WHY I THINK TED KLUSZEWSKI SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

 WHY I THINK TED KLUSZEWSKI SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Ted Kluszewski is the classic case of a player with a high peak but minimal longevity. He only had six Hall of Fame calibre seasons, but when he was at his best, Kluszewski was simply astonishing. For example, from 1953 through 1955, he hit 136 home runs and struck out only 109 times. He also played first base very well for four clubs, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds, and because he was so good on defense he may be the player with the best claim to being a true five tool player in history. Ted Kluszewski started his career with the Reds in 1947 for nine games. He was a semi-regular in 1948 and 1949 and played full time in 1950 with a .307 batting average, 25 home runs, and 111 RBI’s. Kluszewski slumped to 13 home runs in 1951 but batted .320 with 16 homers in 1952. He hit his peak in 1953 with 40 home runs and hit 49, 47, and 35, respectively, in his next three seasons. Kluszewski slipped a disc fielding a ball on opening day in 1957, an injury that devastated the rest of his career. After playing like the best baseball player who ever lived over the past four seasons, this injury greatly hurt his Hall of Fame chances. Trust me - a slipped disc is very painful and greatly inhibits athletic performance. Since he was only available for 69 games in 1957, Kluszewski couldn’t contribute much to the team every day. For the 1958 season, the Redlegs (as they had been called since 1954) traded him to the Pirates. Kluszewski still had something left in the tank, as he hit .292 in 100 games that season, just missing his eighth .300 season. In 1959, at the age of 34, he started to slip a bit again, and in the middle of the season he was dealt over to the White Sox. Kluszewski was a major factor in the White Sox’s winning the pennant, as he batted .297 over the last 31 games of the season to help the club into the World Series against the Dodgers. Even though Chicago lost, Kluszewski batted .391 with three home runs, 10 RBI’s, and no strikeouts, the RBI’s setting the record for a six game Series. He batted .293 in half a season in 1960 and was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 expansion draft. He was good for 15 homers (including the first in Angels’ history) in 263 at bats before he was released. Ted Kluszewski was one of the most admirable hitters of all time. If he were ever to strike out 100 times in a season, he would have hit 72 home runs, eleven more than Roger Maris’s record setting 1961 total. If you add in a .298 lifetime batting average and five fielding titles, you have yourself an easy Hall of Famer. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,718 season high: 154 in 1951 

At Bats career: 5,929 season high: 612 in 1955 

Hits career: 1,766 season high: 192 in 1955 led NL: 192 in 1955 

Doubles career: 290 season high: 37 in 1950 

Triples career: 29 season high: 11 in 1952 

Home Runs career: 279 season high: 49 in 1954 led NL: 49 in 1954 

Runs career: 848 season high: 116 in 1955 

Runs Batted In career: 1,028 season high: 141 in 1954 led NL: 141 in 1954 

Stolen Bases career: 20 season high: 6 in 1951 

Walks career: 492 season high: 78 in 1954 

Strikeouts career: 365 season high: 40 in 1955 

Batting Average career: .298 season high: .326 in 1954 

On Base Percentage career: .353 season high: .407 in 1954 

Slugging Percentage career: .498 season high: .642 in 1954 

Total Bases career: 2,951 season high: 368 in 1954 

Sacrifice Hits career: 3 season high: 1 in 1952, 1958, and 1959 

Fielding Percentage career: .993 season high: .997 in 1951 led NL 1B: .997 in 1951, .993 in 1952, .995 in 1953 and 1955, .996 in 1954 

Double Plays career: 1,269 season high: 166 in 1954 led NL 1B: 149 in 1953, 166 in 1954, 153 in 1955, 110 in 1956 

Putouts career: 12,652 season high: 1,388 in 1955 led NL 1B: 1,381 in 1951, 1,388 in 1955 

Assists career: 799 season high: 101 in 1954 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-nicknamed “Big Klu” 

-was a four time all-star 

-finished second in the NL MVP Award voting in 1954, sixth in 1955, seventh in 1953, 14th in 1956, 17th in 1952, and 18th in 1950 

-his five straight fielding titles at first base are the NL record 

-hit three home runs in one game on July 1, 1956 and homered in the first two innings that the Angels ever played

-once scored runs in 17 consecutive games, setting the MLB record 

-was the first player in MLB history to appear in a game with a misspelled name on his jersey 

-led the NL in home run percentage (8.6) in 1954 and in plate appearances (686), intentional walks (25), and games at first base (153) in 1955 

-among MLB first basemen, ranks 45th in career double plays 

-his 166 double plays as a first baseman in 1954 are the ninth most of all time, and his 153 in 1955 rank 40th 

-also played 260 games as a pinch hitter 

-was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1962, his number 18 was retired by the club in 1998, and a statue was built in his honor in 2003