Karl Otto Kuehl (pronounced "keel"; September 5, 1937 – August 6, 2008) was an American professional baseball baseball player and a scout, farm system official, coach and manager in Major League Baseball.
He also was the co-author of two books on the mental approach to baseball: The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance (1989) and A Champion's State of Mind (2005).
He was promoted to Montreal after a successful stint as skipper of the Expos' top farm team, the Memphis Blues, in 1975. Previously, he managed the Double-A Québec Carnavals in 1972–1973 before moving up to Triple-A Memphis.Douchant, Mike, and Marcin, Joe, eds., The Official 1976 Baseball Register. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1976, page 403
He began his managing career at the young age of 21 The Associated Press, 2008-08-06 as the player manager of the unaffiliated Salem Senators of the Class B Northwest League in 1959.
He rejoined the Cincinnati system in 1961 as pilot of the Class D Geneva Redlegs of the New York–Penn League. He then worked as a scout and minor league manager for the Houston Astros and the Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Montreal organization in 1971.
Kuehl then headed the player development department of the Oakland Athletics from 1983 through 1995, a period when the A's had one of the most productive in baseball. After leaving Oakland, he spent two seasons (1996–1997) in the front office of the Toronto Blue Jays. From 2001 to 2007, Kuehl was special advisor, baseball operations, for the Cleveland Indians.
He died as a result of pulmonary fibrosis on August 6, 2008, in a Scottsdale, Arizona, hospital at the age of 70.
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