William Aulton Kennedy (March 14, 1921 – April 9, 1983), nicknamed "Lefty", was a pitcher for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) between 1948 and 1957.

Biography

Kennedy was born in

Carnesville, Georgia Carnesville is a city in Franklin County, Georgia, United States, and the county seat. The population was 741 at the 2020 census. History Carnesville was founded in 1805 as the seat of Franklin County. It was incorporated as a town in 1819 and as ...

. Signed before the 1939 season as an amateur free agent by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, Kennedy pitched three seasons in the low minors without much distinction before missing the 1943–45 seasons while serving in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Returning to baseball in 1946, Kennedy put together one of the greatest pitching seasons in minor league history for the

Rocky Mount Rocks ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess ...

in the Class-D

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

. The 25-year-old went 28–3 with a 1.03 ERA over 41 games, striking out a staggering 456 batters in 280.0 innings—the second-highest single-season strikeout total in professional baseball history. Following the season he was sent to the

and he spent 1947 with Boston's affiliate at Class-A

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

. Though he struck out just 113 batters, he followed up his historic campaign with a 15-2 campaign record and a 2.62 ERA. After being left unprotected that winter, the Cleveland Indians selected him in the Rule 5 Draft, which led him breaking camp with the Cleveland Indians to open the 1948 season, making his MLB debut on April 26 at the age of 27. However, after just six ineffective outings he was traded to the St. Louis Browns for pitcher

Sam Zoldak Samuel Walter Zoldak, nicknamed Sad Sam, (December 8, 1918 – August 25, 1966) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons in the American League with the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland I ...

, missing out an opportunity to play in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, which the Indians won. After pitching most of 1948 and all of 1949 in St. Louis, he spent nearly all of 1950 and part of 1951 in the minors. In March 1952, Kennedy was purchased by the Chicago White Sox, ending his four-year tenure with the Browns at a 12–24 record with a 4.84 ERA. Pitching on a winning team, he went on to record the best season of his career working almost exclusively in relief for the first time in his career. Kennedy notched a career-best 2.80 ERA over 70.2 innings, notching five saves and leading the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in games pitched with 47. Despite his success in Chicago, that winter he was packaged with pitcher

Marv Grissom Marvin Edward Grissom (March 31, 1918 – September 19, 2005) was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. During his active career he appeared in 356 games in Major League Baseball for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1 ...

in a trade to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop

Vern Stephens Vernon Decatur Stephens (October 23, 1920 – November 3, 1968) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from through . An eight-time All-Star, Stephens was notable for being the American L ...

. Alas, the trade failed to work out for either side; Stephens and Grissom were both dealt again by mid-season, and Kennedy was demoted to the minors, where he stayed for the remainder of the 1953 season and all of 1954 and '55. In 1955 Kennedy moved to the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, pitching for the

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 19 ...

. Successful seasons in 1956 and '57 led to call-ups from the Cincinnati Reds, but he was ineffective, appearing in a combined nine MLB games over those two seasons and posting a 7.98 ERA. He made his last MLB appearance on September 29, 1057, at the age of 36. He pitched three more seasons in the PCL before retiring following the 1960 season at the age of 39. In eight major league seasons, he had a 15–28 win–loss record, 172 games pitched (45 starts), 11 saves, 256 strikeouts and a 4.73

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). He won an additional 149 games in 15 seasons in the minors. Kennedy died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

at the age of 62.

References

External links

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Bill 1921 births 1983 deaths Akron Yankees players Amsterdam Rugmakers players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Boston Red Sox players Butler Yankees players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Redlegs players Cleveland Indians players Deaths from lung cancer in Washington (state) Easton Yankees players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Portland Beavers players Rocky Mount Leafs players Rocky Mount Rocks players St. Louis Browns players Santa Marta (baseball club) players Scranton Red Sox players Seattle Rainiers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players People from Carnesville, Georgia United States Army personnel of World War II

Biography

See also

References

External links