Ken Harrelson

Positions: outfield/media
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 74 Weight: 190
Born: Thursday, September 04, 1941 in Woodruff, SC USA
Debut: 6/9/1963
Last Game: 6/20/1971
Full Name: Kenneth Smith Harrelson

Notable Events and Chronology for his Career

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

August 21, 1967

Ken “Hawk” Harrelson of the Kansas City A’s becomes baseball’s first free agent

August 28, 1967

Boston signs OF Ken Harrelson who homers in his first at-bat

October 9, 1967

The St. Louis Cardinals’ Roger Maris hits a home run in the 9th inning, but Jim Lonborg’s 3 – 1 victory sends the World Series back to Boston.

April 19, 1969

Red Sox trade Ken Harrelson in multi player deal

March 19, 1970

Cleveland Indians lose Ken Harrelson for most of the season when he fractures his leg

May 11, 1971

Cleveland Indians pitcher Steve Dunning becomes first AL pitcher to hit a grandslam after the DH (it will be 37 years until the next one)

Biography

 The big and powerful Harrelson was baseball’s 1960s flower child. He wore his blond hair long and sported Nehru jackets, beads, bell bottoms, and no socks. Catcher Duke Sims dubbed him “Hawk” for his aquiline nose, and he had that emblazoned on the back of his uniform. A careless-fielding power hitter, he hit 23 homers for Kansas City in 1965. Late in 1967, Harrelson was quoted as saying, “Charlie Finley is a menace to baseball.” The angered A’s owner released him. Seven teams approached Harrelson; the Red Sox, in the thick of a pennant race, won him with a $73,000 bonus, and Harrelson helped them to the ’67 pennant. In 1968, he hit 35 homers and led the AL with 109 RBI. Boston fans picketed Fenway Park early in 1969 when Harrelson was traded to Cleveland. He missed most of 1970 with a broken leg and played grudgingly for the Indians until 1971, when he quit to become a pro golfer, something he had threatened for years. When that failed, he became an outspoken broadcaster, and, for 1986, was the White Sox’ much-criticized GM.@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IGp1c3QgY2xpY2sgdGhlIHRhZ3MhICAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsImxpbmtfdG9fdGVybV9wYWdlIjoib24iLCJzZXBhcmF0b3IiOiIgfCAiLCJjYXRlZ29yeV90eXBlIjoicG9zdF90YWcifX0=@