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Hall is batting .239 in 32 games for Aeros
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Saturday, Jul 25, 2009
In his first exposure to Triple-A, Mickey Hall played in just 19 games. Worse, he hit just .136.
Yet, the recent two-month stint in Columbus proved to be a valuable learning experience for the 24-year-old left-handed hitter — one that's beginning to pay dividends in Akron.
''I prefer to be playing, but I was really happy to be up there and loved working with [Clippers hitting coach Jon] Nunnally,'' said Hall, who came to the Indians as the player-to-be-named from Boston in the trade that sent veteran pitcher Paul Byrd to the Red Sox last season.
''Because so many of the guys up there are older and already have a pretty good idea of what they want to do, Nunns figures now that they know what to do, he helps them take it a step further,'' Hall said.
Just recently beginning to see regular playing time in the Aeros' outfield with Nick Weglarz sidelined with a nagging back strain, Hall entered Friday night's seven-game home stand coming off a standout series against Erie.
It was against Erie, which has beaten Akron in 12 out of 15 games so far this season, that Hall hit his first two home runs of the season in the last two games of the four-game series.
His first homer was a solo
shot that gave the visiting Aeros a 1-0 lead in Wednesday's game. Hall's second long ball came in the second game of a doubleheader Thursday, a second-inning, two-run blast.
''When I was up there and not playing that much, he suggested to me to just simplify my approach,'' said Hall, a Marietta, Ga., native who was Boston's second-round pick in the 2003 draft — the only high school draftee out of the Red Sox's 16 picks that year. ''He'd say, 'Just look middle away and don't swing at anything in. If he gives it to you middle away, go ahead and get after it.' ''
In the fifth inning of the Aeros' 2-1 victory over Altoona on Friday, Hall played in right field and went 1-for-2 in front of a crowd of 8,277 at Canal Park.
He walked to load the bases with one out in the fifth inning, sliding hard into second base to break up a potential double play while a run scored to give the Aeros a 1-0 lead. Hall later singled with two outs in the seventh inning.
Having returned to the Aeros on July 12, Hall is batting .239 in 32 games for Akron.
Nunnally, an Indians third-round selection in the 1992 draft who played professionally for 14 seasons with seven different organizations, is in his third season coaching in the Tribe's minor leagues.
With Nunnally, one of the parts of Hall's game they honed in on was base stealing.
''Being up there, my role turned into being able to be the guy who could pinch run and [steal] a bag if we needed it,'' Hall said. ''If I wasn't playing, we sit and look at the pitcher together and he'd show me things to look for.
''[Nunnally would] point out things like a pitcher leans a little bit before he picks his foot up on certain pitches. He even showed me how to pick up manager signs — little stuff like that that gives a batter an added advantage and in turn, more confidence.
''He does so much with the mental side of the game.''
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
In his first exposure to Triple-A, Mickey Hall played in just 19 games. Worse, he hit just .136.
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