George Kell

George Clyde Kell

Detroit Tigers Player (1946 - 1952)
Detroit Tigers Broadcaster (1959 – 1963, 1965 – 1999)

George Kell was born in Swifton, Arkansas and attended Arkansas State for a year before embarking on a baseball career. He played for a few seasons in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization before being released and catching on with the Philadelphia Athletics where he became the starting third baseman in 1944. Kell was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 1946 where he became a star batting over.300 for eight consecutive seasons and ten overall, winning the A.L. batting title in 1949. In all he played with six teams during his fifteen-year MLB career recording a .308 batting average with 2,054 hits, 870 RBI and ten All-Star game selections. In addition, Kell led A.L. third basemen in fielding percentage seven times. After his playing career ended, Kell became a Tigers broadcaster for 39 years. George Kell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964 and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1969. He passed away on March 24, 2009 at 86 years of age.