Joe Cunningham

Joe Cunningham
Cunningham in 1960.
First baseman / Outfielder
Born: August 27, 1931 (1931-08-27) Paterson, New Jersey
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 30, 1954 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
April 17, 1966 for the Washington Senators
Career statistics
Batting average	.291
Hits	980
RBI	436
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1954, 1956-1961) Chicago White Sox (1962-1964) Washington Senators (1964-1966)
Career highlights and awards
National League All-Star in 1959 Led NL in on base percentage in 1959 with .453

Joseph Robert Cunningham, Jr. (born August 27, 1931 in Paterson, New Jersey) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left-handed batter who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954-1961), Chicago White Sox (1962–1964), and Washington Senators (1964–1966).

The best season for Cunningham was in 1959, when he batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title. He finished his career with a .291 batting average over 1,141 games spread over a 12-year career.

Cunningham was traded from the Cardinals to the White Sox after the 1961 season in exchange for long-time star Minnie Miñoso. Although his first season as the White Sox first baseman was successful, Cunningham would never fully recover from a broken collarbone suffered in a collision on June 3, 1963.

His son, also named Joe, worked as a batting instructor in the Cardinals' farm system.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube