The Boston Beacons couldn’t wait to add twenty-one-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison shortstop Harvey Edward Kuenn to their roster, drafting him ahead of (eventual legends) Gene Conley and Stu Miller. Kuenn was drafted in 1952, third pick overall. “I recall it being a no-brainer,” former Beacons GM Charlie Qualls said, “and we would do it again, even knowing what Con and Stu would become.”

Kuenn started his career solidly, though not spectacularly. His rookie campaign was a lumbering disappointment. However, his initial year proved to be his only disappointing year until his last in 1970. He looked ready to bust out in his sophomore season when he was crowned UL Batting Champion (.329) and posted a .360 OBP. But Kuenn continued to struggle with strikeouts. His numbers dipped after that, but they maintained respectable levels until he hit his late twenties… and his stride. Harvey put together a string of excellent seasons offensively, cutting way down on strikeouts and was the organization’s top table setter well into his thirties. He never spent a day in the minors and his fifteen straight seasons with the Beacons/Barons is a franchise record. He had a few nagging injuries early in his career, but Kuenn became more durable as he got older, averaging 150 games per season from 1960-1969. He also added a power surge to his repertoire, belting 113 of his 161 home runs in the latter half of his career.

Harvey hit the free agent trail in 1967, signing with the St. Louis Maroons who immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Outlaws. In 1967, as a 36-year-old Outlaw, Kuenn hit a career high 196 hits and matched his previous season benchmarks of 18 HRs and 88 RBI. He spent 1968 back in Cleveland before signing a monster deal to end his career with the Outlaws. He began to slow down in '69 and '70 before finally calling it quits.

However, Kuenn’s accomplishments  with the bat are only part of the story. His glove work at shortstop  was among the cream of the UL crop his entire career.  He nabbed Gold Gloves in his first two seasons. He won two more after that, in 1956 and 1968, though some say he was deserving of the honor in 1964 when he committed only four errors (.995) in 153 games started.  Add four All-Star Games and two World Series appearances to Kuenn’s resume.  But the ring was always elusive, mostly thanks to the Brooklyn Superbas dominance (or Beacons/Barons incompetence, depending on how you look at it) from 1957-1964.

By the time Kuenn stepped down, he was the UL's all-time leader in singles (2,144), leading all shortstops in seven offensive categories (at bats, runs, hits, total bases, singles, doubles and RBI) as well as seven defensive categories. In 19 seasons, Harvey Kuenn amassed a .288 average and a .340 OBP and a .736 OPS.  (Charlie Qualls)


AWARDS & ACCOLADES
All-UL Team (1966)
Gold Glove Award (1952, 1953, 1956, 1968)
Batting Champion (1953)
1-time Player of the Week

Career Batting Stats
Year/Team/League	Age	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	RC
1952 Boston	21	138	461	114	10	2	5	54	42	14	79	1	1	.247	.269	.310	.580	39.3
1953 Boston	22	143	504	166	25	7	4	47	63	24	75	1	1	.329	.360	.431	.790	79.9
1954 Boston	23	111	380	95	15	0	0	35	29	15	43	0	1	.250	.278	.289	.568	31.4
1955 Boston	24	130	369	106	22	2	3	61	40	19	28	5	1	.287	.322	.382	.704	46.9
1956 Boston	25	134	499	144	19	6	3	56	56	31	34	1	5	.289	.330	.369	.699	61.7
1957 Boston	26	147	557	166	36	3	10	63	71	34	30	2	2	.298	.338	.427	.766	82.8
1958 Boston	27	149	529	162	33	2	12	75	66	45	31	0	2	.306	.361	.444	.805	88.1
1959 Boston	28	107	392	106	17	1	7	42	55	33	14	1	2	.270	.327	.372	.700	49.9
1960 Cleveland	29	145	546	149	27	3	4	53	76	43	32	0	1	.273	.325	.355	.680	66.9
1961 Cleveland	30	154	597	171	34	4	9	59	70	45	38	1	0	.286	.335	.402	.737	85.1
1962 Cleveland	31	155	571	162	25	1	13	57	76	55	38	3	0	.284	.344	.399	.743	85.0
1963 Cleveland	32	152	600	174	24	3	14	88	72	75	36	5	2	.290	.367	.410	.777	91.3
1964 Cleveland	33	154	587	167	22	4	10	60	69	73	21	4	3	.284	.360	.387	.747	84.1
1965 Cleveland	34	154	582	150	31	1	8	88	76	68	23	2	2	.258	.330	.356	.686	70.2
1966 Cleveland	35	146	565	186	39	3	18	82	92	51	27	2	0	.329	.383	.504	.887	108.6
1967 Los Angeles	36	142	613	196	35	1	18	88	85	49	28	2	0	.320	.369	.468	.837	106.0
1968 Cleveland	37	146	588	186	37	1	15	74	69	58	23	2	0	.316	.374	.459	.833	96.5
1969 Los Angeles	38	144	599	166	25	0	6	50	72	36	30	1	4	.277	.319	.349	.668	66.5
1970 Los Angeles	39	100	330	76	17	0	2	35	34	36	17	0	0	.230	.310	.300	.610	30.8
Total UL		2651	9869	2842	493	44	161	1167	1213	804	647	33	27	.288	.340	.396	.736	1358.8