Total Baseball (1994 Edition)/Total_Baseball_1994_Edition_Creative_Multimedia_1994.iso/dp/0003/00034.txt

Text File | 1994-02-24 | 47KB | 859 lines

$Unique_ID{BAS00034}
$Title{Lives of the Players:  K-L}
$Author{}
$Subject{Kaat Kaline Kamm Keefe Keeler Kell Keller Kelley Kelly Keltner
Killefer Killebrew Kiner Klein Klem Kling Konstanty Koosman Koufax Kuhn
Lajoie Landis Lazzeri Lemon Leonard Lindstrom Lloyd Lollar Lombardi Lopes
Lopez Lundy Luque Lyle Lynn Lyons}
$Log{
Jim Kaat*0031101.scf
Al Kaline*0031201.scf
Tim Keefe*0031301.scf
Willie Keeler*0031401.scf
George Kell*0031501.scf
Joe Kelley (left) and Bowie Kuhn*0031601.scf
George Kelly*0031701.scf
King Kelly*0031801.scf
Harmon Killebrew*0032101.scf
Ralph Kiner*0032301.scf
Chuck Klein*0032701.scf
Jerry Koosman*0033001.scf
Sandy Koufax*0033101.scf
Bowie Kuhn (right) and Joe Kelley*0031601.scf
Nap Lajoie*0033601.scf
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (right) and Will Harridge*0026501.scf
Bob Lemon*0034401.scf
Fred Lindstrom*0034901.scf
John "Pop" Lloyd*0035001.scf
Sherm Lollar*0035201.scf
Ernie Lombardi*0035301.scf
Davey Lopes (sliding)*0035401.scf
Al Lopez (right) and Herb Score*0035501.scf
Al Lopez (right) and Bill Veeck*0035601.scf
Adolfo Luque*0035701.scf
Fred Lynn*0035801.scf
Ted Lyons*0035901.scf}

Total Baseball:  The Players


Lives of the Players:  K-L


Jim Kaat
Pitcher, Was (A) 1959-60, Min (A) 1961-73, Chi (A) 1973-75, Phi (N) 1976-79,
NY (A) 1979-80, StL (N) 1980-83

"I've never craved center stage," Kaat said, but only Warren Spahn, Eddie
Plank, Steve Carlton, Lefty Grove, and Tommy John won more among lefties than
Jim's 283.  Three times a 20-game winner, he used a good fastball, guile, and
a brutal conditioning program to pitch for a record twenty-five seasons.  His
best year was 1966 with Minnesota, when he led the league with 25 wins and won
the Sporting News' Pitcher of the Year Award.  His other 20-win seasons came
with the White Sox in 1974-1975.
     Not only did Kaat put in a lot of years, he put in some workhorse
seasons, going over 300 innings twice and over 200 twelve other times, in
spite of several serious injuries.
     Kaat helped himself in ways other than with his arm.  His .185 career
batting average was fair for a pitcher and his 134 career sacrifices is the
record for hurlers.  He may have been the best-fielding pitcher ever, winning
sixteen straight Golden Gloves.


Al Kaline
Outfielder, Det (A) 1953-74

Kaline accepted a $30,000 bonus to sign with Detroit in 1953.  Two years
later, without having spent a day in the minors, the twenty-year-old Kaline
won the 1955 AL batting title with .340, the youngest champ ever.  Al never
hit that high again, but for twenty-two years he was an outstanding player for
Detroit. Though never again spectacular with a bat, he was steady,
accumulating 1,622 runs scored and 1,583 RBIs.  Kaline finished with 3,007
hits, a .297 batting average, and 399 home runs.  He played in eighteen
All-Star Games.
     Kaline was a sensational defensive outfielder, with a powerful, accurate
arm.  He won eleven Gold Gloves.  In 1971 he went through 133 games without an
error.
     Although Al battled injuries his whole career--he broke his cheek bone,
collar bone, rib, foot, finger, and arm at various times--he set an AL record
with twenty years of 100 games or more.
     He played in only one World Series.  In 1968 he hit .379 with eight RBIs
to lead the Tigers to a victory in seven games over the Cardinals.
     He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980.


