Nick Hall (baseball)
Nick Hall, born in Crystal Lake, Illinois, is a former Minor League Baseball right-handed pitcher who pitched one season in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. His nickname is "The Dust Buster".
Early years
Hall is the youngest of three children. As a child, Hall had two heroes, Donald Whiteside and Frank Thomas. Hall is the great grandson of actor George Hall, and nephew of canadian poet Phil Hall.
High School
Hall attended Prairie Ridge High School. While there he was a Pre-Season All-American Baseball Factory . Hall was American legion teammates with current Florida Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen. While at Prairie Ridge High School, Hall pitched a no hitter and hit three home runs in a game against Crystal Lake Central High School on April 19, 2002. Hall was also an outstanding high school basketball player, racking up Fox Valley Conference all-conference honors in his junior and senior seasons. In the 2001-2002 basketball season, Hall qualified for the Illinois High School Association three-point shootout. Hall was an outstanding three-point shooter, especially considering his size, 6' 5", 225 lbs. At the IHSA three point shootout, Hall made it to the final round, eventually losing to former Portland Trail Blazers forward Darius Miles. It has been rumored that Hall will be elected into the Crystal Lake, Illinois Hall of Fame in the 2009 elections.
College career
Hall decided to stay close to home and accepted a scholarship to play college baseball at Northern Illinois University under coach Ed Mathey (baseball). He began his freshman year as a closer before cracking the weekend starting rotation. He finished his career as number one on NIU's career games started list, and second in innings pitched. Hall also won Mid American Conference pitcher of the week in March 2006. Although "The Dust Buster" did not continue basketball at Northern Illinois University, he was somewhat of a legend at the recreational center. It is said by many that Hall and former Northern Illinois University assistant basketball coach Donald Whiteside never lost a pickup basketball game at the recreational center. They are rumored to have a record of 103-0 during the four years Hall attended the school.
Major League Baseball
Hall signed as a Free Agent with the Philadelphia Phillies via the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. Hall pitched his first season in the minor leagues in the town of Clearwater, Florida, for the Clearwater Phillies in the summer of 2006. He consistently threw his fastball in the low to mid 90s. Hall finished the season with a record of 2-1.
T3
While recuperating in the off-season, Hall created a text message sensation called Tuesday Trivia Time or known to many as "T3". Hall had the idea for T3 one day while driving on a road trip. He began sending text messages to his friends asking them a strange but difficult question every Tuesday. His friends loved the T3 text messages and eventually Hall began adding more and more people to the T3 Contestant list. What started as a fun text message competition between friends, evolved into a trivia game played by nearly 1 million people nationwide.
References
- http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/hall_nick00.html
- http://www.ihsa.org/activity/bkb/2000-01/2hapqual.htm
- http://mac-sports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9400&KEY=&SPID=3800&SPSID=42953
- http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=phi
- http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/060906aad.html