Pool broke into professional baseball in 1930 with the Oakland Oaks, starting the season with the club's affiliate Phoenix of the Arizona League. of the Pacific Coast League for whom he was a catcher Mission Reds' manager George Burns stated in 1931 that Pool "is one of the most natural hitters in the Coast league. Pool replaced catcher and future Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi when Lombardi was elevated to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1931. Pool, in 165 games for the Oaks, batted .348 (seventh in the league) with 103 run scored, 126 runs batted in, 219 hits, 48 doubles, 10 triples and 5 home runs, along with 21 stolen bases.
Pool was part of baseball history in 1933 when the Oaks hosted the San Francisco Seals and 18-year-old Joe DiMaggio, who had a 61-game hitting streak. In an otherwise meaningless game as far as the pennant race was concerned, DiMaggio was hitless with his team trailing by two runs in the ninth inning, but the Seals tied it to go into extra innings. DiMaggio came to bat in the 11th inning and lined a pitch into rightfield, where Pool ran back and made a one-handed catch to end the streak at 61.
On May 22, 1934, the Cincinnati Reds acquired Pool, by then an outfielder, from the Oakland club of the PCL for Art Ruble, $20,000 in cash, and a player to be named. He made his MLB debut on May 30, 1934 as the Reds hosted the St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field. In the fourth inning with the bases loaded against Paul Dean, he pinch-hit for rightfielder Wes Schulmerich, striking out. In his second and last at-bat of the game, he tripled against Dean, scoring Lombardi, then scoring himself on a Linc Blakely single.

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