Joe Cunningham

For other people named Joe Cunningham, see Joe Cunningham (disambiguation).

Joe Cunningham
File:Joe Cunningham 1960.png Cunningham in 1960.
First baseman / Right fielder
Born: (1931-08-27) August 27, 1931 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
MLB statistics
Batting average	.291
Home runs	64
Runs batted in	436
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (1954, 1956–1961) Chicago White Sox (1962–1964) Washington Senators (1964–1966)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1959, 1959²)

Joseph Robert Cunningham, Jr. (born August 27, 1931) 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