Willie Kamm
Third Baseman, Chi (A) 1923-31, Cle (A) 1931-35

The White Sox bought Kamm from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League in
1923 for the then sensational price of $100,000 to try to plug the hole at
third left by banned Black Soxer Buck Weaver.  In a career trapped in the
second division, Willie earned a reputation as one of the best-fielding third
basemen ever.  He led the AL at his position eight times in fielding average
and was consistently among the leaders in all fielding categories except
errors.  Although he had no home run power, he was a good contact hitter, with
a .281 career batting average.  His .308 in 1928 was his single-season best.


Tim Keefe
Pitcher, Troy (N) 1880-82, NY (AA) 1883-84, NY (N) 1885-89, 1891, NY (P) 1890,
Phi (N) 1891-93

Keefe was one of the first great changeup artists.  For six straight years,
1883-1888, the unassuming righthander combined a fair fastball and curve with
his changeup to win 32 games or more.  Twice he went over 40.  He ended his
career with 342 victories.
     In 1888 he won 19 straight, including one twelve-inning effort. That's
the year he and fellow Irishman Mickey Welch pitched the Giants to the NL
flag.  Tim was top in wins, percentage, ERA, strikeouts, and shutouts.  In the
championship series against the American Association's St. Louis Browns that
October, he won all four of New York's victories.
     Tim's finest day came in 1883.  He won both ends of a July 4
doubleheader--a one-hitter in the morning and a two-hitter in the afternoon.
     He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1964.


Willie Keeler
Outfielder, NY (N) 1892-93, 1910, Bkn (N) 1893, 1899-1902, Bal (N) 1894-98,
NY (A) 1903-09

At 5'4 1/2" and 140 pounds, "Wee Willie" looked like the batboy.  He choked up
a foot on his thirty-inch bat, the lightest in the league, stood stiff-legged,
leaning over the plate, and chopped down on the ball, the famous "Baltimore
Chop."  The ball bounced into the air, and before it came down, Willie was
safe at first.  Or if the infielders charged in, he'd bounce it over their
heads. His "I hit 'em where they ain't" has been quoted more often than the
Gettysburg Address.
     He hit .424 in 1897, second best ever, to lead the NL, and followed with
a league-topping .385 in 1898.  He had four other seasons over .370.  His
.341 career average ranks him thirteenth all-time.  He had over 200 hits eight
years in a row.  The ultimate singles hitter, 2,511 of his 2,932 hits were for
one base.
     Keeler hit in 44 straight games in 1897.  No one kept such records then,
but in all the years since, only Rose has tied it and only DiMaggio has
surpassed it.
     A brilliant bunter, he is one of the men responsible for the modern
foul-strike rule.  He could bunt fouls by the hour until they changed the rule
and began calling them outs after two strikes.
     Known as an outstanding right fielder, he played his first major league
games as a lefthanded-throwing third baseman.  A practical joker in moments of
leisure, Keeler was deadly serious on the field.  He was elected to the Hall
of Fame in 1939.


George Kell
Third Baseman, Phi (A) 1943-46, Det (A) 1946-52, Bos (A) 1952-54,
Chi (A) 1954-56, Bal (A) 1956-57

Kell gave the Tigers and several other AL clubs some steady fielding and .300
hitting after World War Two.  He led the league in batting average in 1949,
just inching out Ted Williams by .0002 with a .3429 mark.  Kell was safely in
front of Williams as he approached his last at-bat of the season.  Teammates
urged him to let a pinch hitter bat in his place since an out would lose him
the title.  He refused and took his place in the on-deck circle, but before he
could bat a teammate ended the inning and the season by hitting into a double
play.  In nine seasons, Kell batted over .300.  Never a power hitter, Kell is
one of the few modern hitters to have over 100 RBIs with fewer than 10 home
runs, a feat he achieved in 1950.
     Kell had an excellent throwing arm and was sure-handed.  He led AL third
basemen in fielding average seven times, in assists four times, and in putouts
and double plays twice.
     In 1983 he was named to the Hall of Fame.


