John Irvin Kennedy (October 12, 1926 – April 27, 1998) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. Kennedy was the first African-American player to be signed by and play for the Philadelphia Phillies, the last National League baseball team to support anti-Black segregation. The Phillies had fielded all-White teams through the 1956 season.

Career

Kennedy signed as a free agent with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

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) before the season, but was released prior to the season. Kennedy caught on with the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

, and later the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

, both of the

Negro American League The Negro American League was one of the several Negro leagues created during the time organized American baseball was segregated. The league was established in 1937, and disbanded after its 1962 season. Negro American League franchises :''An ...

. Near the end of the season, with Kennedy having led the NAL batting race for most of the year, the Monarchs sold his contract to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Kennedy hit over .300 in the Phillies 1957 Spring Training. The team initially assigned him to their

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

minor league affiliate but without a starting shortstop for opening day, Phillies manager Mayo Smith told reporters on March 25, 1957, that "...if the season opened tomorrow, ennedywould be my shortstop." Phillies general manager Roy Hamey told reporters the shortstop job was Kennedy’s. However the Phillies acquired

Chico Fernández Humberto "Chico" Fernández Pérez (March 2, 1932 – June 11, 2016) was a Cuban professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball ( MLB) with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets from ...

before opening day, and named Fernández the starting shortstop. When Kennedy made his big league debut (April 22, 1957, at

Roosevelt Stadium Roosevelt Stadium was a baseball stadium at Droyer's Point in Jersey City, New Jersey. It opened in April 1937 and hosted high-minor league baseball, 15 major league baseball games, plus championship boxing matches, top-name musical acts, an a ...

), he became the first black player in Phillies history. The game was exactly 10 years to the day after Phillies manager Ben Chapman led his players in anti-Black verbal attacks on rookie

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Playing against the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

, Kennedy entered the game in the top of the 8th inning as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

for

Solly Hemus Solomon Joseph Hemus (April 17, 1923 – October 2, 2017) was an American professional baseball infielder, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. Hemus is one of a sel ...

, who had doubled, but he did not score. The Dodgers won, 5-1. Kennedy's next game was two days later, playing against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Connie Mack Stadium Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, ...

. He entered the game in the bottom of the 6th as a pinch runner for

Harry Anderson Harry Laverne Anderson (October 14, 1952 – April 16, 2018) was an American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984–1992 television series '' Night Court''. He later starred in the ...

, who had singled, and later scored on a bases-loaded

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

Ed Bouchee Edward Francis Bouchee (March 7, 1933 – January 23, 2013) was an American professional baseball first baseman. He appeared in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three National League (NL) ballclubs – the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and ...

. The Phillies won, 8-5. Kennedy got into a total of just five games, the last one on May 3, 1957. At the plate, he was 0-for-2, including one

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. In his two appearances at shortstop he had one

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

, one

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, and participated in one

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

. Kennedy played amateur baseball through his 50s and 60s in a men’s 30-and-over baseball league in Jacksonville, Florida. A granite marker was placed on Kennedy’s unmarked grave in Jacksonville in 2008. The Philadelphia Phillies recognized Kennedy's role in the history of the organization in a pre-game ceremony on June 29, 2022.

References

External links

John Kennedy
at Baseball Gauge

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John 1926 births 1998 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Colombia Albany Senators players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida Birmingham Black Barons players Des Moines Demons players High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players Jacksonville Jets players Kansas City Monarchs players Major League Baseball shortstops Philadelphia Phillies players St. Cloud Rox players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Career

See also

References

External links