george kell

Swifton, Arkansas Died: March 24, 2009 (aged 86)

Swifton, Arkansas Batted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut September 28, 1943 for the Philadelphia Athletics Last MLB appearance September 14, 1957 for the Baltimore Orioles Career statistics Batting average .306 Hits 2,054 Runs batted in 870 Teams Brooklyn Dodgers Philadelphia Athletics (1943–1946) Detroit Tigers (1946–1952) Boston Red Sox (1952–1954) Chicago White Sox (1954–1956) Baltimore Orioles (1956–1957) Career highlights and awards 10x All-Star selection (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957) Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction 1983 Election Method Veteran's Committee

George Clyde Kell (August 23, 1922 – March 24, 2009[1]) was an American baseball third baseman who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1943–1946), Detroit Tigers (1947–52), Boston Red Sox (1952–54), Chicago White Sox (1954–56) and Baltimore Orioles (1956–57) in the American League and who later became a baseball announcer for 40 years. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was regarded as the best third baseman in the AL.[citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 Playing career 2 Broadcasting career 2.1 Broadcasting style 3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Highlights 6 See also 7 References 8 External links //

Playing career George Kell was honored alongside the retired numbers of the Detroit Tigers in 2000.

A solid right-handed hitter and a sure-handed fielder, Kell was a 10-time All-Star, batted over .300 nine times and topped the league's third basemen in assists and total chances four times and in fielding percentage seven times. He won his only batting title in 1949 (.343), denying Ted Williams his third Triple Crown; until the final week of the season, Williams had led the batting race. On October 2, 1949, Kell went 2-for-3 while Williams was hitless in two official at bats.[1] Kell's final mark was .3429, Williams's .3427. One year later, Kell batted .340, leading the league with 218 hits and 56 doubles, but lost the batting title to Williams' teammate, Red Sox second baseman Billy Goodman.

In his career, Kell batted .306, with 78 home runs and 870 runs batted in, 881 runs scored, 2054 hits, 385 doubles, 50 triples, 36 stolen bases, a .482 slugging average, and 621 walks for a .367 on base percentage.

Kell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.[1]

Broadcasting career

Following his retirement as a player, Kell worked as a play-by-play announcer for the Orioles (1957), CBS television (1958), NBC radio (1962), and the Tigers (1959-1996). From 1975 until his retirement from broadcasting, Kell was joined on Tiger telecasts by Al Kaline as color commentator.

After the Tigers' World Series win in 1984, Kell remarked, "If we get a little pitching out of Wilcox, this team could do it again." The Tigers got very little pitching out of the aging Milt Wilcox after 1984 and did not return to the fall classic