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Ted Kluszewski
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Birthdate: 9/10/1924
Died: 3/29/1988
Height / Weight: 6' 2" / 225 lbs.
Place of Birth: Argo, IL, USA
Bats / Throws: L / L

Baseball Historian Biography

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.


Pitching Statistics
Year Team G GS W L SV CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WP HBP BK ERA
16 years   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS IBB HBP SH SF AVG OBP SLG
1947 CIN (NL) 9 10 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100 .182 SLG
1948 CIN (NL) 113 379 49 104 23 4 12 57 18 32 1 0 0 0 0 0 .274 .307 SLG
1949 CIN (NL) 136 531 63 164 26 2 8 68 19 24 3 0 0 0 0 0 .309 .333 SLG
1950 CIN (NL) 134 538 76 165 37 0 25 111 33 28 3 0 0 1 0 0 .307 .348 SLG
1951 CIN (NL) 154 607 74 157 35 2 13 77 35 33 6 2 0 2 0 0 .259 .301 SLG
1952 CIN (NL) 135 497 62 159 24 11 16 86 47 28 3 3 0 4 1 0 .320 .383 SLG
1953 CIN (NL) 149 570 97 180 25 0 40 108 55 34 2 0 0 4 0 0 .316 .380 SLG
1954 CIN (NL) 149 573 104 187 28 3 49 141 78 35 0 2 0 3 0 5 .326 .407 SLG
1955 CIN (NL) 153 612 116 192 25 0 47 113 66 40 1 1 25 4 0 4 .314 .382 SLG
1956 CIN (NL) 138 517 91 156 14 1 35 102 49 31 1 0 22 3 0 5 .302 .362 SLG
1957 CIN (NL) 69 127 12 34 7 0 6 21 5 5 0 0 3 1 0 0 .268 .301 SLG
1958 PIT (NL) 100 301 29 88 13 4 4 37 26 16 0 0 6 1 1 2 .292 .348 SLG
1959 CHW (AL) 31 101 11 30 2 1 2 10 9 10 0 1 3 0 1 1 .297 .351 SLG
1959 PIT (NL) 60 122 11 32 10 1 2 17 5 14 0 0 1 0 0 0 .262 .291 SLG
1960 CHW (AL) 81 181 20 53 9 0 5 39 22 10 0 1 5 0 0 3 .293 .364 SLG
1961 LAA (AL) 107 263 32 64 12 0 15 39 24 23 0 0 5 0 0 3 .243 .303 SLG
16 years   1718 5929 848 1766 290 29 279 1028 492 365 20 10 70 23 3 23 .298 .353 .SLG



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