Mobile Site You Are Here > Home > Encyclopedia of Players > K Listing > Lou Klein Statistics and History

News: Features: PI Batting Order Position Tool »post

Photo of Lou Klein

Lou Klein

Louis Frank Klein

Positions: Second Baseman, Shortstop and Third Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11", Weight: 167 lb.

Born: October 22, 1918 in New Orleans, LA
High School: Peters (New Orleans, LA)
Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1940. (All Transactions)
Debut: April 21, 1943
Teams (by GP): Cardinals/Athletics/Indians 1943-1951

Final Game: September 30, 1951
Died: June 20, 1976 in Metairie, LA
Buried: St. Louis Cemetery #3, New Orleans, LA
About biographical information

View team uniforms at Dressed to the Nines a Baseball Hall of Fame on-line exhibit / Report an error

Promote your website or business by sponsoring this page for $15 on Baseball-Reference.com. Your message will replace this ad.

Fan EloRater

Fine Details · Last Updated Dec 23, 2011, 8:32AM

All-Time Rank (among Batters): #1. Babe Ruth… #2. Ted Williams… #3. Willie Mays… #4. Ty Cobb… #5. Lou Gehrig… #6. Rogers Hornsby… #7. Stan Musial…

All-Time Rank (among Batters): #1. Babe Ruth… #2. Ted Williams… #3. Willie Mays… #4. Ty Cobb… #5. Lou Gehrig… #6. Rogers Hornsby… #7. Stan Musial…

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	Pos	Awards
1940	21	STL-min	D	142	537	537		187	23	18	9						.348	.348	.508	.857		273					DYB · FLOR
1941	22	STL-min	AA	112	428	362	67	133	22	11	5	54	10		53	23	.367	.453	.530	.984		192		4	9		CLB · AA
1942	23	STL-min	AA	138	518	465	68	116	24	0	14	63	18		43	48	.249	.318	.391	.710		182	5	4	6		CLB · AA
1943	24	STL	NL	154	694	627	91	180	28	14	7	62	9		50	70	.287	.342	.410	.752	111	257	4	2	15		*46	MVP-23

1945	26	STL	NL	19	72	57	12	13	4	1	1	6	0		14	9	.228	.389	.386	.775	113	22	0	1	0		/O65794
1946	27	STL	NL	23	105	93	12	18	3	0	1	4	1		9	7	.194	.265	.258	.523	46	24	0	0	3		4

1949	30	STL	NL	58	142	114	25	25	6	0	2	12	0		22	20	.219	.355	.325	.680	80	37	2	2	4		6/45

1951	32	TOT	AL	51	158	146	22	33	7	0	5	17	0	0	10	13	.226	.276	.377	.652	74	55	4	0	2		4
1951	32	CLE	AL	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0
1951	32	PHA	AL	49	156	144	22	33	7	0	5	17	0	0	10	12	.229	.279	.382	.661	77	55	4	0	2		4
1952	33	-min	Opn	122	473	418	55	117	23	2	4	44	5		41	33	.280	.346	.373	.719		156		1	13		SDG · PCL
1953	34	PIT-min	AA	143	517	517		161	33	2	14						.311	.311	.464	.776		240					NOR · SOUA
1955	36	CHC-min	C	112	357	357		122	24	3	23						.342	.342	.619	.961		221					LFY · EVAN
1956	37	CHC-min	A	104	306	306		102	22	3	17						.333	.333	.592	.925		181					DMO · WL
1957	38	CHC-min	AA	61	99	99		32	7	0	2						.323	.323	.455	.778		45					MEM · SOUA
1958	39	CHC-min	AA	38	54	46	4	10	2	0	0	3	0	1	7	7	.217	.333	.261	.594		12		1	0	0	FTW · TL
1959	40	CHC-min	AAA	1	1	1		0	0	0	0						.000	.000	.000	.000		0					FTW · AA
5 Seasons				305	1171	1037	162	269	48	15	16	101	10	0	105	119	.259	.330	.381	.711	97	395	10	5	24
162 Game Avg.				162	622	551	86	143	25	8	8	54	5		56	63	.259	.330	.381	.711	97	210	5	3	13

STL (4 yrs)				254	1013	891	140	236	41	15	11	84	10		95	106	.265	.339	.382	.721	101	340	6	5	22
PHA (1 yr)				49	156	144	22	33	7	0	5	17	0	0	10	12	.229	.279	.382	.661	77	55	4	0	2
CLE (1 yr)				2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0

NL (4 yrs)				254	1013	891	140	236	41	15	11	84	10		95	106	.265	.339	.382	.721	101	340	6	5	22
AL (1 yr)				51	158	146	22	33	7	0	5	17	0	0	10	13	.226	.276	.377	.652	74	55	4	0	2

Player Value--Batters

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	Rbat	Rbaser	Rroe	Rdp	Rfield	Rpos	Rrep	RAR	WAR	oRAR	oWAR	dWAR	Salary	Pos	Awards
1943	24	STL	NL	694	3	3	0	0	17	9	20	52	5.3	35	3.7	1.6	$	*46	MVP-23

1945	26	STL	NL	72	2	0	0	0	-1	0	2	3	0.3	4	0.4	-0.1	$	/O65794
1946	27	STL	NL	105	-6	0	0	0	1	1	3	-1	-0.1	-2	-0.2	0.1	$	4

1949	30	STL	NL	142	-3	1	0	0	1	2	5	6	0.6	5	0.5	0.1	$9,000	6/45

1951	32	CLE	AL	2	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$
1951	32	PHA	AL	156	-6	1	0	0	2	2	4	3	0.3	1	0.1	0.2	$	4
5 Seasons				1171	-11	5	0	0	20	14	34	62	6.3	42	4.4	1.9	$9,000

STL (4 yrs)				1013	-4	4	0	0	18	12	30	60	6.1	42	4.4	1.7	$9,000
PHA (1 yr)				156	-6	1	0	0	2	2	4	3	0.3	1	0.1	0.2	$
CLE (1 yr)				2	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	-0.1	-1	-0.1	0.0	$

Postseason Batting

Postseason Gamelog

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Series	Opp	Rslt	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
1943	24	STL	NL	WS	NYY	L	5	23	22	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.136	.174	.136	.310	3	0	0	0	0	0
1 WS							5	23	22	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.136	.174	.136	.310	3	0	0	0	0	0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/9	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRF9	lgRFG	Awards
1943	STL	NL	24	2B	126	119	103		675	301	356	18	99	.973		5.21	.969		5.76	MVP-23
1943	STL	NL	24	SS	51	32	25		152	55	88	9	19	.941		2.80	.954		5.30	MVP-23
1945	STL	NL	26	OF	7	5	4		20	19	1	0	1	1.000		2.86	.978		2.46
1945	STL	NL	26	SS	7	6	5		28	12	14	2	3	.929		3.71	.947		5.26
1945	STL	NL	26	3B	4	4	3		14	5	8	1	0	.929		3.25	.941		3.20
1945	STL	NL	26	LF	4	2	2		8	8	0	0	0	1.000		2.00	.970		2.35
1945	STL	NL	26	RF	3	3	2		12	11	1	0	1	1.000		4.00	.978		2.13
1945	STL	NL	26	2B	2	0	0		2	2	0	0	0	1.000		1.00	.965		5.60
1946	STL	NL	27	2B	23	22	22		121	58	60	3	18	.975		5.13	.970		5.55
1949	STL	NL	30	SS	21	16	16		91	17	64	10	7	.890		3.86	.961		5.04
1949	STL	NL	30	2B	9	4	2		27	14	13	0	3	1.000		3.00	.976		5.57
1949	STL	NL	30	3B	7	4	2		11	2	8	1	0	.909		1.43	.952		3.19
1951	PHA	AL	32	2B	42	37	30	317.0	197	85	107	5	32	.975	5.45	4.57	.978	5.72	5.69
	5 Seasons			2B	202	182	157	317.0	1022	460	536	26	152	.975	5.45	4.93	.971	5.72	5.71
	3 Seasons			SS	79	54	46		271	84	166	21	29	.923		3.16	.956		5.23
	2 Seasons			3B	11	8	5		25	7	16	2	0	.920		2.09	.946		3.19
	1 Season			OF	7	5	4		20	19	1	0	1	1.000		2.86	.978		2.46
	1 Season			LF	4	2	2		8	8	0	0	0	1.000		2.00	.970		2.35
	1 Season			RF	3	3	2		12	11	1	0	1	1.000		4.00	.978		2.13
	5 Seasons			TOT	299	249	212	317.0	1338	570	719	49	182	.963	5.45	4.31	.968	5.72	5.41

Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.

View Complete Notes on Fielding Data

Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.

Pre-1950 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
From 1950 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1950 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1919 on.
Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1950 to 1973 and complete from then on.
Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1919) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1950 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

MVP (yr lg (rk, shr)) 1943 NL (23, 2%) 0.02 Career Shares (1362nd)	Wins Above Replacement† s c a p y 1943 NL 5.3 (5th)	WAR Position Players† s c a p y 1943 NL 5.3 (5th)	Offensive WAR† s c a p y 1943 NL 3.7 (10th)
Defensive WAR† s c a p y 1943 NL 1.6 (3rd)	Games Played s c a p y 1943 NL 154 (4th)	At Bats s c a p y 1943 NL 627 (2nd)	Plate Appearances s c a p y 1943 NL 694 (3rd)
Runs Scored s c a p y 1943 NL 91 (6th)	Hits s c a p y 1943 NL 180 (7th)	Total Bases s c a p y 1943 NL 257 (4th)	Triples s c a p y 1943 NL 14 (2nd)
Strikeouts s c a p y 1943 NL 70 (6th)	Stolen Bases s c a p y 1943 NL 9 (7th)	Singles s c a p y 1943 NL 131 (6th)	Runs Created s c a p y 1943 NL 87 (6th)
Extra Base Hits s c a p y 1943 NL 49 (6th)	Times On Base s c a p y 1943 NL 232 (10th)	Sacrifice Hits s c a p y 1943 NL 15 (5th)	Power-Speed # s c a p y 1943 NL 7.9 (6th)
Outs Made s c a p y 1943 NL 466 (4th)	Assists† s c a p y 1943 NL 444 (5th)	Def. Games as 2B s c a p y 1943 NL 126 (4th)	Putouts as 2B s c a p y 1943 NL 301 (5th)
Assists as 2B s c a p y 1943 NL 356 (4th)	Errors Committed as 2B s c a p y 1943 NL 18 (4th)	Fielding % as 2B s c a p y 1943 NL .973 (3rd)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray Ink	Batting - 11 (1335), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor	Batting - 3 (1771), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards	Batting - 6 (2058), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Batters

Compare Stats to Similars

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

Bump Wills (980) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Charlie Neal (964) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Tony Womack (969) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Dutch Meyer (975) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Lou Merloni (957) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

Before 1940 Season: Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent.
December 14, 1949: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Ron Northey to the Cincinnati Reds for Harry Walker.
May 2, 1950: Purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the Cincinnati Reds.
November 16, 1950: Drafted by the Cleveland Indians from the Chicago Cubs in the 1950 rule 5 draft.
May 10, 1951: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Allie Clark to the Philadelphia Athletics for Sam Chapman.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

Salaries

Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses

Year	Age	Team	Salary	Sources	Notes
1949	30	St. Louis Cardinals	$9,000	W. Marshall, Baseball's Pivotal Era 245	Includes $2,500 midyear raise

Career to date (may be incomplete)			$9,000

Salary Data (about) courtesy Doug Pappas, and the Society for American Baseball Research.
Salaries for mid-season call-ups or traded players may not be shown.

Other Resources & Links

Error? Compare Search SABR's Baseball Index Other Links@google.com Baseball Library Baseball-Almanac.com Retrosheet The Baseball Cube The Baseball Page WhatIfSports: Lou Klein

Viewed 5,882 times through February 11, 2012.
Name and misspellings: Louis lu Lou loe lew Frank lue klien Klein

Player Page Tricks and Tips

Sum any set of rows by clicking anywhere (not red or blue) on the first and last rows of your selection. We will then compute the totals for the player between and including those two seasons.
Default Setting for this feature: Turn On / Turn Off
Summation of season totals only works for the initial case when the table is in year order. On a sorted table the results may get a bit goofy.

HIGHLIGHTING: Adding a range or series of player's career seasons or career game numbers (like '#1972:batting_standard', '#1970-1980-sum:batting_standard', or '#1998,1999,2001,2002,sum:pitching_standard') onto the end of a player page url causes the seasons to the highlighted and summed. After changing address bar, reload the page to see highlighting. This will work even in links e-mailed to others. Note that for tables with multiple pages the first table is the default. If you want to create a sum for a table other than the first one, select the rows and after the summation window appears click on "permanent link" link.

The play-by-play information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.

Automatic Player Linking / Statistical Sharing Tool / Basic Player Linking / Data Coverage

See Front Page for time of last update

Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.

Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball.

Total Zone Rating and Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com.

Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of 24-7 Baseball.

Player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Many thanks to him. We have only selected seasons (players who debuted before 1960) for which we believe the image has reverted into the public domain. We will quickly remove any images for which that can be shown to not be the case.Please let us know if you are aware of any such images on this site.

Play Index Loading Photos from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress.

A Sports Reference Site: About Baseball Reference | Found a bug or have a suggestion?
Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data

Part of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group.