On top of that, in his brief stint as a manager, he led the Brewers to their only World Series appearance. His team was known as 'Harvey's Wallbangers' with the likes of Robin Yount, Gorman Thomas and Cecil Cooper leading this offensive juggernaut. I hope the veterans committee takes Kuenn seriously for the Hall of Fame.
He is also famous for being involved in one of the most controversial trades in baseball history. After leading the league in hitting in 1959, he was traded from the Tigers to the Indians, for Rocky Colavito who led the league in home runs in 1959. While Kuenn was a great player and a great guy, Colavito and his power were loved in Cleveland. Took years for the Indians to get over the deal.
Kuenn is also the answer to a trivia question. In Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters, Kuenn was responsible for two of the final outs.
For his long storied career, Harvey Kuenn still may not have been voted into the Hall of Fame, but he has been the recipient of the Baseball Birthday Quote of the Day for December 4th.
"If this guy was hurt, his team might be hurt, but the pitching all over the league will improve."
--Casey Stengel, on an injured Harvey Kuenn
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