Happy Birthday Adam Kennedy

It may seem like I have developed a fascination with baseball players’ birthdays but you don’t know the whole story. I think I’m addicted to ice cream cake. I tried to get a Carvel credit card by creating my own application on a napkin. I’m a couple of Fudgie the Whales away from being a homeless person. I don’t even like Adam Kennedy but if I don’t write about a birthday it’s hard to justify eating an entire Cookie Puss for lunch.

Kennedy turns 36-year-old today. The Dodgers signed him this offseason for reason that still aren’t clear. Kennedy debuted for the Cardinals in 1999 but was traded to the Angels the following year for Jim Edmonds. Kennedy would man second base for the Angels until 2006 when he returned to the Cardinals via free agency.

The highlight of Kennedy’s career was 2002. He had his best regular season (um..) season hitting .312/.345/.449 with career highs of a 4.8 bWAR (Baseball-Reference wins above replacement) and 3.7 fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement). The real magic happened during the Halos run to the 2002 World Series championship. In game five of the ALCS against the Twins, Kennedy went 4-4 with three home runs. That game basically won him the ALCS MVP.

Kennedy hit .340/.353/.660 during the 2002 playoffs but Game 5 of the ALCS will never be forgotten. For that, the Hangout wishes Kennedy a happy birthday.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shame eat through this brain freeze.