Jerry Kindall

Gerald Donald Kindall (May 27, 1935 – December 24, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and college baseball player and coach. He was primarily a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who appeared in 742 games played over nine seasons for the Chicago Cubs (1956–58, 1960–61), Cleveland Indians (1962–64), and Minnesota Twins (1964–65). After his playing career, he became the head baseball coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats, winning 860 games and three College World Series (CWS) championships over 24 seasons (1973–1996). Kindall batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and .

Chicago Cubs (1956–1958, 1960–1961) 1956–1957 After Kindall's 1956 College World Series triumph, he signed with the Chicago Cubs as a bonus baby, reportedly for around $50,000. The bonus rule, in place at the time, mandated that such players be kept on the Major League Baseball (MLB) signing club's 25-man roster for two full seasons before they could be optioned to minor league baseball; this often resulted in players getting sparse playing time in their early seasons, as their ballclubs preferred to use the more experienced players. However, the risk of getting less experience was worth it for Kindall. "My dad was working two jobs, 70 hours a week. My mom was in a wheelchair, I had two younger brothers, and my grandfather was living with us,” Kindall later recalled. “It was a handsome offer so I signed, but not before I made a promise to my parents that I would complete my education." A few of the older players were not happy to have him around: besides joining the team with a lofty salary rather than first playing for low wages in the minor leagues, Kindall had replaced Ed Winceniak, a popular player who had a strong rapport with the rest of the team.

In August, Kindall received more playing time, starting at shortstop from August 11 through August 26 while Ernie Banks was unavailable due to a hand infection. Though he struggled as a hitter, he played well defensively. In 32 games his rookie year, he batted .164 with seven runs scored, nine hits, no home runs, and no RBI. On July 5, he hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot against Bob Buhl in a 7–4 victory over Milwaukee. He continued to struggle offensively; after July 30, he had only three hits in 53 at bats. Kindall also played three games for the Cubs in 1958, recording a double in six at bats. New manager Lou Boudreau worked on Kindall's hitting, getting him to shorten his stride and take more of a slap-style swing at pitches. He had four RBI on June 4, including a three-run home run against Jim Brosnan in a 10–7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Though his batting average was .273 through July 9, struggles in the latter part of the season brought it down to .242 by season's end. In 96 games (310 at bats), he recorded 37 runs scored, 75 hits, a career-high 22 doubles, nine home runs, and 44 RBI. The greatest offensive moment of his career came that June, when Kindall had eight hits in a four-game series against the New York Yankees. The next day, his two-run home run against Bill Stafford in the first game of a doubleheader put Cleveland up 2–0 in an eventual 6–1 victory. The series victory pushed Cleveland past New York into the American League (AL) lead, though they would eventually finish the season in sixth place. As he had the last two years, Kindall did not hit as well in the latter part of the season, finishing with a .232 average.

In 1963, Kindall began the season as a reserve player, but he ultimately started over half of the Indians' games, either at second base or at shortstop. On June 14, he played 28 innings of baseball, starting both games of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators and playing all 19 innings of the second game. In 86 games (234 at bats), Kindall fielded well but again struggled to hit, batting .205 with 27 runs scored, 48 hits, five home runs, and 20 RBI. In 125 games (342 at bats), Kindall recorded 41 runs scored, 67 hits, six home runs, and 36 RBI. Kindall later recalled that he was "a project every season", and that "It was always, 'if we could get Kindall to hit .260, he could be a regular.'" With the 1976 championship, Kindall became the first person to win a College World Series as both a player and a head coach. In 2007, he became a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He is the author of Baseball: Play the Winning Way and co-editor of The Baseball Coaching Bible.

Personal life Kindall and his first wife, Georgia, had four children: Betsy, Doug, Bruce and Martha. Georgia was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1984 and succumbed to the disease three years later on June 29. Kindall stopped teaching at the University of Arizona at that time, though he continued to coach baseball. In September 1988, Kindall met a widow named Diane, whom he married on Thanksgiving weekend that year. Other teammates and colleagues also considered him a very faithful Christian. He died three days later at the age of 82.