Chuck Klein - WikiHQ

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 (–, –, –), Chicago Cubs (–), and Pittsburgh Pirates ().

Klein led the National League (NL) in home runs four times, and won the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1932. In 1933 he became one of six (at the time) NL players to win a batting Triple Crown. In 1930 he set the NL record for extra-base hits with 107. On July 10, 1936, he hit four home runs in a game, becoming the fourth player to do so. He was the first player to be selected to the All-Star Game as a member of two different teams (Phillies and Cubs). Klein was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.

Early life

Klein was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 7, 1904, the son of immigrant farmers Frank and Margaret Klein. After finishing high school at Southport High School, he began working at a steel mill instead of attending college due to his poor grades at school. As a result, Klein's talents were not noticed by the major league clubs until his early 20s. He was picked up by a semi-pro team and played for them for a few years earning $200 a week (). () and in the process outbid the New York Yankees for Klein's services. Klein joined the Phillies in July.

MLB career

Peak years

Klein hit .356 in 1929, his first full season, and won the NL home run title. In the middle of the season, the Phillies added a 15-foot screen on top of the short right-field wall of Baker Bowl. The timing was peculiar as Klein was coming off of a torrid July where he hit 14 home runs, and was making a run at the home run record. However, William Baker, the Phillies' notoriously miserly owner, defended the addition of the screen, stating, "a number of accidents happen[ing] on Broad street owing to the balls going over the fence and hitting pedestrians, also damaging automobiles, breaking windshields, etc." For the remainder of the season, due to the new height of the right field wall, Klein only hit 4 home runs in the 25 games he played at Baker Bowl after August 1.

In 1930, Klein enjoyed one of the best offensive years in baseball history, batting .386 with 250 hits and 158 runs scored, Along with his batting prowess, Klein was also a good defensive right fielder; he is tenth on the all-time list for assists for a right fielder. 1930 marked the second straight season where Klein had collected at least 200 hits, along with his hitting records he set the single season mark for assists by a right fielder with 44. This is due to the height that was added to the right field wall in 1929 which caused more balls to fall in right field. On July 1, 1931, in a game against the Chicago Cubs, Klein hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with five RBI. At the end of the season, he led the National League in runs scored with 121 and RBI with 121. He also led the league in home runs for the second time in his career with 31, during this game Klein hit for the cycle for the second time in his career. At the end of the season, he became the fourth NL player since 1901 to win the Triple Crown with a batting average of .368, and led the NL in home runs with 28 and RBI with 120.

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.

Legacy

In his 17-year major league career, Klein played in 1,753 games, 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. In his career he hit for a .395 average and slugged 164 home runs in only 581 career games at the Baker Bowl. Klein recorded five five-hit games, 36 four-hit games in his career and 28 multi-home run games.

After never receiving more than 28% on the ballot, a campaign was started to get Klein elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame via the Veterans Committee. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 via the Veterans Committee. Richard Nixon listed Klein on his all-time baseball team. and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

As with another Philadelphia legend from the pre-numbers era of baseball, Grover Cleveland Alexander, the Phillies simply honored Klein with his name and an Old English-style "P" where a retired uniform number would go on the outfield wall of Veterans Stadium. 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.

References

External links

Chuck Klein at Baseball Almanac