Kenneth Alven Brett (September 18, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Royals from 1967 to 1981. He was the second of four Brett brothers who played professional baseball, the most notable being the youngest, George Brett. Ken played for ten teams in his 14-year MLB career.
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Early life
Born in Brooklyn, Brett grew up in El Segundo, a suburb of Los Angeles just south of Los Angeles International Airport.
The Boston Red Sox selected Brett out of El Segundo High School at age 17 with the fourth overall pick in the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected as a pitcher; other MLB teams projected him as an outfielder.
Major League Baseball career
1967 World Series
Fifteen months later, he was called up to the major leagues from Single-A ball, he participated in the final week of a heated American League pennant race in September 1967. Boston won the league title by defeating the Minnesota Twins on the final day of the season, finishing a single game ahead of both Detroit and Minnesota, and three games ahead of Chicago. Brett was not expected to be on the World Series roster to face the St. Louis Cardinals, but was added as an emergency injury replacement for Sparky Lyle, a transaction requiring the commissioner's approval.
Days later on October 8, Brett became the youngest pitcher ever in the World Series, appearing in relief in Game 4. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning, yielding a walk. In Game 7, he entered the game with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning and induced Tim McCarver to ground out to the first baseman to end the threat. At just 19 years and three weeks, he gave up no hits in 1+1⁄3 scoreless innings in his two appearances.
"Nothing ever fazed him. We had no hesitation about putting him on the World Series roster, none at all," recalled Dick Williams, Boston's rookie manager that year. "He had the guts of a burglar."
1968–81
Shortly after that World Series, Brett spent six months in the Army Reserve and missed spring training in 1968. In his first Triple-A outing back (for Louisville), he was left in for nine innings and developed arm trouble; he endured a couple of surgeries, and his career never lived up to early expectations. He would later state that the worst curse in life is unlimited potential.
Brett was traded in consecutive years, after the 1971 and 1972 seasons. The former was part of a ten-player blockbuster that sent him, George Scott, Jim Lonborg, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, and Don Pavletich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Tommy Harper, Marty Pattin, Lew Krausse, and minor-league outfielder Pat Skrable on October 10, 1971. Then, both Brett and Lonborg, along with Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson, were dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies for Don Money, John Vukovich, and Bill Champion on October 31, 1972. While with the Phillies in 1973, he gave up Hank Aaron's 700th home run on July 21 in Atlanta. "I won the game, so it didn't matter that much to me," Brett said. "Aaron gave me an autographed picture the next day, and I stood there and tore it up in mock anger. I always took the game seriously, but I also had a good time playing it."
Although a much-traveled pitcher who played for ten MLB teams over a 14-year career, Brett did have remarkable career moments. He was the winning pitcher of the 1974 All-Star Game, as the only member of the host team Pittsburgh Pirates on the National League squad. Earlier that year on May 27, Brett held the San Diego Padres off base with a perfect game into the ninth inning before settling for a two-hit shutout win in the first game of a Memorial Day doubleheader, in which he also had a hit and batted in a run. In the second game, he had a pinch-hit triple to spark a five-run seventh to help the Pirates sweep.
Brett was traded with Willie Randolph and Dock Ellis from the Pirates to the New York Yankees for Doc Medich on December 11, 1975. His stay was brief, traded in mid-May (with Rich Coggins) to the Chicago White Sox for Carlos May. A week later on May 26, 1976, he had a no-hitter going for the White Sox with two out in the ninth in a scoreless game at California Angels. Jerry Remy's slow roller down the third base line was allowed to roll unplayed by Jorge Orta and amid some controversy, was scored a hit rather than an error. Brett pitched ten innings and won the game 1–0, in eleven innings.
Post-playing career
After a year as a minor league manager in Utica in 1985, Brett worked as a broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners in 1986, then the California Angels for the next eight years. He then coached baseball at the collegiate level and co-owned minor league baseball and hockey teams and a sporting goods company in Spokane, his home since 1998, with his brothers John, Bobby, and George.
Brett, along with his brother, All-Stars Steve Garvey, Fred Lynn, Ellis Valentine, and Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda made guest appearances in an episode of ABC's Fantasy Island (Season 1, Episode 8, "Superstar/Salem"). Aired in March 1978, all of the players had at least one speaking line. As an inside joke between brothers, George Brett was embarrassed twice in the episode - once by booting a routine grounder and a second time by being struck out by a non-athlete (Gary Burghoff) who was there fulfilling his fantasy. George has since said that Ken pointed out he would be the perfect "fool" for those moments.
Personal life
Brett and his wife, Teresa, had two children.
After a six-year battle with brain cancer, which included two operations, Brett died at age 55 on November 18, 2003, in Spokane. He was the third member of the 1981 Royals team to succumb to brain cancer, following manager Dick Howser in 1987 and relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry in 1998.