Charlie Keller
Outfielder, NY (A) 1939-43, 1945-49, 1952, Det (A) 1950-51

Until a congenital back problem forced him to the sidelines, Keller seemed
destined to take his place as one of the greatest of all the Yankees' hitters.
"King Kong" played with Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich in the Yankee outfield
that helped win four flags in five years, 1939-1943.  He used the New York
short porch to propel as many as 33 home runs and averaged 98 RBIs a year.
Though Keller hit .300 only three times, pitchers respected him and regularly
gave him 100 walks.  He was a hard man to double up.
     Charlie was a great October hitter.  In 1939 he hit .438 in the World
Series; his two homers and four RBIs won the third game, 7-3, and it was he
who barreled into the Reds' Ernie Lombardi to score the deciding run in the
tenth inning of the final game.  In the 1941 Series, Keller hit .389.  In the
fourth game, after Henrich reached first on Mickey Owen's passed ball, Charlie
doubled in the two runs that won the game.  Then he scored the run that won
the fifth and final game.  In 1942 his two-run homer in the second game tied
the score in the eighth, though the Cardinals went on to win the game and the
Series.
     Following another pennant winner in 1943, he went into the Navy.  He
returned in 1945 and played until 1951, but the back problem limited him to
only one more season of more than 83 games.  He retired to raise horses on his
Maryland farm, Yankeeland.


Joe Kelley
Outfielder, Bos (N) 1891, 1908, Pit (N) 1891-92, Bal (N) 1892-98,
Bkn (N) 1899-01, Bal (A) 1902, Cin (N) 1902-06.  Manager, Cin (N) 1902-05,
Bos (N) 1908

Kelley was the heavy-hitting left fielder for the famous Baltimore Orioles of
the 1890s.  Joe played on six pennant winners in seven years, 1894-1900.  The
final two were with the Brooklyn Superbas, whom he captained.
     He hit over .300 for eleven consecutive seasons.  In 1894, when he hit
.393, he went 9-for-9 in a doubleheader, still the record.  Two years later he
hit .364.  His lifetime average was .317.
     Kelley was a speedy outfielder with a powerful arm.  He used to come to
the park at nine in the morning to practice his bunting and running.  A
handsome if vain man, he kept a mirror under his cap and liked to sneak looks
at himself in the outfield.
     He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971.


George "Highpockets" Kelly
First Baseman, NY (N) 1915-17, 1919-26, Pit (N) 1917, Cin (N) 1927-30,
Chi (N) 1930, Bkn (N) 1932

Kelly was the slick-fielding, clutch-hitting first baseman for a Giants team
that won four straight NL pennants, 1921-1924.  John McGraw, the New York
manager, said that Kelly made "more important hits" for him than any player he
ever had.  He led the NL in RBIs with 94 in 1920, then knocked home over 100
in each of the pennant-winning seasons.  In 1924 he led the league again with
136.
     A good home run hitter, he led the NL in 1921 with 23 and set a record in
1924 with 7 homers in 6 games.
     The lanky "Highpockets" had one of the most powerful arms in the league.
His on-the-money throw across the infield completed a brilliant double play to
end the 1921 World Series.  He consistently ranked high in assists and holds
the NL records for most putouts and most chances in a season.
     He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1973.


Mike "King" Kelly
Outfielder/Catcher/Manager, Cin (N) 1878-79, Chi (N) 1880-86, Bos (N) 1887-89,
1891-92, Bos (P) 1890, Cin-Mil (AA) 1891, Bos (AA) 1891, NY (N) 1893

