Chuck Klein (1980)


Date of Birth: 10/7/1904
Date of Death: 3/28/1958
Birthplace: Indianapolis, Indiana

Chuck Klein played semi-pro baseball as a youth. He started his professional baseball career in the minor leagues in 1927 with a team in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. In July, 1928, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Philadelphia Phillies

Klein played in 64 games with the Phillies in 1928. He batted .360 with 91 hits, 14 doubles, and 11 home runs. The following season he led the National League in home runs with a career high of 43. In 1929, he batted .356 with 219 hits, 45 doubles, and 145 RBIs in 149 games.

In 1930, Klein led the NL in doubles. He had career highs in games played (156), hits (250), doubles (59), RBIs (170), and batting average (.386). He also hit 40 home runs that season. Defensively, he played well, leading all NL right fielders in putouts with 361.

Klein was named the Sporting News MVP in 1931. He led the NL in home runs and in RBIs. He had 200 hits, 34 doubles, 31 home runs, 121 RBIs, and a .337 batting average in 148 games.

Klein won the NL MVP award and the Sporting News MVP award in 1932. He led the league in hits, home runs, stolen bases, and OPS. He batted .348 with 226 hits, 50 doubles, a career high 15 triples, 38 home runs, a career high 20 stolen bases, and 137 RBIs in 154 games. He had an OPS of 1.050.

In 1933, Klein won the NL Triple Crown and he led the league in batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, and OPS. He had 223 hits, 44 doubles, 28 home runs, 120 RBIs, and a .368 batting average in 152 games. His on-base percentage was .422 and his OPS was 1.024.

Chicago Cubs

Although he had a stellar year in 1933, the Phillies traded Klein after the season to the Chicago Cubs. In his first season with the Cubs, he batted .301 with 131 hits, 27 doubles, 20 home runs, and 80 RBIs in 115 games.

Klein played in 119 games in 1935, and he batted .293. He had 127 hits, 14 doubles, 21 home runs, and 73 RBIs.

Return to the Phillies

The Cubs traded Klein back to the Phillies on May 21, 1936. He finished the season with 184 hits, 35 doubles, 25 home runs, 104 RBIs, and a .306 batting average in 29 games with the Cubs and 117 games with the Phillies.

Klein had a good season in 1937, batting .325 in 115 games. He had 132 hits, 20 doubles, 15 home runs and 57 RBIs. He didn't fare nearly as well the following year, batting just .247 in 129 games. He finished the 1938 season with 113 hits, 22 doubles, and 61 RBIs.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Phillies released Klein on June 6, 1939, and he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates a day later. He finished the season with 90 hits, 18 doubles, 56 RBIs, and a .284 batting average in 25 games with the Phillies and 85 games with the Pirates.

Return Again to the Phillies

Klein was released by the Pirates in March, 1940, and he re-signed with the Phillies on March 26th. He finished the season with 77 hits and a .218 batting average in 116 games with Philadelphia. The next year, he played in just 50 games and he batted .123.

Klein played in just 14 games in 1942 and 12 games in 1943. After just 4 games in 1944, the Phillies released him on June 12th.

Awards and MLB Records

  • NL Triple Crown
  • NL MVP
  • Sporting News MVP (2 times)
  • Led the NL in hits (2 times)
  • Led the NL in doubles (2 times)
  • Led the NL in home runs (4 times)
  • Led the NL in RBIs (2 times)
  • Led the NL in OPS (2 times)

Career Statistics

Statistics for Klein in 12 full seasons (1929-1940) in the major leagues include:

  • 6 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 250 in 1930
  • 6 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 59 in 1930
  • 8 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 43 in 1929
  • 6 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 170 in 1930
  • 8 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .386 in 1930

Career batting statistics for Klein include:

  • 1,753 games played
  • 2,076 hits
  • 398 doubles
  • 300 home runs
  • 1,201 RBIs
  • 521 strikeouts to 601 walks
  • .320 batting average
  • .379 on-base percentage
  • .922 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Klein include:

  • 1,307 games played
  • 2,591 putouts
  • 107 errors
  • .963 fielding percentage

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Chuck Klein
ESPN - Chuck Klein
Baseball Reference - Chuck Klein

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