Books and articles about George Kell

Easily the best player to emerge during the WWII player shortage, Kell remained the AL's premier third baseman long after the war had ended, and eventually earned a spot in the Hall of Fame.

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After two seasons as the Athletics' third baseman, Kell was traded to Detroit for Barney McCosky in May 1946 and became a perennial All-Star. He finished the 1946 season at .322, his first of eight consecutive .300 seasons. He missed 57 games in 1948 due to injuries. He first suffered a broken wrist when hit by a Vic Raschi pitch, and then several weeks later a Joe DiMaggio line drive fractured his jaw.

In 1949, Kell won his only batting title, and in the process denied Ted Williams his third triple crown. Williams had led the batting race until the final week of the season, but Kell came back from an injury to have a hot streak. When Williams went hitless in the season finale, Kell snatched the title, .3429 to .3428. Kell hit .340 the following year, leading the AL with 218 hits and 56 doubles, but lost the batting title to Boston's Billy Goodman. After leading the league in hits and doubles once again in 1951, Kell was sent to Boston in June 1952 as part of a nine-man deal that included Dizzy Trout, Hoot Evers, Walt Dropo, and Johnny Pesky. His brother, Skeeter, played for the Athletics that season.

George Kell was as gifted in the field as he was at the plate, leading AL third baseman seven times in fielding and four times each in assists and total chances/game. After concluding his career as Baltimore's third baseman, he was succeeded there by Brooks Robinson. Kell became a Tigers play-by-play man and was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1983. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 14, 1924: Giants 1B George Kelly hits three HRs to drive in all 8 New York runs in an 8-6 win over the Reds. Kelly's one-man offensive will be matched by Bob Johnson on June 1, 1938. » April 8, 1932: The Dodgers buy George Kelly, former Giants, star, from Minneapolis. » April 18, 1944: All 16 ML teams see action on Opening Day. But Bobby Doerr, Tex Hughson, and Mort Cooper are the only established stars still on the wartime rosters. A potential star among the new crop of rookies is George Kell, now Connie Mack's 3B, who last year with Lancaster (Inter-State League) led all minor league hitters with a .396 average. » May 18, 1946: In a great trade for Detroit, the Tigers acquire 3B George Kell from the A's for popular hometown outfielder Barney McCosky. McCosky, back from the war, is hitting just .198. The Tigers then sell veteran 3B Pinky Higgins to the Red Sox. » May 11, 1947: The Tigers Dizzy Trout and Virgil Trucks each toss a three hit victory over the White Sox, winning 10–0 and 6–1. The losses drop the Sox out if a virtual tie for first down to 5th. George Kell has three hits, including a home run, and four runs in the opener, while Hoot Evers and Pat Mullin bang homers in game 2. » June 30, 1948: In his first full season as a pitcher, Bob Lemon of the Cleveland Indians pitches a no-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-0 in front of 49,628 at Briggs Stadium. Lemon has only two scares: Dale Mitchell makes a miraculous catch of a George Kell drive in the fourth and Ken Keltner makes a great stop behind 3B in the fifth. » July 13, 1948: Vic Raschi of the Yankees drives in the winning runs with a bases-loaded single in the 4th inning and is the winning pitcher as the American League again tops the National League 5–2 in the All-Star Game at Sportsman's Park. Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, George Kell, and Hal Newhouser miss places in the lineup due to injuries. » October 2, 1949: George Kell of the Tigers goes 2-for-3 and Ted Williams is hitless in 2 official trips. Kell's final mark is .3429 and Williams's is .3427. » November 25, 1949: Ted Williams, who lost the Triple Crown when his batting average was .0002 below that of George Kell, wins the MVP vote in a landslide. Phil Rizzuto and Joe Page finish 2nd and 3rd in the voting. » May 19, 1950: The Tigers send 14 batters to the plate and score 10 runs in the 5th to beat the Athletics, 14–8. George Kell and Vic Wertz each have two hits in the frame. Tigers ace Virgil Trucks, a 19-game winner in 1949, hurts his arm and is lost for the season. Fred Hutchinson relieves Trucks in the 3rd and picks up the win. » June 2, 1950: The Tiger's George Kell hits for the cycle in the 16–5 second-game sweep of a Detroit doubleheader with the A's. The Tigers cop the opener, 8–2, behind the pitching of Ted Gray and the home runs of Vic Wertz and Hoot Evers. Wertz has five RBI in the opener, and two more in game 2. » June 15, 1950: The Tigers roll over the A's, 7–3, for their 8th win in nine meetings with the Mackmen. Hoot Evers has his 19 game hit streak stopped but George Kell runs his to 15 straight. The winner is Freddie Hutchinson, while Bobby Shantz is the loser. Shantz will not lose again to Detroit until June 13, 1958, a string of 12 straight wins. » September 20, 1950: The Red Sox pennant hopes are jolted the Indians who take a doubleheader sweep, 6–3 and 7–1. The losses drop the Yawkeymen out of a second place with Detroit. Bob Lemon wins his 21st in the opener, and Early Wynn cops his 17th in game 2. Easter and Gordon homer to give the Tribe a club-record 156. Goodman, hitting .357, is 2-for-8 to go over 400 at bats and qualify for the hitting title. He is leading George Kell by 14 points. » July 30, 1951: Joe DiMaggio makes a rare mental error against Detroit, catching a Steve Souchock fly ball in deep CF and, thinking it's the third out, begins trotting in. It's only the second out, and George Kell scores from 2B to make the score 4–2 in the eighth. Despite the lapse, the Yanks win, 5–4, with DiMag knocking in the winning run in the ninth. » June 3, 1952: In a blockbuster trade between Detroit and Boston, the Red Sox send Walt Dropo, Don Lenhardt, Johnny Pesky, Fred Hatfield, and Bill Wight to the Tigers for 3B George Kell, Hoot Evers, Dizzy Trout, and Johnny Lipon. » May 22, 1953: The Red Sox add two more 3–2 wins to move within two 1/2 games of the Yankees. Unbeaten Mel Parnell wins his 6th in the opener as George Kell homers and singles in the winner. The Red Sox take the nitecap in 12 innings as Hersh Freeman beats Carl Scheib. » June 18, 1953: Red Sox rookie OF Gene Stephens becomes the only AL player to get three hits in the same inning, as Boston scores 17 in the seventh inning in a 23-3 romp over Detroit. The Red Sox send 23 to the plate in the seventh, getting 14 hits and six walks before 3B George Kell flies out to end it. » May 23, 1954: The White Sox send SS Grady Hatton and $100,000 to the Red Sox for 3B George Kell. » July 2, 1954: 3B George Kell of the White Sox wrenches his knee and is out for five weeks. » May 21, 1956: The White Sox send 3B George Kell, OF Bob Nieman, and pitchers Mike Fornieles and Connie Johnson to the Orioles for P Jim Wilson and OF Dave Philley. Kell will play solid 3B until Brooks Robinson is ready, while Johnson will lead the Birds' starters in wins in 1957. » July 7, 1974: In the opener of a doubleheader, Don Money sets a major-league record for consecutive errorless games at 3B with 78. The Brewers beat the Twins 8–5, then lose 5–3. Money will end the season with just five errors, breaking George Kell's record set in 1950. Money also holds the National League record with just 10 errors, set with the Phils in 1972. » March 10, 1983: Walter Alston, who managed the Dodgers to four World Championships, and George Kell, who hit .306 over 15 ML seasons, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. » July 31, 1983: Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal, George Kell, and Walter Alston are inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York, bringing the total number of inductees to 184.