Ted Kennedy, 1865 - 1907.

Ted Kennedy was born in Henry County Illinois on February 7, 1865. Ted learned the carpenter's trade from his father, but he soon shared the passion for baseball prevalent in Peoria. It had one of the country's top independent teams. The thirteen-year-old Kennedy served as bat boy and water boy for the team and Kennedy later remembered Radbourn as being one of the first to master the overhand curve ball. In addition to his duties with the team, Kennedy was eager to learn the art of pitching. His first professional game was June 12, 1885 and his final game was September 23, 1886. He pitched for the Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics and Louisville Colonels. After retiring as a player, Kennedy became a sporting goods manufacturer. He specialized in gloves and catcher's mitts and initially based his factory in Chicago. Kennedy sold his patents to the A.G. Spalding Company and returned to his hometown of Peoria. Kennedy later said he experimented on new ideas of improved mitts, which he began manufacturing. He also operated a baseball school, specializing in teaching young players how to throw the curve ball. He also invented an early pitching machine. The Washington Post reported that he was going to help manager Jimmy McAleer "make better batters" of the 1904 St. Louis Browns. Source used www.bioproj.sabr.org.