Robert Keith Kessinger (born February 19, 1967) is an American former
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 ...
player who played as a shortstop in 11 games for the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
in 1993.
He had been originally drafted by the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...
in the 36th round of the 1989 amateur draft, then the Reds purchased his contract in 1991.
His ML debut came on September 15, 1993 against 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
, where Kessinger went 1 for 2 in that initial game.
Kessinger was the head baseball coach at
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the st ...
from July 2002 to June 2008, compiling an overall 148–178 record. He spent two years prior to that as head coach at
Carson–Newman College where he compiled a 66–47 record. He also served as an assistant baseball coach at the
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
for four seasons, where he had previously been a second-team All SEC shortstop.
Keith Kessinger's father,
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
* Don, Benin, a town in Benin
* Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...
, is a former six-time
All-Star
An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry.
Sports
"All-star" as a sport ...
and two-time
Gold Glove
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...
winning shortstop over 16 major league seasons, predominantly for 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 ...
, former major league
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
, and head coach at Ole Miss.
His brother, Kevin, was drafted by the Cubs, although retired from professional baseball due to injury before playing in the major leagues.
His nephew,
Grae, also became a professional baseball player who made his major league debut for the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...
in
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
.
Each of the four Kessingers played baseball for Ole Miss.
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See also
* List of second generation MLB players
Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo ...
* List of University of Mississippi alumni
The following is a list of notable alumni of the University of Mississippi, University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).
Activists
*Abelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar, Palestinian political scientist, activist
*Angela McGlowan (born 1970), Republican ...
Career statistics
References
External links
1967 births
Living people
Major League Baseball shortstops
Baseball players from Arkansas
Cincinnati Reds players
Wausau Timbers players
Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball coaches
Ole Miss Rebels baseball coaches
Ole Miss Rebels baseball players
Carson–Newman Eagles baseball coaches
20th-century American sportsmen
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