2013 information guide - MLB.com

The American League’s foremost third baseman in the 1940s and ’50s, George Kell is one of just 11 third basemen
enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Won the 1949 American League batting crown with a .343 average, nosing out Boston’s Ted Williams on the final day
of the season.
• Selected to 10 all-star games, including eight straight between 1947 and 1954.
• Batted over .300 nine times and led the AL in hits in 1950 and 1951...also led the league in doubles both seasons.
• Was acquired by the Tigers on May 18, 1946, from the Philadelphia Athletics in exchange for outfielder Barney
McCoskey.
• In seven seasons with the Tigers from 1946-52, he batted below .300 just once, 1952 when he was traded to the Red
Sox just 39 games into the season.
• Known for sure hands and a strong, accurate arm, he led American League third basemen in fielding percentage
seven times.
• Wore uniform No. 21 from 1946-50 and No. 7 in 1951 and ’52 with the Tigers.
• Was included in an eight-player trade on June 3, 1952, in which he, Dizzy Trout, Hoot Evers and Johnny Lipon were
sent from the Tigers to Boston in exchange for Johnny Pesky, Walt Dropo, Bill Wight, Fred Hatfield and Don Lenhardt.
• Also played for the White Sox and Orioles before retiring in 1957.
• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983 by the Veterans Committee.
• Began broadcasting full-time after retiring as a player and, except for 1964, called Tigers baseball every year from
1959-96...retired from broadcasting in January, 1997.
A lifetime .330 hitter, outfielder Heinie Manush played for six teams over 17 seasons but entered the Hall of Fame as a
Detroit Tiger after playing his first five years with the club.
• Played his first three seasons in the big leagues for manager Ty Cobb and won his lone batting title in 1926 under
Cobb’s tutelage, batting .378...overtook Babe Ruth by going six-for-nine in a doubleheader on the last day of the
season.
• In 1928, his first season with the St. Louis Browns, collected 241 hits, just 16 short of George Sisler’s 1920 major
league record...again batted .378 but lost the batting title by a single point to Washington’s Goose Goslin.
• Topped the 200-hit mark four times in his career...also posted 40-or-more doubles six times, leading the league in
1928 and ’29, and topped the American League with 17 triples in 1933.
• Finished as runner-up to Jimmie Foxx for the batting title in 1933 after hitting .336...was selected to his only all-star
game in 1934.
• In 7,654 career at-bats, fanned just 345 times (never more than 30 times in a season).
• Was traded from Detroit to the St. Louis Browns on Dec. 2, 1927, along with Lu Blue in exchange for Chick Galloway,
Elam Vangilder and Harry Rice.
• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964 by the Veterans Committee.
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TIGERS IN NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
GEORGE KELL 3B, 1946-52
Elected to Hall of Fame: 1983
Ht./Wt.: 5-9/175 Batted/Threw: R/R
Born: 8/23/1922 in Swifton, AR Died: 3/24/2009 in Swifton, AR
Full Name: George Clyde Kell
HEINIE MANUSH LF, 1923-27
Elected to Hall of Fame: 1964
Ht./Wt.: 6-1/200 Batted/Threw: L/L
Born: 7/20/1901 in Tuscumbia, AL Died: 5/12/71 in Sarasota, FL
Full Name: Henry Emmett Manush
STEARNES’ STAR SHINES AT HALL OF FAME
Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, a standout slugger for the Detroit Stars of the Negro League, earned his spot in baseball
history as he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. Stearnes, a gifted outfielder and powerful hitter,
played for the Stars from 1923-30 and in 1937, and he also played with several other Negro League teams. Legendary Negro
League player Satchel Paige was quoted as saying that “Turkey Stearnes was one of the greatest hitters we ever had...he was
as good as anybody who ever played baseball.”
Following his successful career in baseball, Stearnes and his wife, Nettie, stayed in Detroit. Stearnes could almost always
be found at Tigers home games before he passed away on September 4, 1979 at the age of 78. Nettie Stearnes and the
Stearnes’ family, friends and former teammates were tireless in their efforts to have Turkey’s accomplishments rightfully recognized
with the sport’s highest honor. In 2000, Turkey Stearnes’ legacy was finally given its due recognition with his induction into
the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2013 DETROIT TIGERS INFORMATION GUIDE