A member of five national championship fast pitch teams, Kirkendall compiled a record of 1,144 wins and 52 losses during his fast pitch career (1932-1953) playing for ten different teams. He hurled 167 no-hitters. Kirkendall’s championships included three with the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, 1945-1947, and one each with the Crimson Coach Tobaccos, Toledo, OH (1935) and Pohlar’s Cafe, Cincinnati, OH (1938). In one game he hurled 33 innings, allowed three hits and walked one while striking out 67. With Fort Wayne, Kirkendall compiled a 4-1 record in ASA national championship play and was 108-16 overall. He was 21-4 in 1948 with 215 strikeouts and only 37 walks and was 28-4 in 1947. In 1940, he had a 68-4 pitching record followed by a 51-3 record the next year. Dizzy, 6-feet tall and 195 pounds, suffered a heart attack in 1953 pitching for Cooper Tire and Rubber Company of Findlay, OH. He suffered two more heart attacks before passing away November 11, 1957 at 42. He was born August 21, 1915.
