Kenneth Francis Landreaux (born December 22, 1954) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

center fielder. He played in

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), ...

for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

from 1977 through 1987.

Playing career

After graduating from

Dominguez High School Manuel Dominguez High School is a four-year public high school located in Compton, California. It is part of the Compton Unified School District. Name Dominguez High School is named after Don Manuel Domínguez, a California rancher. Domínguez i ...

in Compton, California, Landreaux was drafted by the Houston Astros in the eighth round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft, but chose to attend Arizona State University. While at Arizona State, he played in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1976 College World Series The 1976 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1976 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, ...

on teams that included future major leaguers

Floyd Bannister Floyd Franklin Bannister (born June 10, 1955) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros (–), Seattle Mariners (–), Chicago White Sox (–), Kansas City Ro ...

, Chris Bando, and

Bob Horner James Robert Horner (born August 6, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a third baseman and a first baseman from to , most prominently as a ...

. Landreaux was selected by the California Angels in the first round of the

1976 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by ma ...

. In his major league debut with the Angels, on September 11, 1977, against the Chicago White Sox, Landreaux threw out three base runners from the outfield. In , the Angels traded Landreaux,

Dave Engle Ralph David Engle (born November 30, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball utility player who played for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers of the American League and the Montreal Expos of the National League from 1981 to ...

, Paul Hartzell, and Brad Havens to the Minnesota Twins for

Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...

. In 1980, Landreaux set a Minnesota record with a 31-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pla ...

, tied for the longest in the AL since

Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "The Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio ...

's 34 in 1949. He still holds the record for most consecutive games with a hit in Minnesota Twins history. Landreaux was traded to the

for three prospects (

Mickey Hatcher Michael Vaughn Hatcher (born March 15, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, third baseman and first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Los ...

and two minor leaguers) in . Landreaux was a member of the

1981 World Series The 1981 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1981 season. The 78th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Nati ...

champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and caught the final out of the

, a fly ball to center field off the bat of

Bob Watson Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984, most prominently as a member of ...

. Landreaux's best seasons were 1982 and 1983. Usually batting 2nd in the order, he combined with leadoff man

Steve Sax Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he w ...

to give the Dodgers two formidable "table setters." Landreaux hit over .280 and had at least 30 stolen bases in each of those seasons. He also hit a career high 17 home runs for the 1983 National League Western Division champion Dodgers. He remained with the Dodgers, completing his major league baseball career in .

Career statistics

In 1264 games over 11 seasons, Landreaux compiled a .268

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1099-for-4101) with 522 runs, 180 doubles, 45 triples, 91 home runs, 479 RBI, 145 stolen bases, 299 base on balls, 421

strikeouts 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 ...

, .317 on-base percentage and .400 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .981 fielding percentage at all three outfield positions. In postseason play covering 24 games, he batted .221 (15-for-68) with 6 runs and 4 RBI.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Landreaux abused substances. After achieving sobriety, he worked as a counselor at Bellwood Health Center in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 79,190, up ...

. He and

Darrell Jackson Darrell Lamont Jackson (born December 6, 1978) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 2000s. Jackson played college football for ...

, a former baseball teammate, founded the Athletic Connection Team to aid athletes with substance use problems. Landreaux spends his time teaching young baseball players at the Urban Youth Academy in Compton. Ken Landreaux returned to Arizona State University in 2012 and earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies Degree in 2014.

Personal life

Landreaux is a cousin of former major league third baseman

Enos Cabell Enos Milton Cabell (pronounced ), (born October 8, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman and third baseman from 1972 to 1986, most prominently as a member of the Hous ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landreaux, Ken 1954 births Living people Major League Baseball center fielders California Angels players Minnesota Twins players Los Angeles Dodgers players American League All-Stars Baseball players from Los Angeles African-American baseball players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Los Angeles Dodgers Legend Bureau Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic El Paso Diablos players Salt Lake City Gulls players Albuquerque Dukes players Rochester Red Wings players St. Petersburg Pelicans players Orlando Juice players All-American college baseball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople