Ken Harrelson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ken Harrelson |
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Harrelson at U.S. Cellular Field in 2010
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| First baseman / Right fielder | |||
| Born: September 4, 1941 Woodruff, South Carolina, U.S. |
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| debut | |||
| June 9, 1963, for the Kansas City Athletics | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| June 20, 1971, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .239 | ||
| Home runs | 131 | ||
| Runs batted in | 421 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Kenneth Smith Harrelson (born September 4, 1941), nicknamed "the Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is an American former professional baseball player and television announcer. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1971 as a first baseman and outfielder, and he subsequently spent 33 years as a play-by-play broadcast announcer for the Chicago White Sox. In December 2019, Harrelson was named the 2020 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually to one broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball".
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Early life
Harrelson was born in Woodruff, South Carolina, and his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, when he was in fifth grade. As a child Harrelson was interested in basketball and he hoped to pursue a basketball scholarship from the University of Kentucky. His parents divorced when he was eight.
He played golf, baseball, football and basketball at Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia.
Playing career
Throwing and batting right-handed, Harrelson played for four teams: the Kansas City Athletics (1963–66, 1967), Washington Senators (1966–67), Boston Red Sox (1967–69), and Cleveland Indians (1969–71). In his nine-season career, Harrelson was a .239 hitter with 131 home runs and 421 RBI in 900 games.
His time with the Athletics in 1967 ended abruptly after only 61 games, when Harrelson was quoted in a Washington newspaper calling team owner Charlie Finley "a menace to baseball" following the dismissal of manager Alvin Dark. Although Harrelson denied using the word "menace", he was released and ended up signing a lucrative deal with the Boston Red Sox, who were in contention to win their first pennant since 1946.
Brought in to replace the injured Tony Conigliaro, Harrelson helped the team win the pennant, but watched the team drop the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. However, in 1968, he had his finest season, making the American League All-Star team, hitting a career-high 35 home runs, and leading the major leagues in runs batted in with 109. He also finished third in the American League Most Valuable Player balloting, with two players from the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers finishing ahead of him—pitcher Denny McLain won the award and catcher Bill Freehan finished second.
Harrelson announced his retirement the day after he was traded along with Dick Ellsworth and Juan Pizarro from the Red Sox to the Indians for Sonny Siebert, Vicente Romo and Joe Azcue on April 19, 1969. He had felt that his business ventures made it impractical for him to move to any other city. His agent Bob Woolf added, "If Ken left Boston, he'd be losing between half a million and three quarter of a million dollars." Following conversations with commissioner Bowie Kuhn and a contract adjustment by Cleveland, Harrelson ended his first retirement a few days later. He went 2-for-4, including a triple in the first plate appearance of his Indians debut, an 11–3 loss to the New York Yankees at Cleveland Stadium on April 24. He finished the year with 30 home runs and a career-high 99 walks. He also used his local celebrity status to briefly host a half-hour TV show, The Hawk's Nest, on local CBS affiliate WJW-TV. Harrelson was very popular in Cleveland, with his autobiography coming out around the time of the trade to the Indians.
During spring training the following year, Harrelson suffered a broken leg while sliding into second base during a March 19 exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics. The injury kept him on the sidelines for much of the season. When Indians rookie Chris Chambliss took over the first base position in 1971, Harrelson retired mid-season to pursue a professional golf career.
Batting glove usage
Harrelson has been credited with being the first player to wear a batting glove in an actual game (as opposed to usage during batting practice). However, Peter Morris' book A Game of Inches says the batting glove may have been used as early as 1901 by Hughie Jennings, and was definitely used by Lefty O'Doul and Johnny Frederick of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932, and later by Bobby Thomson in the 1950s. Morris does credit Harrelson with reintroducing and popularizing the batting glove in the 1960s. Roger Maris also used what was thought to be a batting glove, most likely a golf glove, in the 1961 season.
