Joe Cunningham
| Joe Cunningham | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cunningham in 1960. | |||
| First baseman / Right fielder | |||
|
Born: August 27, 1931 Paterson, New Jersey | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| June 30, 1954, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| April 17, 1966, for the Washington Senators | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .291 | ||
| Home runs | 64 | ||
| Runs batted in | 436 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Joseph Robert Cunningham, Jr. (born August 27, 1931) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman and left-handed batter who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954–1961), Chicago White Sox (1962–1964), and Washington Senators (1964–1966). He batted .291 over 1,141 career games and was a two-time MLB All-Star in a 12-year career.
In his first four major league games, in 1954, Cunningham became the first Cardinals player to hit at least two home runs. On April 6, 2016, Jeremy Hazelbaker matched him for this feat.[1]
The best season for Cunningham was in 1959, when he led the National League in on-base percentage at .453 and batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title.
Cunningham was traded from the Cardinals to the Chicago White Sox after the 1961 season in exchange for long-time star Minnie Miñoso. Although his first season as the White Sox first baseman was successful, Cunningham would never fully recover from a broken collarbone suffered in a collision on June 3, 1963.
His son, also named Joe, worked as a batting instructor in the Cardinals' farm system.
References
- ↑ "Diaz's pinch-hit HR blasts Cards over Braves". MLB.com. April 9, 2016.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube