Baseball Legend George Kell Dies At 86

Detroit (WWJ)  -- Former Detroit Tigers baseball player and broadcaster George Kell has died. He was 86 years old.

The Hall of Famer played third base for the Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Baltimore Orioles in the 1940's and 1950's.

Kell died at his Arkansas home early Tuesday morning.

He was considered one of the best third basemen ever to play the game.  After his playing days, Kell was a Detroit Tigers broadcaster from 1959 to 1996. Kell was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

Fellow Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell said he's "lost a friend."   Kell was "easy-going," Harwell said while speaking live with WWJ Newsradio 950's Jayne Bower. 

Harwell said Kell was accomplished both on the baseball field and in the broadcast booth. The men became close friends working together in TV and on the radio.

"He had a very laid-back style,'' Harwell said. ``He was easygoing and an expert on the game. He brought the field to the booth because he played and played well. He had a conversational style that people took to.''

Listen to the interview: 

George Kell had an impact on many, including George Cantor who covered the championship Detroit Tiger team of 1968 and has written a half-dozen books on the team. Speaking live on WWJ, Cantor shared his childhood memory of Kell.

"Of course, growing up in Detroit the way I did, he was one of my boyhood heroes," Cantor said. "I remember the day they traded him to Boston -- I cried, because they were sending away one of my heroes!" he said.

More from Cantor: 

Kell grew up in Swifton, Ark., and lived in the same house from his birth to when it burned down in 2001, then rebuilt on the same land. He was severely injured in a car crash in December 2004, but was able to walk again with a cane about six months later.
 
Jackson's Funeral Home in Newport, Ark., confirmed the death.

Career stats at Mlb.com

AP Photo - In 1949, George Kell edged Ted Williams in one of the closest batting races ever.