After attending Belmont High School and playing baseball, Hall was signed as an amateur free agent by the Washington Senators on June 21, 1956 following his high school graduation. After signing, Hall was assigned to the Superior Senators in the D-level Nebraska State League where he made an immediate impression-hitting .385 with 15 home runs, 6 triples, and 11 doubles in only 58 games. However, he would fail to build on, or even equal, this level of production at the plate and would languish for the next six full seasons in the minors before seeing the major leagues. Promoted to the Kinston Eagles in the B-level Carolina League in 1957 on the strength of his debut season, Hall would regress in his sophomore season and only hit .233 with 6 home runs in 133 games. Forced to repeat the same level in 1958, Hall regained some of his power stroke, belting 17 home runs and 14 doubles to go along with a .267 batting average in 75 games for the Fox Cities Foxes in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League before being promoted to Single-A Charlotte Hornets in the South Atlantic League for the final 9 games of their season.\n', '

In 1959, Hall was promoted to the AA Southern Association and spent the entire seasons with the Chattanooga Lookouts. However, he continued to be unimpressive at the plate, hitting .245 with 11 home runs and 57 RBI in 133 games. Hall also was given an extended tryout at shortstop (with the Senators typically only having all-field, no-hit options on the major league roster), but he would struggle in the field at this new position and commit 24 errors in only 78 games. Although Hall would be promoted to the AAA Charleston Senators in 1960, he\'d hit only .227 with 9 home runs and 30 RBI in 110 games in which he see double digit starts at second, third, shortstop, and the outfield. 1961 and 1962 would be lost seasons for Hall in which he would play in only 54 total games spread over three AAA teams, the Syracuse Chiefs, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Mounties, hitting a combined .232. The only bright spot would be that the Senators gave up with trying to convert Hall in a utility infielder and he saw all his playing time in the outfield. Maybe coincidentally, Hall would hit .313 with 3 home runs and 18 RBI in 24 games with Vancouver in 1962.\n', '

After not spending a day in the major leagues, Hall went north with the Twins as a reserve outfielder behind future Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in left field, all-star and former Rookie of the Year Bob Allison in right, and veteran Lenny Green in center. Hall would get off to an inauspicious start, hitting only .185 through the first 48 games, but a mid-June injury to Green would give Hall the chance to showcase himself for an extended period of time and he never looked back. Starting on June 8, Hall would be the starting centerfielder and he\'d sparkle, hitting .276 with 31 of his 33 home runs, 72 of his 80 RBI, and 72 of his 88 runs over the Twins final 116 games. Hall\'s home run total would set a career high, rank fourth in the AL in 1963, and still stands as the AL record for home runs by a first-year player (with not even a game of prior major league experience), topping Ted Williams\' 31 homers in 1939. He is one of only two players in the modern era of major league baseball history, along with Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson (2015), to have two streaks of home runs in four consecutive games or more in their rookie season.\n', '

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