Red Kress
Born: 1/2/1905 in Columbia, CA, USA
Died: 11/29/1962 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1927-09-24 | Final Game: 1946-07-17
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 165 lbs
Full name: Ralph Kress
Biography
Red Kress was a notable American professional baseball player, born in 1905, whose career spanned from 1927 until his retirement in 1946. Primarily recognized as a position player, Kress made a significant impact in Major League Baseball during his time, appearing in 1,391 games. He accumulated a total of 1,454 hits, demonstrating his consistent ability to reach base, while maintaining a solid batting average of .286. Kress showcased his power at the plate with 89 home runs and contributed significantly to his teams with 799 RBIs. Additionally, he displayed speed on the base paths, successfully stealing 47 bases over his career.
Kress played during a transformative era in baseball, navigating the game through the late 1920s and into the post-World War II years. His contributions as a reliable hitter and versatile player helped him carve out a respected place in the game’s history. Throughout his career, Kress was known for his competitive spirit and skill, attributes that made him a valuable asset to the teams he played for and a well-regarded figure in the sport.
Negro Leagues Career Statistics
Batting
| PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73.0 | 66.0 | 9.0 | 14.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.212 | 0.278 | 0.288 | 0.566 |
Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.82 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting
| Season | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 21.0 | 17.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.235 | 0.350 | 0.294 | 0.644 |
| 1930 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.375 | 0.625 |
| 1935 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.154 | 0.154 | 0.231 | 0.385 |
| 1939 | 13.0 | 11.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0.182 | 0.308 | 0.182 | 0.490 |
| 1941 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.286 | 0.333 | 0.429 | 0.762 |
| 1943 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching
| Season | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.82 |
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 12.54 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | WSN | AL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 12.71 | - |
| 1946 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12.27 | 0.0 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1391 | 5087 | 691 | 1454 | 298 | 58 | 89 | 799 | 47 | 474 | 453 | 0.286 | 0.347 | 0.420 | 0.767 | 3019.5 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | SLA | AL | 7 | 23 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.304 | 0.0 |
| 1928 | SLA | AL | 150 | 560 | 78 | 153 | 26 | 10 | 3 | 81 | 5 | 48 | 70 | 0.273 | -631.9 |
| 1929 | SLA | AL | 147 | 557 | 82 | 170 | 38 | 4 | 9 | 107 | 5 | 52 | 54 | 0.305 | 515.6 |
| 1930 | SLA | AL | 154 | 614 | 94 | 192 | 43 | 8 | 16 | 112 | 3 | 50 | 56 | 0.313 | 1030.6 |
| 1931 | SLA | AL | 150 | 605 | 87 | 188 | 46 | 8 | 16 | 114 | 3 | 46 | 48 | 0.311 | 1937.9 |
| 1932 | CHW | AL | 135 | 515 | 83 | 147 | 42 | 4 | 9 | 57 | 6 | 47 | 36 | 0.285 | 596.1 |
| 1932 | SLA | AL | 14 | 52 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0.173 | 596.1 |
| 1933 | CHW | AL | 129 | 467 | 47 | 116 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 78 | 4 | 37 | 40 | 0.248 | -406.7 |
| 1934 | CHW | AL | 8 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.286 | 0.0 |
| 1934 | WSN | AL | 56 | 171 | 18 | 39 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 3 | 17 | 19 | 0.228 | 0.0 |
| 1935 | WSN | AL | 84 | 252 | 32 | 75 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 0.298 | 193.0 |
| 1936 | WSN | AL | 109 | 391 | 51 | 111 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 51 | 6 | 39 | 25 | 0.284 | 199.5 |
| 1938 | SLA | AL | 150 | 566 | 74 | 171 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 79 | 5 | 69 | 47 | 0.302 | 898.5 |
| 1939 | DET | AL | 51 | 157 | 19 | 38 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 0.242 | -427.3 |
| 1939 | SLA | AL | 13 | 43 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0.279 | -427.3 |
| 1940 | DET | AL | 33 | 99 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0.222 | -296.2 |
| 1946 | NY1 | NL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 162 | 0 | 1636 | 88 | 36 | 121 |
| 2B | 59 | 0 | 138 | 166 | 7 | 38 |
| 3B | 170 | 0 | 194 | 307 | 43 | 27 |
| OF | 124 | 0 | 256 | 21 | 14 | 3 |
| P | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| SS | 835 | 0 | 1761 | 2357 | 243 | 558 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | SLA | SS | 7 | 0 | 12 | 25 | 1 | 4 |
| 1928 | SLA | SS | 150 | 0 | 318 | 400 | 55 | 99 |
| 1929 | SLA | SS | 146 | 0 | 312 | 441 | 43 | 94 |
| 1930 | SLA | 3B | 31 | 0 | 35 | 57 | 10 | 4 |
| 1930 | SLA | SS | 123 | 0 | 271 | 349 | 41 | 83 |
| 1931 | SLA | 1B | 10 | 0 | 94 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
| 1931 | SLA | 3B | 84 | 0 | 92 | 141 | 16 | 12 |
| 1931 | SLA | SS | 38 | 0 | 37 | 47 | 6 | 7 |
| 1931 | SLA | OF | 40 | 0 | 82 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| 1932 | CHA | 1B | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 1932 | CHA | 3B | 19 | 0 | 17 | 34 | 6 | 4 |
| 1932 | CHA | SS | 53 | 0 | 125 | 155 | 19 | 35 |
| 1932 | CHA | OF | 64 | 0 | 139 | 12 | 7 | 2 |
| 1932 | SLA | 3B | 14 | 0 | 23 | 27 | 5 | 5 |
| 1933 | CHA | 1B | 111 | 0 | 1169 | 60 | 28 | 83 |
| 1933 | CHA | OF | 8 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1934 | CHA | 2B | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1934 | WS1 | 1B | 30 | 0 | 291 | 11 | 2 | 16 |
| 1934 | WS1 | 2B | 6 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 4 |
| 1934 | WS1 | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1934 | WS1 | SS | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1934 | WS1 | OF | 10 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1935 | WS1 | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1935 | WS1 | 1B | 5 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 1935 | WS1 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1935 | WS1 | SS | 53 | 0 | 118 | 204 | 12 | 53 |
| 1935 | WS1 | OF | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1936 | WS1 | 1B | 5 | 0 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 1936 | WS1 | 2B | 33 | 0 | 86 | 100 | 1 | 21 |
| 1936 | WS1 | SS | 64 | 0 | 143 | 212 | 28 | 52 |
| 1938 | SLA | SS | 150 | 0 | 321 | 388 | 26 | 100 |
| 1939 | DET | 2B | 16 | 0 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 13 |
| 1939 | DET | 3B | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 1939 | DET | SS | 25 | 0 | 48 | 69 | 5 | 15 |
| 1939 | SLA | SS | 13 | 0 | 27 | 29 | 4 | 10 |
| 1940 | DET | 3B | 17 | 0 | 20 | 41 | 5 | 1 |
| 1940 | DET | SS | 12 | 0 | 25 | 33 | 3 | 5 |
| 1946 | NY1 | P | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 4 |
| First Base | 162 |
| Second Base | 59 |
| Third Base | 174 |
| Shortstop | 830 |
| Left Field | 22 |
| Right Field | 103 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | SS |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 19th | 3.0 | 80 | 0 |