Don Kessinger Marquee

b. July 17, 1942 · Chicago Cubs 1964–1975, St. Louis Cardinals 1976–1977, Chicago White Sox 1977–1979

He played 1,955 games at shortstop, won two Gold Gloves and was chosen for six All-Star teams, and had 181 hits in 1969 for the Chicago club that led the division into September and did not win it. Sixteen seasons gave him 1,931 hits, 684 walks and a .252 average.

In 1979 the White Sox made him player-manager, the first since 1962. He went 46-60 and resigned in August, and nobody else did the job until Pete Rose in 1984.

He was a basketball and baseball star at Mississippi and coached both there afterward. He hit 14 home runs in sixteen years. The 1985 ballot gave him two votes of 395.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	6	1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974
The Sporting News All-Star	3	1968, 1969, 1970
Gold Glove	2	1969, 1970
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award	1	1978

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1964	CHC	4	12	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.167
1965	CHC	106	309	19	62	4	3	0	14	20	44	1	.201
1966	CHC	150	533	50	146	8	2	1	43	26	46	13	.274
1967	CHC	145	580	61	134	10	7	0	42	33	80	6	.231
1968	CHC	160	655	63	157	14	7	1	32	38	86	9	.240
1969	CHC	158	664	109	181	38	6	4	53	61	70	11	.273
1970	CHC	154	631	100	168	21	14	1	39	66	59	12	.266
1971	CHC	155	617	77	159	18	6	2	38	52	54	15	.258
1972	CHC	149	577	77	158	20	6	1	39	67	44	8	.274
1973	CHC	160	577	52	151	22	3	0	43	57	44	6	.262
1974	CHC	153	599	83	155	20	7	1	42	62	54	7	.259
1975	CHC	154	601	77	146	26	10	0	46	68	47	4	.243
1976	STL	145	502	55	120	22	6	1	40	61	51	3	.239
1977	CHW/STL	98	253	26	60	7	2	0	18	27	33	2	.237
1978	CHW	131	431	35	110	18	1	1	31	36	34	2	.255
1979	CHW	56	110	14	22	6	0	1	7	10	12	1	.200
Career	—	2078	7651	899	1931	254	80	14	527	684	759	100	.252

On this day & linked events

1942

Born July 17, 1942

Forrest City, AR, USA

1964

Major-league debut: Don Kessinger

Don Kessinger made a major-league debut on September 7, 1964.

1979

Final major-league game: Don Kessinger

Don Kessinger played a final major-league game on July 31, 1979.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain