Ellis Kinder

From SoSH

Ellis Kinder, nicknamed "Old Folks" or "Old Grandad" due to his late start in professional baseball, was one of the Red Sox's top starting pitchers in the late 1940s, and their top relief ace in the 1950s.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 External Links

Overall Career

The son of a poor sharecropper, Kinder was the best pitcher in rural Arkansas growing up, but was undiscovered until late due to the lack of scouting in the area. He eventually signed with the Jackson Generals of the Class D Kitty League in the summer of 1938 at the age of 24 (he changed his age to 21), dominating the league with a 21-9 record, 2.38 ERA, with 276 innings pitched and 307 strikeouts. Unfortunately, Jackson was unaffiliated, and due to his success - and carousing reputation - he was never promoted. He did, however, get a small chance in the Yankees Binghamton affiliate, but did not capitalize, going 3-3 and ending up back in Jackson.

In 1943, the Kitty League folded, and Kinder signed in 1944 with the Memphis Chicks of the Southern Association. There, he was finally discovered, and his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Browns for $19,000. He never pitched well for the Browns and was sold, along with Jack Kramer and Vern Stephens, to Boston in 1948.

In 1949 at the age of 34, Kinder had his best season as a starter, becoming the stopper for the Red Sox with Mel Parnell, going 23-6 with a 3.36 ERA and leading the league in shutouts (6) and a .793 of winning percentage. He pitched well as a starter until 1951, when the Red Sox, desperate for relief help, moved him into the bullpen. He became one of the major's best closers, including a 1.85, 27 SV season in 1953.

Kinder was selected off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals on December 4, 1955, then again selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox on July 11, 1956, and eventually retired after being released on May 17, 1957. He died in Jackson, Tennessee on October 16, 1968, at the age of 54.

In his 12-year career, Kinder compiled a 102-71 record with 749 strikeouts, a 3.43 ERA, 56 complete games, 10 shutouts, 102 saves, and 1479 innings pitched in 484 games.

Most information derived from David Halberstam's Summer of '49, pages 96-103

Moment in the Sun

• Pitched three perfect innings in the day game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians, then pitched several more shutout innings in the nightcap after being seen getting brutally intoxicated on the train the night before and carried to the hotel on a wheelchair (year unknown, sometime between 1952-1954)
• Twice Top 10 MVP (1949, 1951)
• Twice led league in winning percentage (1949, 1951)
• Led league in shutouts (1949)
• Twice led league in games pitched (63, 1951; 69, 1953)
• Twice led league in saves (1951, 1953)
• Pitched ten innings of scoreless relief for a win (July 12, 1951)
• Four times led league as the oldest player (1955-57)

Trivia

• Kinder is one of few pitchers in baseball history who won or saved a combined total of at least 200 games, and who were primarily starters for at least a third of their career.
• Kinder is the last Red Sox pitcher to hit a grand slam. He achieved this feat in the first game of a double-header against the Chicago White Sox on August 6, 1950.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis