Monday, June 30, 2014

Complete Reds Topps Base Run - Ted Kluszewksi

I recently snagged a beat up '56 Topps Big Klu, which was the final Topps base card I needed of his. Which is excellent. Most baseball fans have at least heard of Kluszewski, but I'm not sure everyone knows just how dominant he was for a stretch in the 1950's. Check out his 4 All Star seasons, 1953-1956:

1953: 40 HR/108 RBI/.316 BA/.570 SLG
1954: 49 HR/141 RBI/.326 BA/.642 SLG
1955: 47 HR/113 RBI/.314 BA/.585 SLG
1956: 35 HR/102 RBI/.302 BA/.536 SLG

Damn. Also of note in those three 40 HR seasons, Klu struck out 40 or fewer times (34, 35, and 40, respectively), which were the last such seasons that happened in the majors. Nice. He also led NL first basemen in fielding percentage for five straight years; which is a record. If it weren't for injuries, he would be a surefire Hall of Famer. He was however, inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1962.

Let's run through the cards.

1952 Topps #29

1953 Topps #162

1954 Topps #7

1955 Topps #120

1956 Topps #25

1957 Topps #165

Bonus: 1973 Topps #296 Sparky Anderson w/coaches

Bonus: 1974 Topps #326 Sparky Anderson w/coaches

Klu also had Topps base cards 1958-1961 for the Pirates and White Sox, but we don't care about those, now, do we?

Oh, and since it's the end of the month, be on the lookout for the contest results very soon. Oh boy.

Go Reds.


3 comments:

  1. That 57 looks familiar. Next you will have to grab the 58 with Ted Williams

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  2. The 57 is glorious. Were they going sleeveless that year or was he just that much of a bad ass?

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    1. Klu claimed the jersey was too tight when he swung the bat, so the season before this pic he cut off his own sleeves. It looked so badass that the following season they made him an 'official' sleeveless jersey.

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