Kansas City Athletics

In November 1960, Kunkel was selected by the Kansas City Athletics in the Rule 5 draft, and spent the 1961 season with the A's. He made his MLB debut on April 15, pitching three innings in relief against the New York Yankees, allowing three hits and one run.^[2] With the 1961 A's, Kunkel pitched in 58 games (two starts) with a 5.18 ERA and 3–4 record in 88+2⁄3 innings pitched. In 1962, Kunkel split time between the A's and the Triple-A Portland Beavers, appearing in nine MLB games (3.52 ERA in 7+2⁄3 innings) and 10 Triple-A games (5.12 ERA in 51 innings). On August 3, Kunkel and Leo Posada were traded to the Milwaukee Braves for Orlando Peña.^[3]

Kunkel finished the 1962 season with Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, pitching to a 6–1 record with 2.35 ERA in 15 games (two starts) and 46 innings of work.

New York Yankees

Kunkel was again a Rule 5 draft pick, this time by the New York Yankees on November 26, 1962.^[4] With the 1963 Yankees, he made 22 relief appearances with a 3–2 record and 2.72 ERA in 46+1⁄3 innings pitched. Kunkel was on the Yankees' roster for the 1963 World Series,^[5] but he did not make an appearance, as the Yankees were swept by the Dodgers.

Kunkel returned to the Braves' system for the 1964 season, spending time with two Triple-A clubs, the Denver Bears of the Pacific Coast League (3.68 ERA in 66 innings) and the Maple Leafs (3.11 ERA in 55 innings).

At the end of spring training in 1965, Kunkel was released by the Atlanta Crackers, the Braves' affiliate in the International League that season.^[6] He signed the following week with the Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles,^[7] and in August with the Syracuse Chiefs, Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.^[8] While Kunkel pitched for both Rochester and Syracuse during 1965, records for those stints are incomplete.^[9] Syracuse released Kunkel at the end of August.^[10]

Overall, Kunkel appeared in MLB during three seasons, compiling a 6–6 record, 4.29 ERA, 83 strikeouts, and 49 walks in 142+2⁄3 innings pitched. As a batter, he hit 3-for-14 (.214) with an RBI and two runs scored.

Notable games

On August 10, 1971, Kunkel was the home plate umpire when Harmon Killebrew hit his 500th career home run.^[13] As a pitcher, Kunkel had given up three home runs to Killebrew during the 1961 season.^[14][15][16]

On September 28, 1974, Kunkel was the first base umpire when Nolan Ryan pitched the third of his record seven no-hitters.^[17][18] On September 28, 1975, exactly one year later, Kunkel was behind the plate when four Oakland Athletics pitchers—Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers—combined to no-hit the California Angels, 5–0.^[19][20]

On September 30, 1980, Kunkel caught pitcher Rick Honeycutt of the Seattle Mariners using a thumb tack to illegally alter baseballs during a game against the Kansas City Royals.^[21] Kunkel ejected both Honeycutt and Seattle manager Maury Wills.^[22]

On April 25, 1981, Kunkel was the crew chief when Seattle manager Maury Wills had the batter's boxes drawn at a larger-than-regulation size prior to a game at the Kingdome, which was detected by opposing manager Billy Martin of the Oakland Athletics.^[23] Kunkel ordered the boxes redrawn by the grounds crew,^[24] and Wills was later fined and suspended.

Legacy

Kunkel's uniform number 9, assigned when the American League adopted umpire numbers in 1980, was retired after his death until the umpiring staffs were unified in 2000, when it was assigned to Brian Gorman.

At the time of his death, Kunkel was one of only two umpires still using the outside chest protector, Jerry Neudecker being the other.

Kunkel was the last MLB player who later became a major league umpire.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to his son Jeff Kunkel playing in MLB; son Kevin Kunkel,^{[27] [28]} both had minor league playing careers. Father-and-son Bill and Jeff were featured on a Topps baseball card in 1985, # 136.^[29]

There is a park named in Kunkel's honor in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township, New Jersey,^[30] where he had been a longtime resident.^[31]