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Robert Daniel Kennedy
Chicago Cubs
Head Coach
Born: August 18, 1920, Chicago, IL
Signed: Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1937 season
Major League Teams: Chicago White Sox 1939-1942, 1946-1948; Cleveland Indians 1948-1954; Baltimore Orioles 1954-1955; Chicago White Sox 1955-1956; Detroit Tigers 1956; Chicago White Sox 1957; Brooklyn Dodgers 1957
As a Manager: Chicago Cubs 1963-1965; Oakland Athletics 1968
Died: April 7, 2005, Mesa, AZ (age 84)
Bob Kennedy played 16 years in the major leagues, missing three full seasons while serving in the military between 1943 and 1945. Most of his career was spent with the White Sox, with whom he had three different stints, and he won a World Series ring with the Indians in 1948. Kennedy is one of only three players, along with Ted Williams and Jerry Coleman, who served in both World War II and the Korean War. He was also the last player to bat for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957 before the team moved to Los Angeles.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #448
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
The Card / Cubs Team Set
This card has always fascinated me as I first saw it way before I was aware of the College of Coaches used by the Cubs in the early 1960s. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley instituted the unusual practice beginning with the 1961 season, announcing the team would no longer have a manager but would be run by an eight-man committee. The committee idea went away following a disastrous 1962 season in which the Cubs lost 103 games. Wrigley named Kennedy as the head coach, and in 1963 he had ten coaches on his staff assisting him, including Ripper Collins, Lou Klein and Buck O'Neil. The back of the card references the 15 assistant coaches Kennedy had at his disposal in 1964.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #448
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Kennedy card which was a little more than $7 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Cubs Team Set
This card has always fascinated me as I first saw it way before I was aware of the College of Coaches used by the Cubs in the early 1960s. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley instituted the unusual practice beginning with the 1961 season, announcing the team would no longer have a manager but would be run by an eight-man committee. The committee idea went away following a disastrous 1962 season in which the Cubs lost 103 games. Wrigley named Kennedy as the head coach, and in 1963 he had ten coaches on his staff assisting him, including Ripper Collins, Lou Klein and Buck O'Neil. The back of the card references the 15 assistant coaches Kennedy had at his disposal in 1964.
Kennedy looks mildly frustrated in the photo used for this card, and we can't tell if he's wiping sweat from his brow or signaling someone with his hat. The photo used for his 1964 Topps card, from the same session, shows the more frequently used "manager cups his hand to his mouth and yells something" pose.
1965 Season
Kennedy began the season as the Cubs' head coach, but shifted into the front office as assistant general manager after the team got off to a 24-32-2 start. Former head coach Klein took over the team for the rest of the season, with the Cubs finishing in eighth place with 90 losses. In November, long-time manager Leo Durocher was hired to replace Klein and at his introductory press conference Durocher declared himself manager of the club, ending the College of Coaches experiment.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #296
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1951-1957, 1964-1965, 1968, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Topps Archives 1954 #155
48 - Kennedy non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/12/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
1965 Season
Kennedy began the season as the Cubs' head coach, but shifted into the front office as assistant general manager after the team got off to a 24-32-2 start. Former head coach Klein took over the team for the rest of the season, with the Cubs finishing in eighth place with 90 losses. In November, long-time manager Leo Durocher was hired to replace Klein and at his introductory press conference Durocher declared himself manager of the club, ending the College of Coaches experiment.
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First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #296
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1951-1957, 1964-1965, 1968, 1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Topps Archives 1954 #155
48 - Kennedy non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/12/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
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