Phillies Greats Player Profile: Chuck Klein

On this second edition of Phillies Player Profiles, I will be spotlighting the greatest Phillie you’ve never heard of; Chuck Klein. Klein, known as one of the greatest hitters of the 1930s, holds numerous hitting records for the Phils while also working to lead the organization through one of their worst dry spells in franchise history.

Born October 7th, 1904 to German immigrant farmers Frank and Margeret Klein in Indianapolis Indiana, Charles Herbert Klein would graduate from Southport HS and go right into work at a local Steel Mill because of his low grades. As a result of his not attending a college, it would take a few years before a small Semi-Pro team picked up the young Klein opting to pay him a whopping $200 dollars per week (nearly $3500 today).

By the late-20s, Klein was noticed by St. Louis Cardinals scouts and brought on to their AA ball club in Fort Wayne. Klein began to break out in a big way during the 1928 season, swatting 26 homers in 88 games for Fort Wayne before being purchased by the Phillies for $7500 dollars as they outbid the New York Yankees for his services.

It would be as a rookie during the 1929 campaign when Klein would break onto the scene as a force in the major leagues. The 23-year-old Indiana native batted .356 with a 1.065 OPS getting on base over 40% of the time. All this came as the young Klein chased the great Babe Ruth for the home run title, coming close behind the Bambino’s 46 bombs with 43 of his own (NL record that season). Klein however would not receive the same notoriety that year, or any season for that matter, playing on a doormat Phillies club that fell to a 71-82 finish that season. In fact, the Phillies would finish with a winning record just once during Klein’s 15 years with the club, that being a 78-76 1932 campaign, a year which saw Klein swat 38 home runs with a .348 bAVG on his way to his first and only National League MVP.

Klein’s 1933 season, may just be the best single season by any Phil in franchise history as the “Hooiser Hammer” held a line of .368/.422/.602/.1.025, with 223 hits, 44 doubles, 28 home runs, and 120 RBI’s, earning Triple Crown honors. Klein also earned his first-ever All-Star nod, an honor the Hall of Famer earned just twice. Despite Klein’s valiant efforts, the Phils finished with a 60-92 mark and opted to trade their reining Triple Crown winner to the Chicago Cubs the following offseason. In exchange, the Phillies received First Baseman Harvey Hendrick an aging vet who’d play just 59 games for the team before retiring, Ted Kleiphans a pitcher who recorded a 9.00 ERA in five games before getting moved to Cinncinati mid-year, Mark Koenig a World Series champion shortstop with the Yankees who would be traded before ever playing a game for the club, and $65,000 dollars.

Luckily after two years with the Cubbies, Klein would return to Philadelphia Via trade in 1936. Klein spent the next three and half seasons with the club, never regaining his prime form yet still batting cleanly over .300 until the Phils inexplicably released the Right Fielder in the middle of the 1939 campaign. Klein would sign with the Pirates before promptly rejoining the Philadelphia club before the 1940 season.

Klein would play out the final four seasons of his career on a bottomfeeder Phillies club, mainly acting as a Pinch hitter and playing in just 30 games from 1942-1944. Klein was finally released by the Phils early in the 1944 season, he would retire from pro ball soon after, and run a tavern in Philadelphia’s Kensington Neighborhood for the next two years. Though sadly, soon after Klein suffered a stroke that left his left leg paralyzed putting the former slugger in a semi-coma or vegetative state. Klein’s struggles with alcoholism were well documented during the later years of his career, it was however said that after he was diagnosed with a nervous system disorder in 1947, the former MVP would never touch a drop of alcohol for the last 11 years of his life. Finally, Klein would die of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 28th, 1958 in Indianapolis Indiana.

Chuck Klein may never get the respect he deserved, a name lost in the years, though never seen in the same ides as the superstars of his day either. Klein should be remembered as an incredible ball player and one of the greatest hitters in history. The Hoosier Hammer finished his career with a staggering 46.7 WAR, 2076 Hits, 300 Home runs, 1168 Runs, 1201 RBIs, and a batting line of .320/.379/.543/.922, along with a trophy case to be proud of; 1980 Baseball HOF Induction, 1932 NL MVP, 1933 Triple Crown, 2x All-Star, 1933 Batting Title.