Kendall Cole "Casey" Wise (September 8, 1932 – February 20, 2007) was an American college and professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player who was a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 infielder during parts of four seasons, between 1957 and 1960, with three different clubs: the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

, the Milwaukee Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 and the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

.

The son of longtime MLB scout Hughie Wise

Hughie Wise

Hugh Edward Wise was an American professional baseball catcher, manager and scout. A native of Campbellsville, Kentucky, Wise attended Purdue University...

, Casey Wise was born in West Lafayette, Indiana

West Lafayette, Indiana

As of the census of 2010, there were 29,596 people, 12,591 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,381.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 74.3% White, 17.3% Asian, 2.7% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.03% Pacific...

. His nickname was derived from his initials.

Wise's career batting average was well below the Mendoza line

Mendoza Line

The Mendoza Line is an expression in baseball in the United States, deriving from the name of shortstop Mario Mendoza, whose lifetime batting average is taken to define the threshold of incompetent hitting...

, at .174 in his 126 games, a fact pointed out by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris in their impish commentary in The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book (p. 59): "His may not be the worst major league hitting record of all time, but it's definitely in contention."

Wise attended the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 in Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, where he played for coach Dave Fuller

Dave Fuller

Dave Fuller was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons.- Early life and education :...

's Florida Gators baseball

Florida Gators baseball

The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. The Florida Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association , and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . They play their home games in Alfred A...

 team in 1952 and 1953. He graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

 in 1956.

After his professional baseball career, Wise became the first orthodontist in Naples, Florida

Naples, Florida

Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...

, starting his practice in 1968. He retired from practice in 1991. Wise died in Naples in 2007; he was 74 years old.

See also

• Florida Gators
  Florida Gators
  The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
  
  
• List of Florida Gators baseball players
• List of University of Florida alumni

External links