With his dark hair, black mustache, and flashing white smile, the King was a
matinee idol and the subject of a popular song, "Slide, Kelly, Slide." ("If
your batting doesn't fail ya, they will take ya to Australia / Slide, Kelly,
on your belly, slide, slide, slide.")
     Mike rode to the park in a silk hat, ascot, and patent leather shoes, in
a carriage pulled by two white horses (and sometimes by his "cranks," or
fans).  He was one of the best-dressed men in America.  He went on the stage
reciting "Casey at the Bat" and made $3,000 for the use of his picture on
advertisements.  He was a big gambler and was often seen at the races.
     Mike was one of the first hitters to perfect the hit-and-run, one of the
first catchers to give finger signals, and one of the first outfielders to
play close to back up infield plays.  And despite the song, he was one of the
first runners to use the hook slide.  His most famous slide knocked the ball
out of George Wright's hand to clinch the 1882 flag.
     He also liked to catch the ump asleep (they had only one then) and cut
from first base to third base without going near second.  He'd take a similar
shortcut from second base to home.
     In all, Kelly sparked Anson's White Stockings to five flags in seven
years, 1880-1886.  He led the NL in hitting with .354 in 1884 and .388 in
1886.
     In 1887 Boston bought him for a record price, and he became "the $10,000
Beauty."  He reputedly kept $5,000 of his purchase price for the use of his
likeness for promotional purposes.  Mike hit .322 his first year with them and
stole 84 bases.
     Kelly also managed and batted the Bostons to the Players League flag in
1890.
     Mike played all nine positions.  Once, while sitting on the bench, a foul
fly came back.  "Kelly now catching," he shouted and made the catch.  They
changed the substitute rule after that.
     Anson always said, "Mike's only enemy is himself."  He died of pneumonia
at the age of thirty-six, penniless after giving his only suit of clothes to a
tramp while on a boat to Boston to recite "Casey" one more time. The city gave
him a grand funeral send-off.
     He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1945.


Ken Keltner
Third Baseman, Cle (A) 1937-44, 1946-49, Bos (A) 1950

Keltner was the AL's top-fielding third baseman in the 1940s.  He led AL third
sackers in fielding average three times, assists four times, and double plays
five times.  With Keltner on third and Lou Boudreau at short, Cleveland fans
saw some of the best fielding of the decade.  Ken's habit of taking a quick
look at the ball in his hand before he gunned it to first was imitated by
Cleveland schoolboys.  Keltner is best known for the two fine plays he made to
stop Joe DiMaggio's hit streak at 56.
     A fair hitter with some long-ball power, his best year was 1948, when he
hit 31 homers, knocked in 119 runs, and hit .297, as the Indians won a tight
race and the Series.


Bill Killefer
Catcher, StL (A) 1909-10, Phi (N) 1911-17, Chi (N) 1918-21.
Manager, Chi (N) 1921-25, StL (A) 1930-33

Killefer was a typical catcher of the dead-ball era--a good handler of
pitchers, strong-armed, reliable on defense, and a rotten hitter.  He averaged
.238 over thirteen seasons and crushed a grand career total of 4 home runs.
     His primary claim to fame is that he was Grover Alexander's favorite
catcher.  They first hooked up in 1911, Alex's rookie year with the Phillies.
Their partnership continued when they were traded in tandem to the Cubs after
the 1917 season and lasted until Killefer took over as the Cubs' manager and
retired as a player in 1921.
     There seems little doubt that he was an intelligent player whose handling
helped Alexander be one of baseball's greatest pitchers.  There's no way of
knowing how many games Alex might have won with a catcher who had less brains
and more RBIs.


Harmon Killebrew
First Baseman/Third Baseman/Outfielder, Was (A) 1954-60, Min (A) 1961-74,
KC (A) 1975

A few eyebrows went up among the Old School observers when Killebrew was
elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.  The Killer didn't fit the traditional
mold of so many enshrined in Cooperstown.  He didn't hit for breathtaking
batting averages; not once in his career did he bat above .288 for a full
season, and his career average was a mere .256.  Shortstops do better.  He was
no jackrabbit on the bases; he stole 19 in twenty-two seasons.  Catchers do
better.  He didn't dazzle anyone with his glove; he played three positions
without ever winning even a Pyrite Glove, much less real gold.  He wasn't even
a colorful character, just a modest, nice guy who came to work, did his job,
and went home to his wife and children.
     Killebrew was a one-dimensional player.
     Of course, that one dimension--smashing home runs in gargantuan
quantities--produced more runs for his team than all the singles of a half
dozen "good" hitters.  And unless there's been a sudden and secret change in
the rules, the object of hitting is to score runs.
     Killebrew lifted 573 lordly blasts over the fences.  Only one AL player
hit more--Babe Ruth.  In home run frequency, Harmon is third behind only Ruth
and Ralph Kiner.  Such slugging helped win the Killer spots on The Sporting
News' All-Star teams at three different positions--3B, 1B, and OF.  Eight
times he went over 40 homers; six times he led or tied for the league lead.
Harmon was MVP in 1969, when he led the league with 49 homers and 140 RBIs.
He had 1,584 RBIs for his career.
     And while that .256 batting average draws no raves, he drew 1,559 walks,
which puts his on-base percentage up over .375.


