Kenneth Arthur Staples (born November 9, 1926 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) was a minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 player and manager.

Early life

Staples attended Humboldt High School

Humboldt Senior High School

Humboldt Senior High School is a public high school located in Saint Paul, Minnesota which serves students in grades 9-12. The school is the smallest of the seven high schools in the Saint Paul Public Schools district with an enrollment of 858 students. It is the only high school located on the...

 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Baseball player

Staples played professionally from 1945 to 1950 and from 1953 to 1954, mostly as a catcher. His batting average was .264 in 672 games during career in the minor leagues, which spanned eight years. In 1946, his batting average was .382 in 81 games for the Grand Forks Chiefs

Grand Forks Chiefs

The Grand Forks Chiefs were a minor league baseball team from Grand Forks, North Dakota. They played from 1934 to 1964, with a couple breaks in between.*Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota*League: Northern League 1934–1935, 1938–1942, 1946–1963...

 and St. Paul Saints

St. Paul Saints

The St. Paul Saints are a professional baseball team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. The Saints are a member of the North Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball...

.

Baseball manager

Staples began his managerial career in 1966 with success, with the St. Cloud Rox

St. Cloud Rox

The St. Cloud Rox were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1946 to 1971. Located in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the team played in the Northern League and was affiliated with the New York Giants from 1946 to 1957, the San Francisco Giants from 1958 to 1959, the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1964...

 of the Northern League, which resulted in a 49-18 record, finishing in first-place, and a league championship. In 1967, when he managed the St. Cloud Rox, the season ended with a 44-26 record, a first-place finish and another league championship. In 1971, he again managed the St. Cloud Rox, leading them to the same results with a 42-28 record, first-place finish and league championship.

Staples returned in the 1981 season managing the Wisconsin Rapids Twins

Wisconsin Rapids Twins

The Wisconsin Rapids Twins were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1963 to 1983. Affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, they played in the Midwest League and were located in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin...

, which led to a 68-65 record and fourth-place finish in the Midwest League

Midwest League

The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

. 1982 ended with a 56-82 record and an 11th-place finish. Staples overall record managing in the minor league is 259-219 and a winning percentage of .542.

External links

• Ken Staples page at Baseball-reference.com