Robert Daniel Kennedy (August 18, 1920 – April 7, 2005) was a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and executive 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), ...

. From 1939 to 1957, Kennedy played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1939–42, 1946–48, 1955–56, 1957),

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(1948–54),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1954–55), Detroit Tigers (1956) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1957). He batted and threw right-handed. After his playing career, Kennedy managed the Chicago Cubs (1963–65) and Oakland Athletics (1968). His son, former major league

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Terry Kennedy, was a four-time All-Star and minor league manager.

Strong-armed third baseman and rightfielder

Kennedy was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. A line-drive hitter, he was blessed with a strong and accurate throwing arm. On June 22, 1937, the night before the White Sox signed him, Kennedy was working as a 16-year-old popcorn vendor at Comiskey Park during the World Heavyweight Boxing Title between Joe Louis and

James J. Braddock James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American boxer who was the world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937. Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing ...

. Kennedy debuted a year later, and became the starting third baseman in 1940. In 1940, he became the first teenaged major leaguer since 1900 to play 150 games in a season. After a break of three years to serve in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

during World War II, he returned, to play mostly in right field. In the 1948 midseason Kennedy was sent to Cleveland in the same trade that brought

Pat Seerey James Patrick Seerey (March 17, 1923 – April 28, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Seerey played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven seasons in the American League with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Whi ...

to Chicago. Kennedy hit .301 the rest of the year and became a member of the last

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Indians team. His most productive season came in 1950, when he posted career-highs in

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 ...

(.291), runs (79), hits (157) and doubles (27). The same season, he started two

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

s from the right field, matching Indians

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Charlie Jamieson Charles Devine "Cuckoo" Jamieson (February 7, 1893 – October 27, 1969) was an American baseball player, an outfielder for the Washington Senators (1915–17), Philadelphia Athletics (1917–18) and Cleveland Indians (1919–32). Professional ...

's two triple plays of 1928. Kennedy was traded to the newly relocated Baltimore Orioles in 1954. On July 30, he belted the first

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

for Baltimore against

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

pitcher

Allie Reynolds Allie Pierce Reynolds (February 10, 1917 – December 26, 1994) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Reynolds pitched 13 years for the Cleveland Indians (1942–1946) and New York Yankees (1947–1954). Reynolds was nicknam ...

. In 1955, Kennedy was purchased by the White Sox and sent to Detroit in 1956. Released in April 1957, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the White Sox, for his third stint with the club. A month later, he was selected off waivers by the Brooklyn Dodgers, being released at the end of the season. Kennedy is the answer to the trivia question who was the last man to ever bat for the Brooklyn Dodgers. At 3:36pm, Kennedy flew out to centerfield on a 2–2 pitch with two out and no one on in the 9th inning of the last Brooklyn Dodger game ever played on Sunday, September 29, 1957 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Phillies defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 3–2. Seth Morehead, a rookie lefthander was the pitcher for the Phillies. This game marked his major league debut as a starter and was the only time all season Brooklyn lost to a lefthander. They had been 6–0 against lefties throughout 1957.

Career as manager, coach and executive

Following his retirement, he was a scout and farm system director for the Indians,Baseball_America_Executive_Database
_and_manager_of_the_ Baseball_America_Executive_Database
_and_manager_of_the_Triple-A_(baseball)">Triple-A_Salt_Lake_City_Bees.html" ;"title="Triple-A_(baseball).html" ;"title="Baseball America Executive Database">Baseball America Executive Database
and manager of the Triple-A (baseball)">Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees">Triple-A_(baseball).html" ;"title="Baseball America Executive Database">Baseball America Executive Database
and manager of the Triple-A (baseball)">Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees. During the 1962 season, Kennedy was named to the Cubs' College of Coaches. The Cubs had experimented with having a committee of coaches run the team on the field since 1961 in baseball, 1961, as opposed to having a single manager. However, after the 1962 season ended with what is still the worst record in franchise history, owner

Phil Wrigley Philip Knight Wrigley (December 5, 1894 – April 12, 1977), often called P. K. Wrigley, was an American chewing gum manufacturer and a Major League Baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant fa ...

named Kennedy as "head coach" for an indefinite period. After Kennedy led the 1963 Cubs to their first winning record in 17 years, he began to assert a more traditional managerial authority over the team. He served as head coach from 1963 until June 13, 1965, posting a 162–198 record. He served as special assistant to Cub

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

John Holland, manager of the

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 ...

' Double-A

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

affiliate, and a coach with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

until 1968. In

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, when the Athletics moved from Kansas City to Oakland, Kennedy was their first manager. Oakland finished sixth in a 10-team league with an 82–80 record, a notable improvement from the 62–99 last-place 1967 Athletics. It was also the franchise's first winning season since 1952, when the team was still in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. According to the 1972 book ''Mustache Gang'', authored by Ron Bergman, on the last day of the season Kennedy walked into

Charlie Finley Charles Oscar Finley (February 22, 1918 – February 19, 1996), nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who owned Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas C ...

's office, expecting an extension. Five minutes later, Kennedy had been fired. After that, he spent six years (1970–75) as director of player development and director of player personnel of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, and 1976 as a member of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

' start-up baseball operations team preparing for the club's 1977 debut in Major League Baseball. Kennedy returned to the Cubs to succeed

Salty Saltwell Eldred"Saltwell Joins Cubs as GM"
'' San Mateo Times'', November 5, 195 ...

on November 24, 1976. His first act was to name

Herman Franks Herman Louis Franks (January 4, 1914 – March 30, 2009) was a catcher, coach, manager, general manager and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Price, Utah, to Italian-American immigrant parents and attended the University of Utah. Pl ...

as his first and only choice to replace Jim Marshall as manager. He resigned from the position and was succeeded by Franks on an interim basis on May 22, 1981.Minkoff, Randy. "New Chicago Cubs general manager Herman Franks has suggested...," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, May 23, 1981.
Retrieved June 9, 2020 Rounding out his baseball career, Kennedy then served as a senior baseball operations executive for the Houston Astros (1982–85) and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1986–92), assisting his former Cleveland teammate

Al Rosen Albert Leonard Rosen (February 29, 1924 – March 13, 2015), nicknamed "Flip" and "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American baseball third baseman and right-handed slugger for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball for ten seasons in the 194 ...

, then the president or general manager of those teams. In a 16-season playing career, Kennedy was a .254 hitter with 63

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 514 RBI in 1,483 games. As a manager, he posted a 264–278 record in two-plus seasons. Bob Kennedy died in Mesa, Arizona, at age of 84.

References

External links

Bob Kennedy
- Baseballbiography.com *
''San Francisco Chronicle''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Bob 1920 births 2005 deaths Atlanta Braves coaches Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Chicago Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs coaches Chicago Cubs executives Chicago Cubs managers Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians executives Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Indians scouts Dallas Steers players De La Salle Institute alumni Detroit Tigers players Houston Astros executives Indianapolis Indians players Longview Cannibals players Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball right fielders Major League Baseball third basemen Minor league baseball managers Oakland Athletics managers St. Louis Cardinals executives St. Louis Cardinals scouts San Francisco Giants executives Shreveport Sports players Sportspeople from Chicago Vicksburg Hill Billies players American military personnel of World War II