Appling (b. 1907 - d. 1991) was born in High Point, NC, not too far from where I grew up. He played in the majors from 1930 to 1943; 1945 to 1950, all for the White Sox. He had 2,749 career hits, 45 home runs and a career .310 batting average.
He was a 7-time All Star and finished as high as 2nd in the MVP voting (twice - 1936 and 1943), losing to Lou Gehrig (36) and Spud Chandler (43). He was the AL Batting Champion in 1936 (.388) and 1943 (.328). He was also very tough to strike out. The most he ever struck out in a season was 41 times. He had one other season where he struck out 40 times.
Appling was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964 when he received 70% of the initial vote and 94% in the runoff vote.
He is my 92nd Hall of Famer. The ball is a Bart Giamatti ONL ball, which is kind of odd, since Appling spent his entire career in the AL. Dion got the ball at Braves Spring Training a long time ago, so that explaing the ONL ball. I really like it, though, as I believe it is my first Giamatti ball.
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