Ralph Kiner
Outfielder, Pit (N) 1946-53, Chi (N) 1953-54, Cle (A) 1955

Kiner never said, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs"; Fritz Ostermueller did.
But he was talking about Ralph.
     Kiner was like Killebrew a "one-dimensional ballplayer," who was worth
more than most two- or three-dimensional players who ever lived.  Such is the
structure of baseball that blasting one three-run home run will help a team
more than a leaping one-handed catch, or two or three steals of second. Moaned
Warren Spahn:  "Kiner can wipe out your lead with one swing."
     No one except Babe Ruth ever dominated home run hitting the way Kiner did
from 1946 to 1952, as he led or tied for the NL leadership in his first seven
major league seasons.  Aaron, Mays, Killebrew, Jackson, Foxx, and others hit
more, but Ralph averaged 40 every 550 at-bats; only Babe did better.  In 1947
he hit 51; in 1949 he raised that to 54, the second-highest total in NL
history.
     Like the Babe, Ralph got a lot of walks, going over 100 six times.  He
was usually found on The Sporting News' All-Star team, and by 1951 Ralph was
the highest-paid player in the league.
     But the big difference between them was that the Yankees, with a strong
supporting cast, won pennants on Babe's homers; the Pirates were usually last
in spite of Ralph's.
     Kiner, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1975, became a TV
commentator for the Mets in the year of their inception, 1962, and remains
behind the mike as one of the hardiest of all baseball's voices.


Chuck Klein
Outfielder, Phi (N) 1928-33, 1937-44, Chi (N) 1934-36, Pit (N) 1939

Philadelphia's Baker Bowl, the Phillies' home through the 1930s, had a short
right field that was batter-friendly, to say the least.  No player ever took
better advantage of the situation than Klein, a powerful lefthanded hitter
whose pokes against and over the Bowl's cozy wall helped him produce a
startling five-year record.
     In 1929, his first full season, he led the NL with 43 home runs, while
hitting .356 and driving in 145 runs.  He beat Mel Ott by one for the homer
crown when Phillie pitchers walked Mel five straight times on the final day,
including once with the bases full.
     The next year he was awesome: .386, 40 homers, 170 RBIs--but did not lead
the league in any of those categories in that hit-happy year.  He continued
his assault in 1931: .337, 31 home runs, and 121 RBIs, the last two figures
leading the league.
     He was named MVP in 1932, when he led again in homers with 38, while
driving in 137 and hitting .348.  In 1933 he climaxed his five years of
excellence with a Triple Crown: .368, 28, 120.
     Traded to the Cubs in 1934, he continued to be a productive hitter, but
without his best friend, the wall, his great days were over.  He finished his
career with an even 300 homers and a .320 batting average.
     The wall even helped Klein to a defensive record.  In 1930 he threw out
44 runners from his up-close and personal right field spot.
     Other players had the same wall to shoot for in the era; nobody used it
better.
     He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1980.


Bill Klem
Umpire, 1905-40

In a career that stretched from 1905 through 1940, Bill Klem was considered
the greatest umpire of all time.  He's credited by some with being the first
umpire to use hand signals and the first to use the smaller chest protector.
     Klem officiated in eighteen World Series, a record.
     When Bill broke in, there was only one ump per game, and he literally
dodged bottles from angry fans.  When a player advanced on Klem to argue, he
drew a line in the dirt with his shoe and called it "the Rio Grande."  One
step over, and the player was out.
     Bill kind of resembled a catfish, but saying so to his face was another
cause for automatic ejection.  He once slugged it out with outfielder Goose
Goslin in a hotel elevator.
     Baseball was "more than a game, it's a religion," Klem said.  "I never
missed one," he always said of his calls.  But after he retired, he would add,
"in here," tapping his heart.
     Klem was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953.


