Despite making his MLB debut as a 31-year-old rookie, Kinder enjoyed a career which lasted over a decade.

He is one of few pitchers in baseball history who won or saved a combined total of at least 200 games, and who were primarily starters for at least a third of their career.

Then, in 1951, the Red Sox, desperate for a relief pitcher, moved him to the pen, where he shone as the best reliever in the AL until 1955.

On May 17, 1947, a seagull flew over Fenway Park and dropped a three-pound smelt on Kinder while he was pitching for the St. Louis Browns.

Ellis Kinder died in Jackson, Tennessee, at the age of 54, after undergoing open-heart surgery.