Kell, George C.
Baseball
b. Aug. 23, 1922, Swifton, AR
Best known for his hitting, Kell was also an outstanding defensive player who led AL third basemen in fielding percentage 7 times in 11 full seasons in the major leagues. He played in just one game for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943, then joined the team full time in 1944.
During the 1946 season, Kell was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He hit .322 that year, .320 in 1947, and .304 in 1948, then won his only batting title with a .343 average in 1949.
Kell led the league in hits and doubles each of the next two seasons, with 218 and 56 in 1950, 191 and 36 in 1951. After 39 games of the 1952 season, Detroit traded him to the Boston Red Sox. He hit .311 that year and .307 in 1953, his only full season with Boston.
Traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1954, he dropped to .276 in only 97 games, but came back with a .312 average in 1955. He was batting .313 after 21 games with Chicago in 1956, when he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. He dropped all the way down to a .271 average that season and retired after batting .297 in 99 games with Baltimore in 1957.
In 1,795 games, Kell had 2,054 hits, including 385 doubles, 50 triples, and 78 home runs. He scored 881 runs and had 870 RBI.