Sports History Archive Sourced daily
Ken Oberkfell

Ken Oberkfell Marquee

b. May 4, 1956 · St. Louis Cardinals 1977–1984, Atlanta Braves 1984–1988, Pittsburgh Pirates 1988–1989, San Francisco Giants 1989, Houston Astros 1990–1991, California Angels 1992

He was St. Louis's third baseman for the 1982 club that won the World Series, hitting .293 that season, and stayed there as a fixture through most of the decade before Atlanta traded for him in 1984. He hit .321 with 136 hits in 1986, his best season with the bat.

Sixteen seasons gave him 1,354 hits, 237 doubles, 558 runs batted in, 546 walks and a .278 average, with 1,046 games at third base and 402 at second. He rarely struck out and drew walks at a rate that kept his on-base percentage well above his batting average across his career.

He finished with California in 1992 at thirty-six and managed in the minor leagues for years afterward, including a long run with the Cardinals' system. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.

Batting, season by season

YearTeam GABR H2B3B HRRBIBB SOSBAVG
1977 STL 9901 000 1030 .111
1978 STL 245076 100 0310 .120
1979 STL 13536953111 1951 3557354 .301
1980 STL 11642258128 2763 4651234 .303
1981 STL 10237643110 1262 45372813 .293
1982 STL 13747055136 2252 34403111 .289
1983 STL 15148862143 2653 38612712 .293
1984 ATL/STL 1003243887 1921 2131272 .269
1985 ATL 13441230112 1943 3551381 .272
1986 ATL 15150362136 2435 4883407 .270
1987 ATL 13550859142 2923 4848293 .280
1988 ATL/PIT 14047649129 2243 4237344 .271
1989 PIT/SFG 971561942 612 1710100 .269
1990 HOU 771501031 611 1215171 .207
1991 HOU 5370716 400 141480 .229
1992 CAL 4191624 100 10850 .264
Career 160248745581354 2374429 44654635662 .278

On this day & linked events

1956

Born May 4, 1956

Highland, IL, USA

1977

Major-league debut: Ken Oberkfell

Ken Oberkfell made a major-league debut on August 22, 1977.

1992

Final major-league game: Ken Oberkfell

Ken Oberkfell played a final major-league game on October 4, 1992.

Image: Johnmaxmena ( talk )John Mena, CC BY 3.0