The 18 home runs and .331 batting average Earl Averill compiled in his rookie season helped to establish him as one of the Cleveland Indians’ most popular players. Averill was a graceful but unspectacular centerfielder. Still, he hit over .300 during eight seasons, allowing him to become the only American League outfielder to be named to the first six All-Star Games (1933-1938). Despite suffering temporary paralysis in his legs in 1937 – the result of a congenital spinal malformation – Averill played four more years in the major leagues. He retired with a lifetime batting average of .318.