Kenneth Fredrick Keltner was born October 31, 1916 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His nickname was Butch. Ken's major league debut occurred on October 2, 1937 as a member of the Cleveland Indians. He spent eleven seasons with the Indians and is acknowledged as their all-time third baseman.
A timely hitter, he was a seven-time All-Star and a fabulous fielder. He played a major role in the ending of Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak on July 17,1947 before a then-record crowd of 67,468 in Cleveland, Ken made two brilliant stops of DiMaggio line drives, one a backhanded stab.
Ken had a single, double, and a three-run home run in the first-ever playoff game in AL history on October 4, 1948, which helped the Tribe to a victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Ken was involved with SABR until his passing on December 12, 1991.
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The Keltner Badger Chapter is a member of:
The Ken Keltner Badger Chapter of SABR was formed in 2002. The chapter was developed by a group of baseball enthusiasts who hosted a national SABR convention in 2001.
The chapter has worked with the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association, Wisconsin State Historical Museum and other organizations on the 50th anniversary of the Milwaukee Braves and other projects. The chapter meets 4-6 times a year in the Milwaukee area.kee area.
For information on how to to join the chapter, click here.
To reach a Message Board for the Keltner chapter and other Midwest SABR chapters. click here. Notices of events will be posted on that board. Also, feel free to join in with your opinions on SABR events and baseball in general.
You can also communicate with Keltner chapter members at their Facebook page by clicking here.
Events:
Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter Report - 2013
The Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter of SABR maintains an active role promoting baseball in our area.
Our meetings are held at J&B’s Blue Ribbon sports bar, located near Miller Park. The advantages of this location are easy accessibility for attendees, especially visitors from out-of town; an excellent audiovisual system for presentations; and the proximity to Miller Park, allowing meeting attendees to also attend games at Miller Park. Our recent Guests of Honor have included: Raul Galvan, an expert on Latin-American baseball, former ballplayer Felix Mantilla, and Brewers official scorer Tim O’Driscoll.
Our Chapter continues to celebrate SABR Day by having a joint meeting with the Chicago Chapter. The meeting takes place at the Brat Stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is a good half-way point for us to meet. We had a meeting in LaCrosse two years ago, and we hope to do this again next year.
SABR members Bob Buege and Rick Schabowski are members of the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association and contribute articles to their newsletter, “The Tepee.” Larry Baldassaro, and Gregg Hoffmann have articles for the Brewers publication, “Brewers Game Day”, which is distributed for all Brewers games at Miller Park. Gregg Hoffmann maintains a web site called the Midwest Diamond Report, which has great info on Brewers, Cubs, Twins, White Sox, and minor league activities.
We continue to donate books to the Milwaukee Public Library system to foster interest in baseball. Whenever an author is a guest at our meeting, we make it a tradition to buy their book(s) and donate them.
During the course of the Brewers season, we hold informal tailgate parties, where members obviously talk baseball.
Our chapter officers are: President: Rick Schabowski, Vice-President: Matt Bednarski., Treasurer: Dennis Degenhardt, Secretary: Tom O’Connell
Our chapter has not accepted or requested SABR funding. We have been and expect to remain financially independent and self-sustaining. Our meetings are free and open to all.
The website for our Chapter is at: http://www.keltnersabr.com/. Feel free to contact me with any questions at RICKIU76@aol.com or by calling me at 414-322-4997.
Several members of the Keltner Chapter have joined the Revive The Hall movement, intended to restore the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. For more info, go a Facebook page by clicking here. The first event of the effort, a tour of the Hall plaques in downtown Milwaukee, is set for June 22. If you want to help in the effort, leave a message on this site's Message Board.
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