Ken Retzer
| Ken Retzer | |
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| Catcher | |
| Born: April 30, 1934 Wood River , Illinois , United States 
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| Died on: May 17, 2020 Sun City , Arizona , United States
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| Suggested: Right | Threw: Left |
| Debut in Major League Baseball | |
| September 9, 1961 with the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB assignment | |
| October 3, 1964 with the Washington Senators | |
| MLB statistics (until end of career) |
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| Batting average | .264 |
| Home runs | 14th |
| RBI | 72 |
| Teams | |
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Kenneth Leo "Ken" Retzer (born April 30, 1934 in Wood River , Illinois , † May 17, 2020 in Sun City , Arizona ) was an American baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Retzer came as a catcher in the years 1961 to 1964 to a total of 237 missions for the Washington Senators .
Career
Ken Retzer signed his first professional contract with the Cleveland Indians from amateur free agent status before the 1954 season . On September 6, 1961, he was transferred to the Washington Senators in a trade against Chet Boak . With the Senators he came to the end of the 1961 season on 13 missions. In 1962 and 1963, Retzer played around 100 games for the Senators, and in 1962 he had the best batting average of his career with .285 .
In 1963, Retzer caught the ceremonial first pitch of the season, thrown by then President of the United States, John F. Kennedy . He gave the ball signed by Kennedy to his daughter. Retzer was also the catcher of the first pitch of the hundred thousandth MLB game in history on September 6, 1963. The ball he caught is on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame .
After he was only used 17 times in 1964, the Senators traded him in exchange with Joe McCabe to the Minnesota Twins , but there he was not considered in the MLB and from then on played at AAA level in the minor leagues . At the beginning of the 1966 season, Retzer was transferred to the Houston Astros in exchange with Walt Bond . Even with the Astros Retzer was not used in the MLB and moved back to the Cleveland Indians in January 1967, with whom he was already under contract at the beginning of his career. During his career, in addition to his four-year MLB time, Retzer played 1,073 games for a total of eleven different teams in the minor leagues.
After the career
After his active career, Retzer had various jobs, including the owner of the Retzer's Home Plate restaurant in San Diego . At the beginning of his retirement, he and his wife, Janet, moved from California to Sun City, Arizona, where he died on May 17, 2020 at the age of 86.
Web links
- Player information and statistics from Baseball Reference or Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Pete Hayes: BASEBALL IN HIS HEART: Late Retzer's MLB career brief but noteworthy. The Telegraph, May 19, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Sam Gazdziak: Obituary: Ken Retzer (1934-2020). RIP Baseball, May 19, 2020, accessed May 22, 2020 .
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Retzer, Ken |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Retzer, Kenneth Leo (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wood River , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th May 2020 |
| Place of death | Sun City , Arizona |