Johnny Kling
Catcher, Chi (N) 1900-08, 1910-11, Bos (N) 1911-12, Cin (N) 1913.
Manager, Bos (N) 1912

Kling was the peppery catcher for the great Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Cub
teams of the century's first decade.  A good defensive catcher, he pulled his
weight as a hitter with a career average of .271.  That was a little unusual
in those days, when backstops were catchers first and hitters only if
convenient.  He was also rated as one of the best handlers of pitchers in the
game.  Certainly the record of the Cubs' moundmen during that period did
nothing to tarnish that reputation.
     The Cubs, with "Noisy" Kling behind the plate, won three straight
pennants, 1906-1908.  He sat out 1909, and they finished second.  When he
returned in 1910, they won another flag.


Casimir "Jim" Konstanty
Pitcher, Cin (N) 1944, Bos (N) 1946, Phi (N) 1948-54, NY (A) 1954-56,
StL (N) 1956

Big, bespectacled Jim was one of the early relief chiefs, and like so many, he
had one truly great year.  In 1950 he led the NL with 22 saves and 16 relief
wins for the Whiz Kid Phils, who just nipped the Dodgers for the pennant on
the last day of the 1950 season.  He was named MVP.
     He was the surprise starter in the World Series against New York, when
Phillie ace Robin Roberts needed rest after pitching the season finale.  He
dueled Vic Raschi for eight innings, gave up just one run on a double and two
flies, and lost 1-0.


Jerry Koosman
Pitcher, NY (N) 1967-78, Min (A) 1979-81, Chi (A) 1981-83, Phi (N) 1984-85

Quietly Koosman emerged as a solid 222-game winner trapped mostly with
inferior teams.  As a rookie in 1968, Jerry was 19-12, with a 2.08 ERA,
setting a rookie record with 7 shutouts.  (His other record was striking out
62 times in 1968 as a batter.)
     Koosman had a sore arm in 1969 but still posted a 17-9 record to join
Seaver in sparking the Mets to their dramatic World Series win.  Kooz's
contribution:  a two-hit shutout of the Orioles in Game Two, a 5-3 victory in
Game Five, and an overall Series ERA of 2.04.
     Jerry added another win in the 1973 Series.  He won 21 games for the 1976
Mets and 20 for the 1979 Twins.  In 1983 he went 11-7 to help the White Sox
reach the playoffs.


Sanford "Sandy" Koufax
Pitcher, Bkn (N) 1955-57, LA (N) 1958-66

For five fabulous years, 1962-1966, Sandy Koufax did things with a baseball
that no other lefty has done:  five ERA titles, four no-hitters, three Cy
Youngs, and one MVP.
     And much of it was achieved pitching while in excruciating pain.
     Wild as a youngster, Koufax labored for six years to compile a 36-40
record.  Then he found his groove and became a star.
     In 1965 Koo struck out 382, breaking Waddell's season record of 349. He
also threw a perfect game.
     In 1966 he won more games, 27, and pitched more shutouts, 11, than any NL
lefty in one year in this century.
     Then his arm went bad, and he walked away at the age of thirty "while I
could still comb my hair."
     Koufax won only 165 games, but no man who won twice that many ever
reached the same heights.  In 1972, at thirty-six, he was the youngest man
ever elected to Cooperstown.
     As a fastball hurler, Koufax ranked with Ryan, Johnson, Feller, Grove,
and Gooden.  Unlike Grove and Johnson, Sandy had a dandy curve too.  He
whiffed 18 men in one game twice, in 1959 and 1962.
     His World Series ERA was 0.95, although his won-lost record was only 4-3.
Four of the ten runs against him were unearned.


Bowie Kuhn
Commissioner, 1969-84

A Princeton lawyer, Bowie Kuhn replaced "the unknown soldier," General William
Eckert, as commissioner for three controversial terms.  Considered the owners'
commissioner--as indeed every commissioner is--Kuhn resisted players' demands
for more money, saying greedy players would bankrupt the teams.
Player-negotiator Marvin Miller called it Kuhn's "annual poor-mouth speech."
     Ironically many owners also opposed Kuhn, and he was bypassed in the
negotiations with Miller.  Charles Finley of Oakland led the "dump Bowie"
movement, which almost succeeded until two owners changed their votes.  Kuhn
would later void Finley's sales of $3.5 million worth of stars, which helped
to drive the combative Finley out of the game.
     One of Kuhn's moves was to sanction playing the World Series at night.
He appeared at the first night game on a cold October evening wearing no top
coat to dramatize how "mild" the weather was.  But he was wearing thermal
skivvies underneath.


