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Ellis Raymond Kinder
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher
Born: July 26, 1914, Atkins, AR
Acquired: Obtained by the St. Louis Browns from the Memphis Chickasaws (Southern Association) as part of a minor league working agreement, before 1944 season
Major League Teams: St. Louis Browns 1946-47; Boston Red Sox 1948-55; St. Louis Cardinals 1956; Chicago White Sox 1956-57
Died: October 16, 1968, Jackson, TN (age 54)
One of the most underrated pitchers of his era, Ellis Kinder pitched professionally for 17 seasons, making his big league debut at the age of 31 with the Browns. Given the nickname "Old Folks," Kinder first appeared with the Browns in 1946, enjoying mild success as a swingman for the second division club. He was dealt to the Red Sox in November 1947, beginning an eight-year stretch as one of the best pitchers in the American League. Kinder won 23 games in 1949, and had a 3.36 ERA in 43 games, including 30 starts. He threw a career-high 252 innings that season, finishing fifth in MVP voting and earning The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year honors. Converted to a full-time reliever in 1951, Kinder became one of the game's first closers, saving a league-leading 16 games in 1951 and a career-high and league-leading 27 games in 1953 while appearing in a then record-setting 69 games. He'd depart Boston following the 1955 season, spending two more years with the Cardinals and White Sox before retiring.
In 484 big league games, Kinder was 102-71 with a 3.43 ERA in 1,479 2/3 innings pitched. He threw 56 complete games, 10 shutouts and had 104 career saves. Kinder was posthumously inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006.
January 27, 2001 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #227
For Father's Day in 2021, we attended my youngest son's piano recital and then travelled to the Moorestown Mall (in nearby Moorestown, NJ) for a baseball card show. I don't spend a lot of time in malls, but I thought this one looked vaguely familiar. As it turns out, I was at the very same mall 20 years earlier with my Dad for his 57th birthday. We paid $60 for four cards for our 1956 Topps set, with the biggest purchase being the Harmon Killebrew card (#164) that set us back $38. Based on my checklist at the time, we got a good deal on this card as I had the Killebrew card listed as one of the more valuable cards we still needed at a range of $60 to $100. The other three cards added were this Kinder card, Carl Erskine (#233) and Frank Malzone (#304).
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Topps did a good job transferring Kinder from a Red Sox uniform to a Cardinals uniform, but the unmistakable Yankee Stadium facade is still visible in the background. The same main photo is used on Kinder's 1955 Topps card. The cartoons on the back highlight Kinder's record-setting 69 appearances in 1953, and his successful 1949 campaign. Topps' math is a little off in the final cartoon panel. While he did start pitching professionally in 1939, he missed two full seasons in 1943 and 1945. Kinder retired briefly in 1943, going to work as a pipe-fitter with the Illinois Central Railroad, and he missed all of 1945, serving a year in the U.S. Navy.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #152
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1952-57
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Topps Archives 1954 #47
29 - Kinder non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/31/25.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
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Order Collected: #304 Frank Malzone - Boston Red Sox / #13 Roy Face - Pittsburgh Pirates
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