George Kell: A Tiger in A’s Clothing

By Dale B. Smith

Some things were just meant to be. Babe Ruth was destined to be a Yankee. Lou Brock was born to be a Cardinal. George Kell and the Detroit Tigers were meant for each other. You can call certain trades or purchases ridiculous or absurd but some moves were just fulfilling prophecy. When George Kell played for the Philadelphia Athletics from late 1943 through early 1946, the stars were misaligned. In 1946 A’s manager and owner Connie Mack set things right. In that year George Kell started his Tiger career that lasted nearly 50 years, until his retirement in 1997.

At least Connie Mack was willing to give George Kell a chance. According to Bill Gilbert in his book on wartime baseball They Also Served: Baseball and the Home Front 1941-1945 (1992, Crown Publishers), Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Larry MacPhail tossed the Swifton, Arkansas native out of their minor league tryout camp. A birth defect in both knees causing loose cartilage seemed to keep him out of both military service and baseball.

George Clyde Kell was born August 23, 1922 in the small Arkansas town of about 500 people, the son of the town barber. Despite George’s bad knees, his father’s love of baseball inspired him to pursue a baseball career. After leading all minor league players with a .396 batting average at Lancaster, PA in 1943, Connie Mack brought George up for a cup of coffee at the end of the season. In 1943 the Philadelphia Athletics were in just as much disarray as they had been before the War Years. The A’s finished 49-105 and a distant last place, 20 games behind the 7th place Red Sox and 49 games out of 1st place. In 1943, 22 A’s players made their major league debut. Few would last.

After watching third baseman Eddie Mayo hit just .219 during the 1943 season, Connie Mack put the job up for grabs in 1944. 21 year old George Kell nailed down the position for himself and helped lead the hapless Athletics to their best showing in 10 years. In 1944 the A’s finished in 5th place with a 72-82 win/loss record. Dick Siebert at first, Irv Hall at second, Ed Busch at shortstop and Kell at third gave the Philadelphia Athletics a solid and consistent infield. Outfielder Bobby Estalella and catcher Frankie Hayes provided the power. Combined with a terrific pitching staff, the A’s became the surprise of the American League. Irv Hall, Busch and Kell put up surprisingly similar numbers hitting .268, .271 and .268 while driving in 45, 40 and 44 runs respectively. In the dead ball war years of 1944, none hit a home run.

Although the same infield performed admirably in 1945, the wheels came off the cart with Connie Mack’s team falling to 52-98. George actually started to pull in front to the Athletics pack while leading the team in base hits with 154 and RBI with 56.

By the end of 1945, however, the War Years were over. Connie Mack knew that the other teams would have a multitude of returning veterans. His War Year players would be unknown quantities against returning pitchers like Bob Feller. Early in 1946, Mr. Mack made a move. After playing just 26 games for the A’s and hitting .299, George Kell was traded to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Barney McCosky.

One could argue that this was a very bad trade and a sign that Mack’s ability to spot talent was slipping. In fairness to Connie Mack, however, it should be pointed out that, prior to the War, McCosky had hit .311, .340, .324 and .293 for the Tigers. He was also a Pennsylvania native who might bring more fans to the ballpark. As it was, Barney hit .354 in 94 games for the A’s in 1946. One month after trading for Kell, the Athletics acquired Hank Majeski who would do a fine job and hold down third base for the A’s over the next four years. Besides, it was all destiny anyway.

From the beginning, George Kell went with Detroit like stripes on a tiger. The 23 year old finished the 1946 season hitting .322, 4th highest in the American League. Tiger manager Steve O’Neill must have seen something in George Kell during the 1945 season that impressed him. Had he forgotten July 21, 1945 when George set an American League record by going hitless in 10 at bats against the very same Tigers? Perhaps he liked the fact that George knew who he was and who he wasn’t. Using one of the smallest bats in baseball, George sprayed the ball to all fields. In addition, he had a wonderful glove. For the next ten years George Kell was known as the top third baseman in baseball, leading his league in fielding seven times.

In 1947 Kell made his first of eight consecutive All Star appearances. It is often for the 1949 season, however, that he is most remembered. On October 2, 1949, the last day of the season, George went 2 for 3 and edged Ted Williams out of the top spot in the batting race, .3429 to .3427, the closest race in baseball history. With Teddy Ballgame leading the league in home runs and RBI, Williams just missed the Triple Crown.

In 1950 George Kell set an American League record for fewest errors in a season for a third baseman, a record that would last for 24 years. Meanwhile, he finished second in batting average with .340, first in games played, base hits (218) and doubles. He would lead the league again in base hits in 1951 with 191.

After being traded to the Red Sox in 1952, George would finish his 15 year major league career with the Baltimore Orioles in 1957. There, an Arkansas rookie third baseman named Brooks Robinson was waiting his chance to take over for George Kell in 1958. In an ironic twist, on July 31, 1983 both George Kell and Brooks Robinson were inducted together into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Together they represented 30 straight years of the best of American League third basemen.

With his baseball career over in 1958, having collected 2,054 hits and averaging .306, George returned to Detroit in 1959 and began the “second half” of his Tiger career. He began a broadcasting career as the Tiger’s television announcer that lasted until he retired in 1996. His familiar “Hello everybody, I’m George Kell” became the title for his 1998 autobiography.

Having spent part of seven seasons with the Tigers as a player and thirty seven seasons as a broadcaster, George Kell and the Detroit Tigers are inseparable. Yet there was that small window at the beginning of his career when George Kell wore Philadelphia Athletic blue. Connie Mack knew it was not a fit. Blue stripes on a Tiger just do not make sense.

George Kell Official Louisville Slugger bats, a replica of the same model Kell used during his Hall of Fame career. Only a limited number available. SOLD OUT George Kell autographed ball & reprint card baseball card in holder Price: $45.00 Items will be shipped in protective plastic holders.