OMHS alumnus Dahl bursts onto big league scene

David Dahl wasted no time making a splash in the big leagues.

Called up to Colorado from Triple-A Albuquerque on July 25, the Oak Mountain High School product was inserted into the Rockies’ lineup in left field that night.

In his first game, he notched a hit, putting into motion a record-breaking streak. Dahl was able to register at least one hit in each of the first 17 games of his career, tying a record set by Chuck Aleno in 1941, for the longest hitting streak to begin a Major League career.

Dahl smacked his first career home run in his third game, a solo shot in Baltimore. Through his 17 game hitting streak, he rolled up a .358 batting average, with three home runs and 10 runs batted in. It didn’t take Dahl long to jump from the sixth spot in the lineup squarely into the middle of the order, hitting third, fourth or fifth most nights in the month of August.

“It’s been a whirlwind and it’s been crazy, but it’s been really fun,” Dahl said in an interview with MLB Network on August 17.

The astronomical rise of the left-handed hitter has happened quickly. He holds Oak Mountain records for career batting average (.421), hits (157), runs scored (119), doubles (44) and RBIs (98), and he hit .449 in 2011.

He signed to play college baseball at Auburn University, but was selected 10th overall by the Rockies in the 2012 MLB draft, just one slot ahead of another Auburn signee and current All-Star, Addison Russell.

Dahl ripped up the minor league ranks this year, hitting for a combined .314 average, 18 home runs, and 61 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A. He played just 16 games at Albuquerque before being called up, and racked up a scorching .484 batting average.

He told the story of how he found out about his call-up to the big leagues. He was preparing for a game much like any other, when he was summoned to the dugout.

In the same MLB Network interview, he said, “I get in the dugout, and our coach Glenallen Hill, stopped me, and he said, ‘Hey, you need to come with me.’”

Dahl spoke with Hill briefly in his office and learned the news, and was “in shock.”

“It was something I’ll never forget,” he said.