Big KLU

Ted Kluszewski made baseball history 70 years ago this week and almost no one knows about it

Ted Kluszewski. His nickname was “KLU.”

Almost no baseball fans outside of Cincinnati mention his name anymore.

He’s not in the Hall of Fame.

Yet all baseball fans should know about him.

He was famous in the 1950s as the player who went sleeveless. His biceps were so big he couldn’t fit into a Reds’ uniform.

He’s not so famous for something he did 70 years ago this week that should be celebrated, but was unnoticed at the time, and is under appreciated 70 years later.

70 years ago this week, when the 1955 baseball season ended, KLU achieved something no one else has done in the history of baseball. KLU completed his 3rd consecutive season in which he hit 40+ home runs while striking out 40 or less times. And by the way, he batted at least .314 in each of those 3 seasons (1953 - 1955).

Think about that.

You don’t have to strike out nearly 200 times to hit 40 homers. You can be a contact hitter. In the 2025 season, no player with 40+ home runs struck out less than 124 times.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had ballplayers like KLU now? A player who puts the ball in play and also can hit it into the bleachers. In each of those 3 seasons Kluszewski knocked in well over 100 runs, including a league leading 141 in 1954.

The incredible thing is that no newspapers from the time mentioned KLU’s great accomplishment. Of course ballplayers didn’t strike out with nearly the frequency as they do today. Willie Mays led the majors with 51 homers in 1955 and struck out only 60 times. Mickey Mantle led the American League with 37 home runs and struck out 97 times.

But even back then what KLU did deserved some attention. It apparently got none that I can find.

So here’s to celebrating Ted Kluszweski, big KLU, on the 70th anniversary of one of the greatest 3 season runs in the history of our national pastime.

Below you can see big KLU in his trademark sleeveless Cincinnati Reds’ uniform as pictured at the Polo Grounds in New York on July 23, 1955. This AP wire photo was in newspapers across the country the next day. It was 96 degrees in New York and KLU and other ballplayers fought to stay hydrated. And also, KLU did not strike out in 3 at bats that day.

POSTSCRIPT

Just after I posted this article, I heard from another player with the initials “TK,” my friend Ted Kubiak.

Ted Kubiak played 10 years in the majors and was a key player on all 3 of the Oakland A’s back-to-back-to-back World Series Championship teams in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

Ted Kubiak, who grew up following the Yankees in the 1950s, had this to say about Ted Kluszewski, “I knew of Kluszweski but because he got little play in the press, my only reminder of who he was were the size of his arms. That got more play that what he did on the field, and to tell you the truth, I had no idea he had the kind of years you mentioned. It’s a shame because those were years that few players had, but he wasn’t a big name on the East Coast and the Reds were never in contention for anything, so he got lost in the shuffle.”

Ted Kubiak then shared his thoughts about players like Kluszewski vs. power hitters today, “no one works at the game like they should anymore, like they used to, and that is being accepted. Klu was a very good player in an era that expected more.”

By the way, Ted Kubiak also famously scored the winning run in the 11th inning of game 3 of the 1973 World Series against the Mets. In my book, “The 1973 Mets - You’ve Got to Believe,” I assert that Ted’s heads up baserunning play that led to the winning run, was the key moment that enable the A’s to take the World Series, because the Mets pitchers shut down the A’s in games 4 and 5 to take a 3 games to 2 lead. Had Ted not scored that winning run the Mets, playing at home, quite likely would have won the game and the World Series 4 games to 1.

I’d love to see your comments.