William Jennings "Duke" Kenworthy (July 4, 1886 – September 21, 1950) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He played all or part of four seasons in the majors, two of which— and —were spent as the starting second baseman for the Kansas City Packers of the short-lived Federal League. Bracketed around that were short stints for the Washington Senators in (where he played in the outfield) and for the St. Louis Browns in . Kenworthy was born to Ohio farmers and attended Muskingum College, where he received a teaching degree. He played minor league baseball as a pitcher and utility infielder from 1907 to 1911. After a short stint with the Washington Senators in the 1912 season, Kenworthy spent the 1913 season in 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 ...

. In January 1914, Kenworthy signed a three-year contract with the Federal League's Kansas City Packers, which saw become the team's starting second baseman and the leading hitter. His 15 home runs in 1914 finished second in the league. In 285 games over four seasons, Kenworthy posted a .304 batting average (301-for-989) with 159 runs, 71 doubles, 21

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 18

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 146 RBI, 61

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

, 67

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .360

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .473

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He finished his career with a .946

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing primarily at second base and several games at left and right field. In 1917, he gained a World War I draft exemption for a growth over one of his eyes; he aided the war effort by working at a shipyard in Oakland, California. He continued playing and managing in the minor leagues until 1924. Kenworthy drowned while fishing off the California coast on September 21, 1950.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenworthy, Bill Major League Baseball second basemen Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Kansas City Packers players St. Louis Browns players Zanesville Infants players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Sacramento Sacts players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Portland Beavers players Columbus Senators players Baseball players from Ohio People from Cambridge, Ohio Portland Beavers managers Accidental deaths in California Deaths by drowning in California 1886 births 1950 deaths Zanesville Potters players