After a career at quarterback for the University of Illinois, the 6’4″ Haller signed with the Giants in 1958. In their pennant-winning 1962 season, he hit 18 HR as a platoon catcher. He was San Francisco’s first-string receiver in the years 1964-67, and hit 27 HR in 1966. He went to the Dodgers in a 1968 trade for Ron Hunt and Nate Oliver, the first trade between the two clubs since 1956. In a ML first, on July 14, 1972, Tom was the Tiger catcher while his brother, Bill, umpired behind the plate. The durable Haller caught all 23 innings of a May 31, 1964 Mets-Giants game, and set the NL record for most double plays by a catcher in a season (23, in 1968). After serving as a Giant coach from 1977 to 1979, he was their vice president of baseball operations from mid-1981 until September 1986.
