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Harvey Edward Kuenn
San Francisco Giants
Outfield
Born: December 4, 1930, West Allis, WI
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent, June 9, 1952
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1952-1959; Cleveland Indians 1960; San Francisco Giants 1961-1965; Chicago Cubs 1965-1966; Philadelphia Phillies 1966
As a Manager: Milwaukee Brewers 1975, 1982-1983
Died: February 28, 1988, Peoria, AZ (age 57)
One of the most prolific hitters in the American League throughout the 1950s, Harvey Kuenn was the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 1953 and was named to eight straight All-Star teams between 1953 and 1960. He and Al Kaline (#130) led the Tigers offense during those years, but the club never finished higher than fourth place in the junior circuit. A shortstop early in his career, Kuenn led the league in hits four times (1953, 1954, 1956 and 1959), doubles three times (1955, 1958 and 1959) and took the batting crown in 1959 with a .353 average. He was swapped to the Indians in April 1960 for Rocky Colavito (#380), a blockbuster deal involving two All-Stars.
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| 1982 Donruss #578 |
Kuenn became a coach for the Brewers in 1972 and he served as an interim manager for a game in 1975 following the firing of Del Crandall (#68). He was named the team's permanent manager on June 2, 1982, replacing Buck Rodgers (#342), and he led that Brewers team to their first and only World Series appearance to date. Despite losing to the Cardinals in the World Series, Kuenn and his team, affectionately called "Harvey's Wallbangers," cemented themselves as fan favorites in Milwaukee.
Building the Set
December 7, 2019 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #16
We were up to 11 cards for our 1965 Topps set, and I honestly had it in mind that I wanted to purchase one fairly major "star" card during our remaining time at the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show inside the Valley Forge Casino. The showroom floor was packed as we were now into the early afternoon and autograph guests were showing up every 15 minutes or so. The PA announcer would call out ticket numbers in groups of 10 all while imploring collectors to back away from the entrance that led into the autograph signing area.
That was the backdrop when we came upon the table for MJW Collectibles out of Somerdale, NJ. This dealer had a bunch of 1960s Topps binders spread out, and the sign on the 1965 Topps binder caught my eye - ALL CARDS $1. And with Doug's help, I dug in.
The Card
This always seemed to me to be one of the more iconic cards in the 1965 Topps set, for reasons completely unknown. It's just one of those cards I've been aware of since very early in my collecting career. It was my Dad who pointed out to me in the early 1980s that Kuenn's name was pronounced "Keen," and not "Ku-yen" as I had been pronouncing it. I first became aware of Kuenn's existence because of his inclusion in the 1982 Donruss set on a coach's card.
In 1959, Kuenn easily beat out his teammate Kaline (.327) and Boston's Pete Runnels (.314) for the
batting title.1965 Season
Now 34 years old, Kuenn started the season as the Giants' opening day left fielder with Jesus Alou (#545) in right and Willie Mays (#250) in center. He lost more and more time in left to Matty Alou (#318) and on May 29th, the Giants traded Kuenn, Ed Bailey (#559) and Bob Hendley (#444) to the Cubs for Dick Bertell (#27) and Len Gabrielson (#14). Kuenn appeared in 54 games for the Cubs and his combined totals for the season were fairly decent - a .296 average over 89 games.
On September 9th, Kuenn was the final out recorded in Sandy Koufax's (#300) no-hitter. He was the final out in two of Koufax's four no-hitters, doing it for the first time in 1963. Also during the 1965 season, Kuenn was part of a four-player committee, along with Jim Bunning (#20), Bob Friend (#392) and Robin Roberts (#15), to hire Marvin Miller as head of the player's union.
The Cubs sold Kuenn to the Phillies three games into the 1966 season on April 23rd. He spent the rest of the season with the Phillies, his final season in the Majors, serving as a right-handed pinch-hitter and occasional back-up in left for Tony Gonzalez (#72) or at first base for Bill White (#190). Kuenn appeared in 86 games for the Phillies, hitting .296 with 9 doubles and 15 RBIs. He received an invitation to spring training in 1967, but he abruptly announced his retirement right before the start of camp to take a job with a television station in Milwaukee.
Kuenn's time with the Phillies produced no official baseball cards.
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First Mainstream Card: 1954 Topps #25
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1954, 1956-1966, 1973-1974, 1983-1984
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Diamond Kings DK Materials #87
165 - Kuenn non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/23/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #102 Steve Boros - Cincinnati Reds
Next Card: #104 2nd Series Checklist 89-176
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