A highly popular baseball player, Ted 'Big Klu' Kluszewski was a powerful, slugging first baseman. He was a symbol of raw strength and probably was one of the strongest men ever to play in the major leagues. Big Klu's arm were so huge that he cut of the sleeves of his uniform because they were restricting his ability to swing the bat. In 1950, Kluszewski hit 25 homers, drove in 111 runs and hit .307 for the Cincinnati Reds. He seemed to get bigger and stronger the longer he played. In 1953, he hit 40 home runs, had 108 RBI's, scored 97 runs and batted .316 and even with all this power, Klu struck out only 34 times. In 1954, Ted Kluszewski led the National League with 49 home runs, 141 RBIs, .326 BA; and only struckout a total of 35 times. Again in 1955, Kluszewski powered 47 HR's, scored 116 runs, had 113 RBIs, and batted .314. Ted Kluszewski was still the Reds' strong boy and in 1956, he hit 35 HRs with 102 RBIs. His trade by the Reds to the Pittsburgh Pirates was met with boo's from his many loyal Red's fans. Playing for the White Sox, fans cheered for Big Klu in the 1959 World Series against the Dodgers, as Kluszewski hit two homers in the first game and ended with 10 RBI's for the whole series. The Dodgers won the series 4 games to 2. Ted Kluszewski had a .298 career batting average with 290 doubles and 279 home runs. Ted Kluszewski was a popular ball player during this era and even opposing fans cheered him on. In the 1970s and early 1980s he was a batting coach for Cincinnati. |