Broadcasting career
Harrelson began a broadcasting career in 1975 with the Boston Red Sox on WSBK-TV, partnering with Dick Stockton. He became highly popular, especially after being teamed with veteran play-by-play man Ned Martin in 1979. Harrelson left after the 1981 season, moving to a broadcasting role with the Chicago White Sox; Harrelson noted that he and Red Sox co-owner Haywood Sullivan "didn't get along". Harrelson served as a White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985.
Executive role with White Sox
On October 2, 1985, Harrelson was named executive vice president of baseball operations for the White Sox. Then-general manager of the White Sox Roland Hemond was given a special assistant role, and left the team in April 1986, leaving Harrelson as the de facto general manager, until Tom Haller was hired as the team's new general manager in early June 1986. Haller would have disagreements with Harrelson and leave at the end of the season. During June 1986, Harrelson fired assistant general manager Dave Dombrowski (who became baseball's youngest general manager with the Montreal Expos two years later) and fired manager Tony La Russa (who was soon hired by the Oakland Athletics). Harrelson also traded rookie Bobby Bonilla, later a six-time All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher José DeLeón in July 1986. Harrelson resigned his executive role with the White Sox on September 26, 1986, approximately one week before the end of the regular season. The 1986 Chicago White Sox finished the season with a record of 72–90, 20 games behind the division-winning California Angels.
Return to broadcasting
During the 1987 and 1988 seasons, Harrelson was the play-by-play announcer for New York Yankees games on SportsChannel New York. From 1984 to 1989, he served as a backup color commentator on NBC's Game of the Week broadcasts alongside play-by-play man Jay Randolph. In 1994, Harrelson served as a broadcaster for the short-lived Baseball Network and was the US broadcaster for the Japan Series that aired through the Prime-SportsChannel regional networks.
Harrelson returned to the White Sox in 1990 as the main play-by-play announcer during television broadcasts, teaming up with Tom Paciorek until 2000 and Darrin Jackson from 2000 to 2008. In 2009, former Chicago Cubs color analyst Steve Stone began accompanying Harrelson in the television booth. During this time he won five Emmy Awards and two Illinois Sportscaster of the Year awards. However, in 2010, GQ magazine named Harrelson the worst broadcaster in baseball.
Starting with the 2016 season, Harrelson cut back his schedule to road games and select home games. Jason Benetti took over as the television announcer for most home games. On May 31, 2017, Harrelson announced his final year in the broadcast booth would be the 2018 season. After calling his final game, a 6–1 loss to the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs, Harrelson officially retired from broadcasting on September 24, 2018.
On December 11, 2019, Harrelson was named the 2020 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Personal life
While he was still in high school, Harrelson met his first wife, Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Pacifici, whom he would marry that year. The marriage produced four children (Patricia, Michael, Richard, and John), and three grandchildren (Nikole, Ryan and Kiefer) and one great-grandson, Jack. Harrelson filed for divorce from Betty on June 28, 1971.
In 1970, Harrelson was part-owner of a $2 million waterfront nightclub in East Boston called the 1800 Club. A three-quarter sized replica of Donald McKay's clipper ship Flying Cloud was docked next to the club and was used as a floating cocktail lounge. The location offered superb views of Boston Harbor and the downtown skyline. The complex was severely damaged by fire on January 20, 1971, and never re-opened.
After retiring from baseball, Harrelson competed in the 1972 British Open. He missed the cut by 1 stroke, shooting +11.
On September 13, 1973, Harrelson married Aris Harritos. They have two children, daughter Krista and son Casey, as well as two grandchildren, Nico and Alexander. Harrelson's son Casey played in the White Sox minor league system in 1999. The family resides in Orlando, Florida.
Harrelson resided in Granger, Indiana during baseball seasons, and would often discuss the long commute from his home to Guaranteed Rate Field during broadcasts.
Namesakes
- Hawk Drive, Tucson, Arizona
See also
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