Napoleon "Larry" Lajoie
Second Baseman, Phi (N) 1896-1900, Phi (A) 1901-02, 1915-16, Cle (A) 1902-14.
Manager, Cle (A) 1905-09.

One of the best second basemen of all time and, by all accounts, the most
graceful, Lajoie was also one of the most successful righthanded hitters.  An
established star with the NL Phillies, where he'd hit .378 in 1899, he jumped
to Connie Mack's AL Philadelphia A's in 1901.  The presence of Lajoie, Cy
Young, and a few others helped legitimize the AL as a major league.  Lajoie's
.426 in the league's first year is still the highest batting average ever
achieved in the American League.
     The following year an injunction by the Phillies forced AL president Ban
Johnson to shift Lajoie to Cleveland, where he spent the bulk of his career.
In 1903, 1904, and 1910, he led the AL in batting with averages of .344,
.376, and .384.
     Lajoie's status was such that the team was named after him during his
tenure--the Cleveland Naps.  He managed the club from 1905 to part of 1909 and
got them as high as second in 1908.  Late in the 1909 campaign, he gave up the
reins because he felt the cares of managing were hurting his play.
     Lajoie was a powerful line-drive hitter who pulled the ball.  In 1910 the
popular second baseman was locked in a tight batting race with Ty Cobb,
despised by nearly everyone in the AL.  The winner of the race was to receive
a gift of a new Chalmers automobile.  On the final day of the season the St.
Louis Browns' manager ordered his young third baseman to play extremely deep
on Lajoie during a doubleheader, ostensibly because of Larry's ability to
smash the ball.  Lajoie went 8 for 8, with seven of the hits being bunts, but
lost the title to Cobb by .0007.  He was given the auto anyway.  In 1981 Paul
MacFarlane of The Sporting News discovered that Ty got credit for an extra hit
that year and Lajoie should have won the title.  Commissioner Kuhn ruled that,
damn the facts, the records remain as they had been.
     Lajoie hit over .300 in sixteen of his twenty-one seasons and finished
with 3,242 hits for a .338 average.  He accumulated 1,599 RBIs and scored
1,502.  He led AL second basemen in fielding six times.
     In 1937 he was named to the Hall of Fame.


Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Commissioner, 1920-44

Baseball's first commissioner and only true czar, Landis demanded and got
autocratic power to clean up the Black Sox scandal ruthlessly.  By doing so,
he restored public confidence in the integrity of baseball.  He went on to
rule the game with a power never wielded since.  Historian David Q. Voigt
calls him one of the five most influential men in baseball history.
     A shock of white hair, a thin, unsmiling mouth, and a crushed fedora
hat--this was the image of Landis, who restored integrity to the game and
ruled it for more than two decades.
     As a federal judge, Landis had won fame by fining John D. Rockefeller's
Standard Oil trust $29 million and for jailing ninety-four Socialist Labor
Party leaders during World War One.  But he refused to rule in the Federal
League's suit against the NL and AL, saying it "would be a blow against a
national institution."  It won him the job as commissioner.
     Landis banned the Black Sox for life, though no court had convicted them.
He banned several other players for less publicized fixing charges.  He
suspended Babe Ruth for barnstorming without permission.
     On the other hand, he was zealous in defending player rights.  He opposed
the farm system, and though he could not stop it, he released two hundred
Tiger and Cardinal farm hands into free agency on the grounds that they were
being "covered up" by the teams.
     Team owners bridled under his iron rule and never again granted a
commissioner such powers.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1944, a month
after his death.


