Even before Jeff Kunkel came up in 1984, he was going to be the player the Rangers were going to build their franchise around. So much so that he was drafted highly in the Illowa APBA League rookie draft…fortunately not by me.
Alas despite the media hype, Kunkel was pretty much a bust. Not only did he bat just .204 in 142 at-bats in 1984 but he collected only 49 at-bats in the next three years combined. It can’t be said that didn’t get his shot in ‘84. Of his 50 games, 43 were started at shortstop.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 Totals | 50 | 150 | 142 | 13 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 35 | .204 | .218 | .324 |
Kunkel was like a all-field no-hit shortstop, except for the all-field part. He was rated a SS-6 by APBA. He didn’t get much power with two zeros but if you did get into the second column, there were thirteen ones sitting out there (lots of 2s and no singles either!).
For a up and coming prospect, you had to really had like Kunkel to draft him. His hit numbers weren’t too plentiful. After the two zeros, he just had a 15-11 added to the 8-8-8-9-9 combination. A 51 roll would get you a nasty 23.
Kunkel also only had one 14 too leading to some unwanted surprise results like 13-13, 35-13 and 31-39.
Ugly numbers: 33-8, 31-39, 51-23
Kunkel did get in one solid year for the Rangers. In 1989, he played in 108 games and batted .270 with 21 doubles and 8 homers.
Jeff is also son of 1960s AL pitcher Bill Kunkel.
You sure you didn’t draft Kunkel? I thought he played along side of “Kunta Kente”.
I thought Rob drafted him. Might have been uncarded too