Ronald Dale Kittle (born January 5, 1958) is an American former

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 sys ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

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 (A ...

(MLB). He was known for his

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 ...

hitting power, and was named the 1983

AL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

. Kittle 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 ...

(1982–86, 1989, 1991),

New York 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 ...

(1986–87),

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) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

(1988) and

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 ...

(1990). He batted and threw right-handed. Kittle was also a manager for the minor league Schaumburg Flyers.

Career

A former steelworker who made his MLB debut at nearly 25 years old, Kittle was a popular player on the 1983 " winning ugly" Chicago White Sox when they won 99 games and made their first playoff appearance since the

1959 World Series The 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, 4–2. Each of the three games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum drew record crowds, Game 5's atte ...

. That season, Kittle was selected an All-Star and won Rookie of the Year honors after hitting 35 home runs (club record for a rookie) and 100 RBI. Kittle also hit 50 homers in the minor leagues with the Edmonton Trappers and has his jersey retired in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

at Telus Field. He was voted winner of 1982's Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award. Kittle maintained his home run power, but after 1983 his batting average declined and his

strikeout 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 den ...

s increased. Kittle left the White Sox after 1986 and played part of 1986 and all of 1987 with the New York Yankees. Kittle then played 1988 with the Indians. He briefly returned again to the White Sox in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, sharing playing time at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

with Carlos Martínez."Kittle rips trade to Baltimore," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Monday, July 30, 1990.
Retrieved December 7, 2021 He batted .245 with 16 homers and 43 RBI but struck out 77 times in 277

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s through the first four months of that season.Sheinin, Dave. "Orioles Strike Deal Bradley Traded for Kittle," ''The Washington Post'', Tuesday, July 31, 1990.
Retrieved December 7, 2021 Kittle was acquired by the

from the White Sox for

Phil Bradley Philip Poole Bradley (born March 11, 1959), is an American former professional baseball outfielder / designated hitter who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the American League (AL) Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago White S ...

on July 30, 1990. He was resentful of the trade which brought forth the possibility of Frank Thomas being promoted from the minors. In need of a right-handed power hitter, the Orioles received a player with a $550,000 salary as opposed to the $1.15 million that Bradley was earning. Baltimore general manager Roland Hemond was criticized by the '' Daily Press'' for bringing on too many ex-White Sox like Kittle, Greg Walker,

Kevin Hickey Kevin John Hickey (February 25, 1956 – May 16, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1981–1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1989–1991). It was with the White ...

, Tim Hulett and

Dave Gallagher David Thomas Gallagher (born September 20, 1960) is an American former professional baseball journeyman outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams, during his nine-year big league career (–). Early life Gallagher w ...

. He became a free agent again in the off-season when the Orioles, who had earlier signed Dwight Evans, elected not to exercise the option on his contract on December 15, 1990."Orioles choose not to exercise opion on Kittle's contract," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, December 15, 1990.
Retrieved December 7, 2021 He returned to the White Sox again and finished his career in Chicago in . Kittle appeared in 843 games over the course of his 10–year MLB career. He recorded 176 home runs and 460 runs batted in.

Managerial career

In 1998, Kittle was hired as the first manager of the non-affiliated minor league Schaumburg Flyers of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. During the early years of the Flyers franchise, Kittle did a series of TV commercials to promote the team, using the gimmick " Ma Kittle," where he played both himself and his "Ma Kittle." The ads were successful at sparking some initial interest in the team as the Flyers hoped to steal away fans from the nearby

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ...

, then a

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

Class A team. The ad mimicked the highly successful Converse ads where Larry Johnson starred as both himself and "Grandmama." Kittle resigned his position in 2001.

Personal life

Kittle was married from 1984 until 2010 and has two children. Kittle's memoirs, ''Ron Kittle's Tales from the White Sox Dugout'', was published in 2005. Co-written with Bob Logan, who also co-wrote

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

's book ''Come Fly with Me'', the book features anecdotes from Kittle's time as a major leaguer, mostly with the White Sox. Kittle builds custom collectible benches out of baseballs, bats and bases. He also works in public relations for the White Sox.

References

External links

Ron Kittle's websiteRon Kittle's Celebrity Annual Golf Outing website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittle, Ron 1958 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Appleton Foxes players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Gary, Indiana Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Clinton Dodgers players Edmonton Trappers players Glens Falls White Sox players Knoxville Sox players Lethbridge Dodgers players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners New York Yankees players Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010) managers People from Chesterton, Indiana People from Valparaiso, Indiana Pacific Coast League MVP award winners Vancouver Canadians players