calsfoundation@cals.org
August 23, 1922
George Clyde Kell—professional baseball player, announcer, and businessman—was born in Swifton (Jackson County), where he maintained a life-long residency. Kell was elected to the Arkansas and National Sports Halls of Fame, was campaign manager for Dale Bumpers’s successful gubernatorial race in 1970, and served on the State Highway Commission for ten years. He led in several major league batting and fielding records, played in six all-star games, and in 1949 finished ahead of Boston’s Ted Williams by thousandths of a point in one of the closest batting average contests in baseball history.