Ken Blackman

Kenneth Blackman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 175 lb.
• School Coe College, University of Iowa

• Born June 29, 1911 in Kansas City, MO USA
• Died February 20, 2005 in Davenport, IA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Ken Blackman had an interesting trip through baseball.

Blackman was a third baseman at Coe College and moved to catcher at the University of Iowa.

Blackman broke into pro ball in 1935 with the Cedar Rapids Raiders. By 1936, he was already managing in the minors. In the winter of 1937, Blackman was made a free agent by Judge Landis in the "Cedar Rapids case". He would also gain some noteriety as possibly the only catcher in O.B. to wear glasses.

From 1946 to 1951, Blackman was the Athletic Director and sometimes baseball and football coach at Buena Vista College. He returned to baseball as the G.M. of the Duluth Dukes from 1952 to 1955. He was also a part of a group that bought the team in 1953. From 1956 to 1958 he was the G.M. of the Fargo-Moorhead Twins and a scout for the Cleveland Indians. In 1959-1960, Blackman scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals and in 1961 he scouted for the Indians again.

Blackman was elected president of the Three-I League in October 1961, but the league folded in January of 1962. In 1962 he managed in the Milwaukee Braves chain. From 1963 to 1965 Blackman was the G.M. of the Quad Cities Angels. In 1965 he was named Minor League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News for class-A ball. At around this time he also served as the commissioner of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In 1966, Blackman was the G.M. of the Mobile Athletics and in 1967 served the same capacity for the Waterloo Hawks. Fianlly from 1968 to 1971 he was a scout for the Chicago White Sox In 1982, he coached the University of Dubuque.

His son, John Blackman, was also a catcher at the University of Iowa.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1936	Monett Red Birds	Arkansas-Missouri League		4th	St. Louis Cardinals		replaced Adolph Arlitt
1937	Monett Red Birds	Arkansas-Missouri League		--	St. Louis Cardinals	--	replaced by Joe Davis
	Fayetteville Angels	Arkansas-Missouri League		2nd	St. Louis Cardinals	Lost League Finals	replaced Fred Hawn
1942	Hamilton Red Wings	PONY League		--	St. Louis Cardinals	--	replaced Roy Pfleger replaced by Joe Sugden
1943	Johnson City Cardinals	Appalachian League		--	St. Louis Cardinals	--	replaced Joe McDermott in May replaced by George Pratt July 29
1944	Bradford Blue Wings	PONY League	20-36	8th	Philadelphia Phillies		replaced Ray Brubaker (28-38) on July 11
1951	Duluth Dukes	Northern League		7th	none		replaced Orie Arntzen June 7
1952	Duluth Dukes	Northern League	57-46	4th	none	Lost in 1st round	replaced James Trew (6-13) May 28
1957	Fargo-Moorhead Twins	Northern League		4th	Cleveland Indians		replaced Frank Tornay August 24
1962	Cedar Rapids Red Raiders	Midwest League	58-66	8th	Milwaukee Braves
1965	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League		--	California Angels	--	replaced Harry Dunlop 6/15-6/18