Pope Don Pall
- Jeremiah Edwards
- Jun 2, 2017
- 2 min read
Name: Donn Pall
Card Company: Fleer
Year: 1990
Team; Chicago White Sox
Bats/Throws: R
Ht: 6'2
Donn Pall was the home town kid with a whose name rhymed with Pope John Paul II. But there’s more to his career than a catchy nickname. For much of his career he was a part of a White Sox pen that included South Side great Bobby Thigpen. Unless you’re a closer many people don’t really seem to notice or care about what you accomplished in your career. But again, that’s why I’m here, to shine a light on players career that are underappreciated
Donn Pall was born and raised in Evergreen Park, a suburb outside of Chicago and played collegiately at the University of Illinois. Selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 23rd round of the MLB draft in 1985, it would be a little bit over three years before he would make his debut with the White Sox. Not blessed with a big arm, Pall would become a crafty junkballer that relied on a split-finger, forkball combo that made him difficult to hit. He would play briefly as a September call-up in 1988 allowing 11 runs in 28.2 innings in 17 games, good enough for a 3.45 ERA. In the following season, he would see his role grow with the team pitching in 53 games posting a 3.31 ERA. Overall during his tenure with the Sox, Pall (3.49) would put up comparable ERA numbers to that of their closer Bobby Thigpen (3.30), making him a valuable asset for the Sox. Being a local product automatically made him a fan favorite. He routinely signed autographs for fans on game day, because he like them was once a fan.
However, baseball as we all know is a business and he was traded by the White Sox in 1993 for catching prospect Doug Lindsey who would only play in 2 career games for the White Sox. The interesting part about this trade is that Pall went on to have the best season of his career, posting a career best ERA of 3.07 with both the White Sox and the Phillies. In 1994, we would sign on as a free agent with the Yankees being cut midway through the season, before being signed by the Cubs who he only pitched two games for. He would then bounce around the minor league systems of both the White Sox and Marlins for the next 4 years, making sporadic appearances for the Marlins in 1996, 1997 and 1998 before eventually retiring in 1999.
Relief pitchers like Don Pall never get the respect they should be given because they aren’t given the closer role. But we need to remember that a bullpen is more than just a closer, it requires a group effort to protect the lead and get it to the closer at the end of the game. Also, it should be noted that Donn Pall lasted 10 years in the league throwing no harder than 87 MPH, which is truly outstanding. You can now find him back in Chicago working as a financial planner for Morgan Stanley.
In short, Chicago loved Donn Pall and Donn Pall loved Chicago right back.
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