Ken Berry (baseball)
Ken Berry | |
---|---|
Center fielder | |
Born: Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | May 10, 1941|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
September 9, 1962, for the Chicago White Sox | |
Last MLB appearance | |
May 31, 1975, for the Cleveland Indians | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .255 |
Home runs | 58 |
Runs batted in | 343 |
Teams | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Allen Kent Berry (born May 10, 1941) is an American former professional
Career
Berry was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, where he starred in football, basketball and track and field. After graduating from High School in 1959, he continued to play football and basketball as a freshman while attending Wichita State University.[2] Berry also played one year in a work/play program for the McPherson (Kansas) BJs in the Ban Johnson League. That year McPherson went to the National Ban Johnson League tournament finals played in Wichita.
Berry was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1961 season. He made his major league debut with the White Sox at the age of 21 on September 9, 1962. He was named to the American League All-Star team in 1967, when his White Sox battled the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Minnesota Twins for the pennant all the way down to the last few days of the season.
He led league outfielders in
During the
Career statistics
In a fourteen-year major league career, Berry played in 1,384
Career highlights include:
- 20 consecutive-game hitting streak (May 28, 1967 – June 15, 1967)
- Eight four-hit games – The most significant being three singles and a home run against the New York Yankees (June 7, 1970)
- 39 three-hit games
- One five-RBI game, including a grand slam against the Detroit Tigers right-hander Joe Sparma (June 15, 1968)
- Three four-RBI games, including a pair of two-run homers vs. the Kansas City Royals (May 15, 1970)
Personal life
In 1988, he played the heckler in the film Eight Men Out.
In 2012, Berry---now a grandfather---published two children's books, Artie the Awesome Apple and Clyde the Clumsy Camel. He told the Topeka Capital-Journal he began writing the books in December 2011 and kept on after his wife told him they were "not bad." The newspaper said Berry often entertained his children on long drives to spring training by making up stories about three friendly ghosts.[8]
Berry was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
References
- ^ "Ken Berry at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame". kshof.org. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ Schremmer, Mark. "No. 2: Berry a real hit with the glove," The Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal, Saturday, August 27, 2011.
- ^ "Center Fielders Are Exchanged," The New York Times, Tuesday, December 1, 1970. Retrieved March 10, 2020
- ^ Fletcher, Walter R. "People in Sports: Cubs' Jenkins in Texas Livery?" The New York Times, Wednesday, October 24, 1973. Retrieved November 28, 2020
- ^ Richard, Mike. "August 27, 1967: Tartabull's throw keys cardiac win for Red Sox". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ Higgins, Bill. "My Take: Memories of Dick Williams". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Tartabull throws out Berry". MLB.com. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ Berry's Creativity Put to Print
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)