Cecil Kaiser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cecil Kaiser |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| Pitcher, Outfielder, First baseman | |||
| Born: June 27, 1916 New York City, New York, U. S. |
|||
| Died: February 14, 2011 (aged 94) Southfield, Michigan, U. S. |
|||
|
|||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
Cecil Kaiser (born June 27, 1916, died February 14, 2011) was a talented American baseball player. He played in the Negro Leagues, which were professional baseball leagues for African American players. These leagues existed before players of all races were allowed to play in Major League Baseball. Kaiser was a pitcher, an outfielder, and a first baseman during his career.
Cecil Kaiser's Baseball Journey
Cecil Kaiser played for many different teams during his baseball career. He was part of famous teams like the Detroit Stars, the Motor City Giants, the Homestead Grays, and the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He also played for teams in Latin American countries and Canada.
While playing for the Homestead Grays, he was teammates with legendary players. These included Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell. Both of these amazing athletes are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame!
From Outfielder to Pitcher
Cecil Kaiser started his career as an outfielder. He was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 165 pounds. Later, his team had many players get injured. Because of this, Cecil changed his main position to a left-handed pitcher.
He became known as a "strikeout pitcher." This means he was very good at getting batters out by throwing three strikes. He had a powerful fastball. He also used many different "off-speed" pitches. These are pitches that are thrown slower than a fastball to trick the batter.
His Amazing Pitches
Cecil Kaiser earned some cool nicknames because of his pitching style. He was called the "Minute Man." This was because it often took him about one minute to strike out a batter. He was also known as the "Aspirin Tablet Man." This nickname came from his pitches, which were said to look like tiny aspirin tablets flying toward the batter!
One of his best seasons was during the winter of 1949-1950. He played in the Puerto Rican League. During that season, he had the best ERA (Earned Run Average) in the league, at 1.68. A low ERA means a pitcher is very good at preventing runs.
Later Life
Cecil Kaiser passed away on February 14, 2011. He was living in Southfield, Michigan at the time. His death happened after a fall at his home.
