Mattie T’s Tribute to Joe Kennedy (1978-2007)

Another tragic day for Major League Baseball, as we mourn the loss of major league pitcher Joe Kennedy, who passed away in Florida on Friday while in town to be the best man at a friend’s wedding.

Kennedy started his professional career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2001 & made his major league debut on June 6th against Toronto.
Kennedy pitched 5 innings while allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, walked four & struck out five to pick up his first major league win.
Kennedy won his next decision on June 12th against Philadelphia before going into a rookie slump & losing 8 of his next 11 starts. He wound up spending his first 3 seasons in Tampa Bay while compiling a 18-31 record in 82 apperances.

Next stop was Colorado, where he won 4 of his first 6 starts & finished with a career-high 9 wins & 117 strikeouts in 2004. Kennedy spent 1 more season with the Rockies & finished with a 13-15 record in 43 apperances there.

Kennedy got the chance to play for his hometown Oakland A’s in 2005, which is about 7 hours from his hometown of La Mesa, CA.

Kennedy struggled down the stretch in the 2nd half of the season, which included 2 blown saves & 5 losses in 6 games in September.

Kennedy appeared in all 4 games of the 2006 ALCS against Detroit & pitched 3.2 innings, allowed 2 hits, no runs, walked two & struck out two.

 
Kennedy spent time with 3 different teams in 2007, which were Oakland, Toronto & Arizona.

His final major league apperance was on September 29th, 2007 against his original team, Tampa Bay.

Kennedy is the first active major league player to die since April of 2007, when St. Louis Cardinals’ P Josh Hancock was killed in an auto accident.

Kennedy was close friends with Colorado Rockies 1B Todd Helton, who helped the Rockies reach the World Series in October for the 1st time in their 13 year existence.

Kennedy was 28 & is survived by his wife & his 1 year old son.

Until then,

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.BMSRadio.com

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