Don Dennis

Born in Uniontown in 1942, Don Dennis was a pitching sensation in southeastern Kansas.  At age 17 he struck out 27 of 30 hitters in an American Legion game.  At Uniontown High School, he was an All-State quarterback, basketball player and pitcher who won 20 of the Eagles’ 22 games his senior season.

After graduation, Dennis pitched for Uniontown in the 1960 NBC State Tournament.  In their second game, they beat the Salina Blue Jays with Satchel Paige.  After that summer, Dennis went to college, spending one semester at the University of Kansas before transferring to Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia (now Emporia State University).

In May of 1961, Dennis pitched six no-hit innings for the Hornets, striking out 16 of the 19 batters he faced.  Later that summer, he went to a tryout camp in St. Louis and signed with the Cardinals for what the Iola Register reported as $20,000.

After an invitation to spring training with the Cardinals in 1962, he was assigned to Class C Winnipeg, where he was 10-7.  Following the season, he was placed on the St. Louis 40-player roster.

Dennis pitched in AA Tulsa in 1963 and 1964, switching roles from starter to reliever.  He started 1965 in AAA Jacksonville and had 12 saves in 29 games with a 1.47 earned run average.  He made his major league debut in June and pitched in 41 games, compiling a 2-3 record with a 2.29 ERA with six saves.  The St. Louis sportswriters named him the Cardinals Rookie of the Year.

Dennis served a six-month tour in the U.S. Army at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.  When he reported for spring training in 1966, he developed soreness in his right shoulder that delayed the start of his season.  On May 12, Dennis was the winning pitcher in the inaugural game at Busch Stadium.  He finished 4-2 for the season, but his ERA was 4.98.

Following the season, Dennis was traded to the Chicago White Sox.  He pitched for their AAA affiliates for three seasons, retiring during the 1969 season.  He worked for the Kansas National Guard for 27 years before retiring in 2000.

Dennis’s son Shane was an All-American pitcher at Wichita State and played professionally in the San Diego Padres’ organization and in Japan.

Don Dennis died of cancer in Fort Scott in 2007.  He is buried in Uniontown Cemetery.

For more, read Don Dennis’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.