Ken Sanders | |||
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Relief Pitcher | |||
Born: St. Louis, Missouri |
July 8, 1941 |||
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MLB debut | |||
August 6, 1964, for the Kansas City Athletics | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 27, 1976, for the Kansas City Royals | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 29–45 | ||
Earned run average | 2.97 | ||
Strikeouts | 360 | ||
Saves | 86 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Kenneth George Sanders (born July 8, 1941) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. The right hander was nicknamed "Bulldog" by Milwaukee Brewers manager Dave Bristol in 1970 because he was "so mean, tough and stubborn out on the mound."
Sanders attended St. Louis University High School in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a standout in soccer, football and baseball. After a month at St. Louis University, he signed with the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1960.
He went 19-10 with a 3.21 earned run average as a starting pitcher his first professional season with the Florida State League's Sanford Greyhounds. He split his time between starts and relief appearances until 1964, when he was converted to a full-time reliever with the Birmingham Barons. He made his major league debut against the New York Yankees later that season, pitching 1.2 innings without giving up a run. For the season, Sanders went 0-2 with a 3.67 ERA and one save.
After spending all of 1965 in triple A, Sanders was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 1965 rule 5 draft. In 1966, he went 3-6 with two saves and a 3.80 ERA for the Bosox before being dealt back to Kansas City with Jim Gosger and Guido Grilli for Rollie Sheldon, Jose Tartabull and John Wyatt. He made his only major league start upon his return to the A's, pitching four innings of one run ball against the California Angels before giving way to the bullpen.