Halsey Hall was a sports reporter

Sports journalism

Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...

 and announcer

Announcer

An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...

 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area from the 1920s to 1970s.

The son of reporter Smith B. Hall and actress Mary Hall, he entered journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 in November 1919 after being discharged from the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Hall worked for several newspapers in the Twin Cities area, including the Minneapolis Tribune, the Minneapolis Star, and the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. He later did radio broadcasts for Minneapolis Millers

Minneapolis Millers

The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, until 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League.The team played first in Athletic Park and later Nicollet Park.The name Minneapolis...

 and Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

 baseball and Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota Golden Gophers football

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...

 football. Hall originated "Holy cow!" as a home run call on WCCO radio long before Harry Caray

Harry Caray

Harry Caray, born Harry Christopher Carabina, was an American baseball broadcaster on radio and television. He covered four Major League Baseball teams, beginning with a long tenure calling the games of the St...

used it.

The Halsey Hall Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research [SABR] located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, maintains a biographical sketch of Halsey Hall at http://www.halseyhall.org/whowas.html.

Further reading

• Thornley, S. (1991), Holy Cow! the Life and Times of Halsey Hall, Nodin Press, ISBN 0-931714-43-5