recognized as the 12th Best Athlete in the history of the Southeastern Conference in 2007 and named to the Ole Miss All-Century Basketball Team in 2008. Presently, he is the President of Kessinger Enterprises, Inc. and owns a real estate business in Oxford, Mississippi. While writing his 2012 novel Calico Joe—detailing a fictional young player on the Cubs in the early 1970s—author John Grisham drew from Kessinger's memories. "But Grisham gets the baseball right – among the people he consulted while writing the book was Don Kessinger, a longtime friend who was the Cubs' slick-fielding shortstop in the period the flashback portion covers." His grandson Grae Kessinger is a minor league baseball player. See also List of Major League Baseball player-managers List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders References External links Miracle Collapse: The 1969 Chicago Cubs Fans Still Carry the Torch for Also-Ran '69 Cubs, Baseball Digest, June 1993 1942 births Living people All-American college baseball players Major League Baseball shortstops Chicago Cubs players St. Louis Cardinals players Chicago White Sox players Chicago White Sox managers National League All-Stars Gold Glove Award winners Major League Baseball player-managers Ole Miss Rebels baseball coaches Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball players Fort Worth Cats players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players People from Forrest City, Arkansas Baseball players from Arkansas American men's basketball players