Kenneth Jerry Adair (December 17, 1936 – May 31, 1987) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, shortstop and third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals between 1958 and 1970. Adair spent one season in Japan playing for the Hankyu Braves / Orix BlueWave. He batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Early life Adair was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and graduated from Charles Page High School. He played college baseball and basketball (under Hank Iba) at Oklahoma State University. Adair also played one year in a work/play program for the McPherson (Kansas) BJs in the Ban Johnson League. That year McPherson went to the National Ban Johnson League tournament finals played in Wichita. He pitched many games as well as playing the infield. Baltimore Orioles Adair was signed by the Baltimore Orioles out of Oklahoma State University on September 2, 1958 for a $40,000 bonus. He made his Major League Baseball debut with the club that day against the Washington Senators, coming into the game in the bottom of the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for shortstop Chuck Oertel. He did not get an at bat in the game. Adair's first big league at bat came on September 5 against the Boston Red Sox. After drawing a walk and scoring in the 8th inning, Adair reached base again in the ninth inning on a fielder's choice. He picked up his first big league hit (a single to left field) in a 3–2 Orioles win over the visiting New York Yankees on September 21. That season, he hit .105 (2-for-19) in 11 games with the Orioles, primarily playing shortstop. He hit .314 (11-for-35) in 12 games in 1959 and went 1-for-5 (.200) in 3 games in 1960. Adair's first full season in the big leagues came in 1961 with the Orioles, hitting .264 with 9 home runs and 37 RBI in 133 games. Although the majority of his time was spent at second base, he also played some shortstop and third base that year. Once, during the 1964 season, he was struck in the mouth by a bad throw during the first game of a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. The resulting laceration required 11 stitches, but Adair was back in the park in uniform in time to play the entire second game. In 1965,