Kenneth Fuller Gardner (March 5, 1899 – March 9, 1984), nicknamed "Ping", was an American

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. A native of

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, Gardner made his Negro leagues debut in 1920 with the

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. ...

. He went on to play with several teams, finishing his career in 1932 with the

Newark Browns The Newark Browns were a Negro league baseball team in the East-West League, based in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in 1932. They played their home games at General Electric Field. 1932 season The Browns were the final team to join the East-West League ...

. Gardner died in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

in 1984 at age 85.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1899 births 1984 deaths Bacharach Giants players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Harrisburg Giants players Hilldale Club players Lincoln Giants players Newark Browns players 20th-century African-American sportspeople Baseball pitchers {{Negro-league-baseball-pitcher-stub