Ken Henderson was born in Iowa
and at some point did a big move to the Southwest because by the time he was in
high school he was also in San Diego.
There he was a halfback in football as well as the MVP of his hoop team his
senior year of ’64 and all-county as an outfielder. He was signed that year by San Francisco and moved fast, that first summer splitting time between
Rookie, A , and Triple A ball, even though he hit a combined .191. The next
season he was up in San Francisco
where he pretty much rode the pines as outfield insurance for Willie Mays. In
’66 he’d spend nearly the whole season back in Triple A where he hit .272 with
66 RBI’s before he split ’67 between that level and up top. Most of ’68 was in
Triple A and the military reserve and in ’69 he would be up for good.
By ’69 even though Willie Mays was slowing down, the notion
of having Henderson wait around in the wings for Willie’s retirement became too
unproductive and with Ty Cline going to the Expos and Bobby Bonds moving to
right, Ken got to finally do some starting and split left field with Dave
Marshall. Then in ’70 Marshall
went to the Mets so Ken got that job full-time and turned in his best season on
that coast. He retained the position the next two seasons as well, reaching the
post-season in ’71. Late in ’72 new arrival Gary Matthews made the outfield
crowded and Ken and Steve Stone got sent to the White Sox for pitcher Tom
Bradley.
When Henderson got healthy in ’74 he turned it on, hitting
.292 with 20 homers and 95 RBI’s as the Sox’ main guy in center. Then in ’75 a
nagging injury helped bring his stats down pretty hard - .251 with nine homers
and 53 RBI’s – and after the season he went to the Braves with Dick Ruthven and
Ozzie Osborn – that name keeps turning up – for Ralph Garr and Larvell Blanks.
In Atlanta Ken would get one season as a regular right fielder where he
improved his stats on fewer at bats. He then moved to Texas in the big Jeff Burroughs trade where
he split time in right with other former Brave Dave May. Then came a lot of
moves and not too much time on the field. In ’78 he ended up with the Mets in
the big three-way trade between NY, the Rangers, and the Pirates. But the
season was a bust as he got hurt in the field in his first game and in May went
to the Reds for Dale Murray. He would stay in Cincinnati
about a year as a late inning defensive guy and pinch-hitter, go to the Cubs
during the ’79 season, and finish things up in Chicago in ’80. Ken finished with a .257
average, 122 homers, and 576 RBI’s. He had a .343 OBA and hit .313 with two
RBI’s in his four post-season games.
When Henderson finished playing he became a sales manager for AT&T in the Southern California area. After 30 years of that he returned to the Giants in the same capacity in 2010.
When Henderson finished playing he became a sales manager for AT&T in the Southern California area. After 30 years of that he returned to the Giants in the same capacity in 2010.
There is Ken’s playoff performance in ’71 and his best
hitting streak. In an otherwise forgettable ’75 he homered in one game against Baltimore from both sides
of the plate. He also had a brother play minor league ball and a cousin, Kerry
Dineen, who got into a few games in the majors.
In recent music news, final concerts was the theme. On July
3, 1973 David Bowie retired his Ziggy Stardust persona after a show at the
Hammersmith Odeon in the UK.
On July 4, 1974 Steely Dan performed what it said would be its last live gig –
they would reunite live in ’92 – in Santa
Monica.
Ken and Orlando did not
play together so let’s see how we do:
1. Henderson and Sam McDowell ’72 Giants;
2. McDowell and Orlando
Pena ’67 Indians.
No comments:
Post a Comment