Chuck Klein
Chuck Klein | ||
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Runs batted in | 1,201 | |
Teams | ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
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Member of the National | ||
Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
Induction | 1980 | |
Vote | Veterans Committee |
Charles Herbert Klein (October 7, 1904 – March 28, 1958), nicknamed "the Hoosier Hammer" because of his Indiana roots, was an American professional baseball outfielder. Klein played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1928–1933, 1936–1939, 1940–1944), Chicago Cubs (1934–1936), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1939).
Klein led the
Early life
Klein was born in
After hitting 26 homers in 88 games in 1928, Klein was slated to be called up to St. Louis midway through the season. However,
MLB career
Peak years
Klein hit .356 in 1929, his first full season, and won the NL
In 1930, Klein enjoyed one of the best offensive years in baseball history, batting .386 with 250
After the 1932 season, Klein was awarded the National League MVP award. During the season, he led the league in home runs for the third time, as well as hits and runs scored,
Chuck Klein was honored alongside the retired numbers of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2001. |
Later career
On November 21, 1933 Klein was traded to the Cubs for $65,000 (equivalent to $1,529,923 in 2023) and three other players,[1][20][12] Klein hit 20 and 21 home runs in his two full seasons with the Cubs (1934, 1935) and batted .301 and .293 in those seasons respectively. As good as those numbers were, they were nowhere near what Klein had posted in Philadelphia, leading to claims that he would not have hit nearly as many homers had he not played in notoriously hitter-friendly Baker Bowl. The Phillies reacquired him on May 21, 1936. On July 10, 1936, in the spacious Forbes Field, against the 42-34 Pirates, Klein became the first NL player to hit four home runs in a game in the 20th century, and only the 4th player in major league history to accomplish the feat. His fourth home run that game was a leadoff home run in the top of the tenth inning, the Phillies scored 2 more runs to win the game 9-6 after ten innings.[21][22]
Klein went to the Pirates during the 1939 season, but was back in Philadelphia in 1940 for what proved to be his last year as a regular player. From 1941 onward, he never played in more than 50 games in a season, and was often used as a pinch hitter. In his last eight seasons, from 1937 to 1944, he averaged 69 games played, batted .253 and hit 43 home runs.[1] He retired midway through the 1944 season after getting one hit in seven at-bats.
Later life and legacy
After retiring, he owned and operated a bar in
In his 17-year career, Klein batted .320, with 1,201 RBI, 1,168 runs, 2,076 hits, 398 doubles, 74 triples, 300 home runs, .379 on-base percentage, .543 slugging percentage, and an OPS of .922. Klein was known for exploiting the Phillies home park, the Baker Bowl and its short right field wall.[26] In his career he hit for a .395 average and slugged 164 home runs in only 581 career games at the Baker Bowl.[27] Klein recorded five five-hit games, 36 four-hit games in his career and 28 multi-home run games. Klein and Lou Gehrig are the only players in history that have recorded 400 or more total bases in three separate seasons.[28]
The Phillies honored him on the outfield wall of Veterans Stadium with his name and an Old English-style "P" where a retired uniform number would go. The Phillies began using numbers in 1932, and in that season and 1933, Klein wore number 3. He was then traded to the Chicago Cubs, and when he returned to the Phillies in 1936, he wore 32 (later retired by the Phillies for Steve Carlton), and soon switched to 36 (later retired by the Phillies for Robin Roberts) for that season and 1937. In 1938, he wore number 1 (later retired by the Phillies for Richie Ashburn), wore 26 and then 14 (later retired by the Phillies for Jim Bunning) in 1939, wore 29 in 1940 and 1941, 3 again in 1942, 8 in 1943 and 26 again in 1944, his last major league season. Rather than choose one of these numbers, the Phillies simply retired a "P" for him, as they did for pre-numbers legend Grover Cleveland Alexander.[29]
See also
- Philadelphia Phillies award winners and league leaders
- Triple Crown
- List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball home run records
- List of Major League Baseball doubles records
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Chuck Klein Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ Chuck Klein at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by James Lincoln Ray, Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ "Chuck Klein 4-home run game at retrosheet.org". retrosheet.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
- ^ "Making Hall Harder for Snider, it Still Looks Easy for Kaline". Lawrence Journal-World. August 3, 1980. p. 9. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Wagner, Steve K., pp. 32
- ^ Porter, David L., pp. 818
- ^ a b Wagner, Steve K., pp. 33
- ^ Jordan, David, pp. 51
- ^ a b c "1929 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ Jordan, David, pp. 53
- ^ Jordan, David, pp. 54
- ^ a b c d Porter, David L., pp. 819
- ^ "Right Field Assists Career". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Right Field Assists Season". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Cava, Pete, pp. 107
- ^ Dewey, Donald, pp. 228
- ^ "1931 Batting Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "1931 May 26 Game Log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ a b Jordan, David, pp. 57
- ^ Jordan, David, pp. 58
- ^ "July 10 1936 Game Log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ Wagner, Steve K., pp. 35
- ^ "Chuck Klein succumbs". Times-News. March 27, 1958. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
- ^ a b Wagner, Steve K., pp. 37
- ^ "100 Greatest Baseball Players by The Sporting News : A Legendary List by Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com.
- ^ "Power of Klein's Swing Developed in Steel Mills". Kentucky New Era. May 5, 1931. p. 3. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ "Chuck Klein Batting Splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^ "Total Bases Season Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- ^ "Philadelphia Phillies Retired Numbers: Who's Next?". Blearcher Report. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- Cava, Pete (2015). Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players: A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014. McFarland. ISBN 9781476622705. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- Dewey, Donald (2002). The New Biographical History of Baseball: The Classic—Completely Revised. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781572435674. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- Jordan, David M. (2012). Occasional Glory: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies. McFarland. ISBN 9781476600543. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- Porter, David L. (2000). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: G-P. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313311758. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- Wagner, Steven K (2018). The Four Home Runs Club: Sluggers Who Achieved Baseball's Rarest Feat. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538115435. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
External links
- Chuck Klein at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Chuck Klein at the SABR Baseball Biography Project
- Chuck Klein at Baseball Almanac
- Chuck Klein at Baseball Biography
- Chuck Klein at Find a Grave