Joe Cunningham

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Joseph Robert Cunninhgam (born August 27, 1931 in Paterson, New Jersey) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left-handed batter who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954-1961), Chicago White Sox (1962-1964), and Washington Senators (1964-1966).

The best season for Cunningham was in 1959, when he batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title.

That was the best season for Cunningham as would finish his career with a .291 batting average over 1141 games spread out over a 12-year career.

Cunningham, who spent the beginning of his career with the Cardinals was traded after the 1961 season to the White Sox in a trade in which the Cardinals acquired long-time star Minnie Minoso. Cunningham's career would never quite recover from a broken collarbone suffered in a collision on June 3, 1963.

His son, also named Joe, was named (as of January 11, 2006) hitting coach for Springfield of the Texas League.