The Cleveland Indians baseball family lost a member on July 16 with the passing of former infielder Kenny Kuhn. He was 73.
Kuhn was going to be special—he was a bonus baby and “the finest young infielder I have seen in a long time,” according to the great slugger Hank Greenberg. He was a four-sport star at Male High School in Louisville, Kentucky and was destined for greatness.
It didn’t quite work out that way, however. He was in the major leagues in 1955 at the age of 18, and 1957—still at the tender age of 20—his big league career was over. He sat on the bench most of 1955, appearing in only four games and collecting two hits in six at-bats for a .333 average. The following year, he hit .273 in 22 at-bats, and in his final season he hit.170 in 53 at-bats. Following his short stint in the major leagues, he bounced around in the minors until 1963.
Kenny Kuhn may be remembered as one of the best sportsmen from Louisville, Kentucky, ever. In fact, in 1955 the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Johnny Carrico mentioned just that: “[Kenny Kuhn is] possibly the greatest all-around athlete ever to come out of Louisville.”
