Chester Lawrence Kehn (October 30, 1921 – April 5, 1984) was a

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), ...

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 ...

who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942. At 20 years of age, he was the fourth-youngest player to appear in a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

game that season. Kehn is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He made his

major league debut 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), ...

on April 30, 1942, as a starting pitcher against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. The Dodgers won 11–8, but Kehn was not the winning pitcher. He made only two more appearances, both in relief, before his big league career was over due to a shoulder separation. In three games he was 0–0 with two

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, and allowed six

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

in 7.2 innings pitched for a final

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 7.04. Kehn proved to be a better hitter and fielder than he was as a pitcher, at least at the major league level. At the plate he was 2-for-2 (1.000) with one RBI and one run scored, and in the field he handled four chances without an

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 ...

(1.000). Kehn retired from baseball in 1950 after several years in Santa Barbara as their manager; later,.he had a very successful career in retail management. Kehn died in his hometown of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, at the age of 62.

References

External links

Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from San Diego Brooklyn Dodgers players 1921 births 1984 deaths Minor league baseball managers Dayton Wings players Elmira Pioneers players Montreal Royals players Santa Barbara Dodgers players Hollywood Stars players Pueblo Dodgers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub