Kendall Cole "Casey" Wise (September 8, 1932 – February 20, 2007) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played parts of four seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB), between 1957 and 1960, with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He was primarily a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

, but also played substantially at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. The son of longtime MLB

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

Hughie Wise Hugh Edward Wise (March 9, 1906 – July 21, 1987) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager and scout. A native of Campbellsville, Kentucky, Wise attended Purdue University, where he played college baseball for the Boilermakers ...

, Casey Wise was born in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

. His nickname was derived from his initials, K.C. Wise's career batting average was well below the

Mendoza line The Mendoza Line is baseball jargon for a .200 batting average, the supposed threshold for offensive futility in Major League Baseball. It derives from light-hitting shortstop Mario Mendoza, who failed to reach .200 five times in his nine big l ...

, at .174 in his 126 games, a fact pointed out by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris in their impish commentary in ''The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book'' (p. 59): "His may not be the worst Major League hitting record of all time, but it's definitely in contention." He spent ten seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

, winning a

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

title with the

Los Angeles Angels (PCL) The Los Angeles Angels were a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1903 through 1957. The Angels were formed in 1903 as charter members of the PCL. In 1958, they were forced to move t ...

in 1956. Wise also briefly managed in the minors, taking over the Triple-A

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

after the sudden death of Ben Geraghty on June 18, 1963, and guiding them for the remainder of the season.

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "the Bionic Man," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Ch ...

, who played for him in Jacksonville, recalled that "Casey was a player's manager, an easygoing fellow who had good rapport with the kids." However, John feared that Wise was somewhat ineffective as a manager because he was too nice. The veteran players in particular had trouble respecting their young manager. During a game in which the Suns were getting blown out, Wise attempted to send Ed Donnelly into the game as a relief pitcher. Donnelly refused, and Wise told him he was through with the ballclub. The two yelled at each other in the dugout. Then, after the game, Donnelly started a fistfight with Wise. It was Donnelly's last game as a Sun. Wise never managed again after that season. Wise attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, and graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

in 1956. After his professional baseball career, Wise earned degrees in dentistry and orthodontics from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

and became the first orthodontist in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

, starting his practice in 1968. He retired from practice in 1991. Wise died of complications from heart surgery in Naples in 2007; he was 74 years old.

References

External links

Corbett, Warren, ''Casey Wise.''

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Casey 1932 births 2007 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Baseball players from Indiana Beaumont Exporters players Chicago Cubs players Denver Bears players Des Moines Bruins players Detroit Tigers players Florida Gators baseball players Jacksonville Suns players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball second basemen Milwaukee Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Minor league baseball managers People from West Lafayette, Indiana Portland Beavers players Sioux Falls Canaries players Sportspeople from Naples, Florida Wichita Braves players

See also

References

External links