R I P - George Kell

[suave1477]

What a shame I had a brief chance to meet him about a year ago. Nice Guy.

RIP GEORGE!!

Hall of famer George Kell dead at 86

By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)—George Kell, a Hall of Fame third baseman who outdueled Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday. He was 86.
Jackson’s Funeral Home in Newport, Ark., confirmed the death but did not give a cause. The Hall of Fame said he died in his sleep at his home in Swifton, Ark. Kell was severely injured in a car crash in 2004 but was able to walk with a cane about six months later.
Kell edged Williams for the 1949 batting crown, hitting .34291 while the Boston Red Sox great finished at .34276. Kell played 15 seasons in the AL, hitting more than .300 nine times and compiling a career average of .306. He was a 10-time All-Star.
Kell played from 1943-1957 with the Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He batted more than .300 each year from 1946-53. He played for the Tigers during his batting duel with Williams.

After he retired, Kell broadcast Tigers games from 1959 to 1996. Longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell and Kell became close friends while working together in TV and on radio.
“He had a very laid-back style,” Harwell told WWJ-AM in Detroit on Tuesday. “He was easygoing and an expert on the game. He brought the field to the booth because he played and played well. He had a conversational style that people took to.”
Kell grew up in Swifton and lived in the same house from his birth to when it burned down in 2001, then was rebuilt on the same land.

[tigerdale]

He was a class act, great guy!!

[Vintagedeputy]

From my personal collection...RIP GK

[mbrieve]

Some of my fondest childhood memories were listening to George Kell and Al Kaline broadcasting Tigers games on television. Quite the gentleman!

[34swtns]

Same here. I grew up listening to "Tiiiiiiger basebaaaaalll"!

Detroit's own version of Harry Caray and we loved him.

[70to66]

Mr. Kell let me spend a couple of hours with him at his home two years ago thru a mutual friend, I will never forget how nice he was. R.I.P. Mr. Kell.

[skyking26]

Some of my fondest childhood memories were listening to George Kell and Al Kaline broadcasting Tigers games on television. Quite the gentleman!

I grew up with this gentleman being broadcast into our home. True gentleman, such a classy individual.

RK