Kenneth John Reitz is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball. A right-handed hitter, Reitz played for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was nicknamed the "Zamboni" for his skill at scooping up ground balls on the artificial turf of Busch Memorial Stadium. Selected in the 31st round in 1969 as the 730th player, Reitz, in his rookie season of 1973, replaced Joe Torre as the Cardinals? starting third baseman. In both 1973 and 1974, he led all National League third basemen in fielding percentage. In 1975 he won a Gold Glove Award at the position, breaking Doug Rader?s streak of five consecutive Gold Gloves. It would be the last Gold Glove by a National League third baseman prior to Mike Schmidt's nine-year run of the Award. In 1977 he set a National League record by committing only nine errors; he bettered that record by committing only eight in 1980. In this latter year, he also made his only All-Star appearance, where he started at third base in place of an injured Schmidt. Reitz was not known for his base running speed. This is reflected in one dubious Major League record. 

June 24th, 1951 in San Francisco  /  Died:   Mar 31st, 2021