Don Kessinger

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1964-1979)

AVG .252
HR 14
RBI 527
H 1,931
OPS .626
PIV -9,377
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
B / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 170 lb
Born
7/17/1942 in Forrest City, AR, USA
MLB Debut
1964-09-07
Last Game
1979-07-31
Awards
6× All-Star · 2× Gold Glove

Full name: Donald Eulon Kessinger

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,078 7,651 899 1,931 254 80 14 527 100 684 759 .252 .314 .312 .626 -9,377

Career AVG .252 vs. league average .253 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .314 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .312 vs. league average .373 across their career seasons — 16.4% below league average.

Career OPS .626 vs. league average .692 across their career seasons — 9.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1964 CHN NL 4 12 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 — — — — 0.0
1965 CHN NL 106 309 19 62 4 3 0 14 1 20 44 .201 .245 (-18%) .310 (-19%) .371 (-37%) .682 (-29%) -1338.6
1966 CHN NL 150 533 50 146 8 2 1 43 13 26 46 .274 .248 (+10%) .309 (-1%) .376 (-20%) .685 (-11%) -884.2
1967 CHN NL 145 580 61 134 10 7 0 42 6 33 80 .231 .242 (-5%) .306 (-10%) .357 (-24%) .663 (-17%) -1501.0
1968 CHN NL 160 655 63 157 14 7 1 32 9 38 86 .240 .236 (+1%) .298 (-5%) .340 (-16%) .638 (-11%) -1007.1
1969 CHN NL 158 664 109 181 38 6 4 53 11 61 70 .273 .248 (+10%) .320 (+4%) .369 (-1%) .689 (+1%) 126.1
1970 CHN NL 154 631 100 168 21 14 1 39 12 66 59 .266 .253 (+5%) .325 (+3%) .385 (-10%) .711 (-4%) -315.5
1971 CHN NL 155 617 77 159 18 6 2 38 15 52 54 .258 .249 (+3%) .316 (avg) .365 (-13%) .682 (-7%) -589.9
1972 CHN NL 149 577 77 158 20 6 1 39 8 67 44 .274 .243 (+12%) .310 (+13%) .353 (-5%) .664 (+3%) 569.5
1973 CHN NL 160 577 52 151 22 3 0 43 6 57 44 .262 .256 (+2%) .325 (+1%) .378 (-18%) .703 (-9%) -751.9
1974 CHN NL 153 599 83 155 20 7 1 42 7 62 54 .259 .256 (+1%) .324 (+2%) .369 (-13%) .693 (-6%) -431.4
1975 CHN NL 154 601 77 146 26 10 0 46 4 68 47 .243 .257 (-6%) .327 (-3%) .374 (-15%) .701 (-9%) -889.9
1976 SLN NL 145 502 55 120 22 6 1 40 3 61 51 .239 .255 (-6%) .320 (avg) .360 (-13%) .681 (-7%) -458.8
1977 SLN NL 59 134 14 32 4 0 0 7 0 14 26 .239 .264 (-10%) .329 (-6%) .401 (-33%) .730 (-21%) -416.4
1977 CHA AL 39 119 12 28 3 2 0 11 2 13 7 .235 .264 (-11%) .329 (-6%) .401 (-27%) .730 (-18%) -416.4
1978 CHA AL 131 431 35 110 18 1 1 31 2 36 34 .255 .257 (-1%) .323 (-4%) .378 (-19%) .702 (-12%) -722.1
1979 CHA AL 56 110 14 22 6 0 1 7 1 10 12 .200 .265 (-25%) .329 (-20%) .397 (-29%) .727 (-25%) -444.9
Career · 17 seasons 2,078 7,651 899 1,931 254 80 14 527 100 684 759 .252 — — — — -9,472

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2078 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1064389149210285271.264
Away101437604079039256.240

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1979-07-31 CHWNYYL 000000000
1979-07-29 CHWCLEL 200000000
1979-07-28 CHWCLEL 201000010
1979-07-23 CHWDETW 511000002
1979-07-22 CHWDETL 000000000
1979-07-20 CHWTEXW 000000000
1979-07-19 CHWTEXW 000000010
1979-07-19 CHWTEXW 000000000
1979-07-15 CHWDETL 201000000
1979-07-14 CHWDETW 201000111

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
2B 78 64 126 195 11 42
3B 28 19 13 46 5 3
SS 1955 1872 3151 6212 334 1170

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1964 CHN SS 4 1 3 7 0 1
1965 CHN SS 105 104 176 338 28 69
1966 CHN SS 148 144 202 474 35 68
1967 CHN SS 143 136 215 457 19 77
1968 CHN SS 159 158 263 573 33 97
1969 CHN SS 157 157 266 542 20 101
1970 CHN SS 154 152 257 501 22 86
1971 CHN SS 154 151 263 512 27 97
1972 CHN SS 146 145 259 504 28 90
1973 CHN SS 158 156 274 526 30 109
1974 CHN SS 150 147 259 476 32 87
1975 CHN 3B 13 12 5 28 2 3
1975 CHN SS 140 132 205 436 22 100
1976 SLN 2B 31 29 53 85 6 21
1976 SLN 3B 2 0 1 0 0 0
1976 SLN SS 113 105 212 350 18 84
1977 SLN 2B 24 16 32 63 5 9
1977 SLN 3B 4 1 0 2 1 0
1977 SLN SS 26 13 37 54 2 15
1977 CHA 2B 13 11 27 27 0 10
1977 CHA 3B 9 6 7 16 2 0
1977 CHA SS 21 18 32 38 3 12
1978 CHA 2B 9 7 12 14 0 2
1978 CHA SS 123 117 171 321 13 60
1979 CHA 1B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1979 CHA 2B 1 1 2 6 0 0
1979 CHA SS 54 36 57 103 2 17

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 1
Second Base 79
Third Base 28
Shortstop 1956

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1978 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1970 Gold Glove SS
1970 TSN All-Star SS
1969 Gold Glove SS
1969 TSN All-Star SS
1968 TSN All-Star SS

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
University of Mississippi Oxford MS 1962, 1963, 1964

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1970 Most Valuable Player NL 23th 6.0 336 0
1969 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 8.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Don Kessinger (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Bill Russell
    .263 avg, 46 HR
  2. 94
    Roy McMillan
    .243 avg, 68 HR
  3. 93
    Billy Jurges
    .258 avg, 43 HR
  4. 88
    Roger Peckinpaugh
    .259 avg, 48 HR
  5. 88
    Alfredo Griffin
    .249 avg, 24 HR
  6. 87
    Howie Shanks
    .253 avg, 25 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Don Kessinger

What years did Don Kessinger play?
Don Kessinger played in Major League Baseball from 1964 to 1979.
Was Don Kessinger a pitcher?
No. Don Kessinger was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Don Kessinger hit?
Don Kessinger hit 14 career home runs with 1931 hits.