10 Things You Didn’t Know about Arizona Diamondbacks Owner Ken Kendrick

People who pay close attention to the Arizona Diamondbacks should be familiar with Ken Kendrick. After all, while he isn’t the sole owner but rather one of the owners, he is the one who represents the rest whenever the MLB team owners meet up for some reason. As a result, Kendrick is a figure of some note in both the MLB and beyond. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Ken Kendrick:

1. Ken Is a Nickname

Ken isn’t Kendrick’s personal name. Instead, his full name is Earl G. Kendrick Jr., though to be fair, Ken Kendrick has a nice alliterative sound to it.

2. Earl Is a Cognate to Jarl

Most people would expect Earl to mean “nobleman,” but it is interesting to note that it can mean “warrior” as well. Something that is perhaps unsurprising when the English “earl” came from the same roots as the Scandinavian “jarl.” Regardless, Earl received a significant boost to its popularity centuries and centuries ago because the servants of earls started it as a name.

3. Kendrick Has Two Potential Meanings

Kendrick is interesting in that it has two potential meanings in two languages. First, it can come from cynwrig, which is Welsh for “greatest champion.” Second, it can come from cyneric, which is Anglo-Saxon for “family ruler.” Due to this, it can be rather challenging to tell when Kendrick refers to which potential meaning, seeing as how the Welsh and the English have been interacting with one another in various ways since the Roman withdrawal.

4. Born in Princeton, WV

It is interesting to note that Kendrick was born in a place called Princeton, which can be found in West Virginia. Suffice to say that Princeton is not an uncommon name, seeing as how it is not uncommon for towns to be named for one prince or another. Besides that, the place has a reputation for being the so-called “Jewel of the South.”

5. Went to West Virginia University

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kendrick went to school at West Virginia University, which is a school with something of a reputation for research. For proof, look no further than the fact that it is a space-grant college, meaning that it belongs to one of 52 consortia formed in the United States for the purpose of researching various space-related topics.

6. Founded Datatel

Business-wise, Kendrick might be best-known for founding Datatel Inc. In short, it started out as a business that specialized in data processing, but went on to become something much more, as shown by the fact that its latter incarnation specialized in building education platforms for institutes of higher education. Datatel no longer exists in the present, seeing as how it combined with a competitor to form Elucian in 2012.

7. Spent Some Time as a Banking Executive

Besides his role as the founder of Datatel, Kendrick has spent some time as a banking executive as well. In turn, this means that he has been involved with various banks in various other banks as well, with an excellent example being his investment in Woodforest National Bank.

8. Part Owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Start

Kendrick has been one of the part-owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks since the start of the franchise. For those who are unfamiliar, said team started up in 1995. However, it took some time for the people behind it to get things done, which is why the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t play their first game until 1998.

9. Became Managing General Partner in 2004

In 2004, Kendrick became the Managing General Partner for the Arizona Diamondbacks. As such, he is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the team as a whole. Naturally, Kendrick has been responsible for both successes and failures, as shown by both the positive and the negative coverage of his activities over the course of his career in said position.

10. Involved in Various Philanthropic Endeavors

Kendrick takes an active role in a wide range of philanthropic endeavors. Examples range from the Barrow Neurological Institute to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. In particular, it is worth noting his support of prostate cancer research, which is connected to the fact that he is a survivor of said medical condition.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply