He is fourth in RBIs with 126.

"His numbers were great while he was here but what I liked the best about him was that winning was always the most important thing to him," Tsamis said.

Hall's best statistical year was 2004 when he hit .326 during the regular season. That was just a warm-up for the post-season when he hit .436 in 10 games. His last at-bat of the year proved memorable when he lined a two-out single to right to ignite the seven-run rally that led to the Saints' dramatic 10-6 win over Schaumburg to claim the Northern League championship.

Originally an 18th round draft pick by Oakland in 1998, he played four seasons in that system before moving to independent ball at Newark and Atlantic City in 2002. He joined the Saints the next year - and has been a staple at second base for Tsamis ever since. Hall retired with a career .291 batting average in 586 games over eight professional seasons.

In June, 2004, his contract was purchased by the Texas Rangers. He was slated to report to AAA Oklahoma City but never got there due to a late roster move. Instead, he returned to St. Paul and helped the team create history with an unforgettable comeback.

"Justin will do very well out of baseball because he is driven to succeed," Tsamis said. "It was a pleasure to manage him the past three seasons."

posted on 12/19/2005 by Jeff Agnew

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