Up on the blog
today, we have a 1979 “Then & Now” Super Veteran card for former
Chicago Cubs All-Star Don Kessinger, who wrapped up a nice Major League
career as player-manager with the cross-town White Sox:
Originally
up to the Majors in 1964 as a 21-year-old, he would play the first 12
years of his career on Chicago's North Side with the Cubbies, before
moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals for a
season and a half, then the Chicago White Sox for the last two and a
half years of his 16-year career.
Kessinger
was really a great player who gets lost over the years, making six
all-star teams over his career, along with two Gold Gloves for such a
great Cubs team at the time.
In 1969
Kessinger had perhaps his best season in the Big Leagues, collecting a
career-best 181 hits, 38 doubles, 53 runs batted in and 109 runs scored.
In 1979,
his last season of his career, he was also named manager of the White
Sox before handing over the reigns to a young up and coming field
general, a guy named Tony LaRussa.
For
Kessinger, he would finish his career with 1931 hits, 899 runs, 100
stolen bases and a .252 batting average over 7651 at-bats and 2078 games
played.
As a
manager however, he didn't have the same result, lasting only 106 games
into the 1979 season before getting let go, leading the team to a record
of 46-60.
His replacement, Tony LaRussa, incredibly is STILL managing to this day, which boggles my mind.
