Yogi Berra – The Best I Ever Saw One of the most popular figures in baseball history. Berra batted .285 with 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in during his 18 years with the New York Yankees (1946-63). The lefthanded-hitting catcher hit at least 20 home runs in 11 seasons. Especially in…
Alex Kellner Essentials Positions: Bats: R Throws: L Height: 72 Weight: 200 Born: Tuesday, August 26, 1924 in Tucson, AZ USA Died: 5 3 1996 in Tucson, AZ USA Debut: 4/29/1948 Last Game: 6/23/1959 Full Name: Alexander Raymond Kellner In 1949 left-handed hurler Alexander Raymond Kellner joined his namesake, Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland…
The Yankees top Kansas City, 3 – 0, behind Bob Turley’s four-hit shutout. Mickey Mantle has a homer off Alex Kellner, the 11th time in his last 12 at-bats he’s reached base safely. That night a group of Yankees celebrate Billy Martin’s 29th birthday in raucous fashion. An ensuing fight at Manhattan’s Copacabana Club leads to $5,500 in fines and the eventual trade of Billy to Kansas City. Hank Bauer allegedly starts the fight by hitting a patron, although Bauer denies it. The Yanks fine Whitey Ford, Bauer, Yogi Berra, Mantle and Martin $1,000 each and Johnny Kucks $500.
At Municipal Stadium, the recently arrived Athletics beat the Tigers, 6-2, in their first game in Kansas City. At first, the franchise’s shift from Philadelphia will be warmly received by the Missouri fans as the A’s draw 1,393,054 patrons to the ballpark in their first season, second only to the Yankees in American League attendance.
1951 – The Philadelphia Athletics win their first game at Fenway Park since September 12, 1948, beating Mel Parnell and the Boston Red Sox, 6 – 3. Making it sweeter is besting Parnell, winner of 10 straight over Philadelphia. The Athletics break a 3 – 3 tie in the 8th inning with three runs to make Alex Kellner the winner, just the third left-handed pitcher since 1948 to go the distance in Fenway.
1949 – At Griffith Stadium, rookie Alex Kellner goes the distance and posts his 20th win, a 7 – 4 victory over the Washington Senators, to became the first Philadelphia Athletics 20-game winner since Lefty Grove did it in 1933. The 24 year-old southpaw’s success will be short-lived when he leads the American League with 20 losses next season.