Tony Lazzeri
Second Baseman, NY (A) 1926-37, Chi (N) 1938, Bkn (N) 1939, NY (N) 1939

Poor Lazzeri.  As a twenty-two-year-old Yankee rookie, he was the victim of
the most famous strikeout in history.  He whiffed with the bases loaded
against a hung-over Grover Alexander in the 1926 World Series.  But with a
tiny change of wind, Tony could have been the hero; before striking out he hit
a long drive to left that faded foul by a few inches.  "A few feet more," said
Alex, "and he'd have been the hero and I'd have been the bum."
     Like his nemesis Alexander, Lazzeri was a victim of epilepsy.  And like
Alex, he overcame it to have an outstanding career.
     Ironically Lazzeri hit a World Series grand slam ten years later in 1936.
     Overall he played second base for six Yankee pennant winners and helped
the Cubs to a flag in 1938.  He drove in over 100 runs in seven different
seasons and finished with a .292 career batting average.
     Tony also had one of the greatest minor league years ever--202 runs, 222
RBIs, and 60 HRs for San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League in 1925 (of
course, they played a 197-game season).


Bob Lemon
Pitcher, Cle (A) 1941-42, 1946-58.
Manager, KC (A) 1970-72, Chi (A) 1977-78, NY (A) 1978-82

Lemon was the ace of perhaps the finest pitching staff in AL history--the
Indians of 1948-1956, with Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Mike Garcia, Herb Score,
and others.  Lem won 207 games for Cleveland, yet didn't become a pitcher
until he was nearly twenty-six years old.
     As a third baseman, he played ten games with the Tribe before going into
military service for World War Two.  He demonstrated that he was not a good
enough hitter to replace Ken Keltner at third for the Indians.  Moreover, his
arm was erratic.  He seemed unable to throw a ball straight.
     When he returned to the Tribe in 1946, the decision was made to turn his
liability into a virtue by making him a pitcher.  He showed promise in 1947
when he won 11.  By 1948 he was a star.  As the Indians won their first
pennant in 28 years, he pitched a no-hitter, 10 shutouts, and won 20 games.
He added two more wins in the World Series.
     He had seven 20-win seasons from 1948 to 1956.  Three times he led the AL
in victories, including 1955, when he won "only" 18.
     Lem helped himself with his glove and bat.  Often used as a pinch hitter,
his 37 home runs are second all-time among pitchers.
     In 1978 Lem took over as manager of the Yankees when they were 10 1/2
games behind the Red Sox and split with dissension.  With patient
handling--plus a raft of Red Sox injuries--Bob achieved one of the
unforgettable modern miracles by bringing the Yankees back to a last-day tie
with Boston and a playoff victory.
     Lemon was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976.


Walter "Buck" Leonard
First Baseman, Negro League, 1933-50, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Homestead Grays

They called Leonard "the black Gehrig."  Like Lou, Buck was a durable first
baseman with plenty of lefthanded power.  He teamed with Josh Gibson to give
the Homestead Grays a mighty one-two home run punch as the Grays won nine
straight Negro National League flags, 1937-1945.  When Gibson left the club,
1940-1941, for Mexico, the Grays won on Buck's power alone.
     In 1939 Leonard led all black batters with .492.  He also slugged 7
homers in the short season, hitting them at a rate of 66/550 at-bats.
Runner-up Gibson hit 6 (a rate of 59/550).  Buck's entire career has not yet
been compiled, but one estimate of his Negro League record puts his batting
average at .336.  He was also one of black baseball's most popular players.
     He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972.


Freddie Lindstrom
Third Baseman/Outfielder, NY (N) 1924-32, Pit (N) 1933-34, Chi (N) 1935-36

Lindstrom was a victim of pebbles.  It was his bad luck that when he was an
eighteen-year-old Giants rookie in the seventh game of the 1924 Series, not
one but two balls hit pebbles and bounced over his head.  The first, in the
eighth inning, let in the tying run.  The second, in the twelfth, lost the
game for the Giants.
     Ironically Lindstrom went on to be considered one of the NL's
best-fielding third basemen until a foot injury in 1931 forced him to the
outfield.
     When he became a Giants regular in 1925 and began showing his hitting
ability, New York fans called him "the Boy Wonder."  A consistent .300
hitter, his top seasons were 1928, when he led the NL with 231 hits and batted
.358, and 1930, when he hit .379 and swatted 22 home runs.

In 1935 he helped the Cubs to a pennant as an outfielder.  He was elected to
the Hall of Fame in 197


John Henry "Pop" Lloyd
Shortstop, Negro League, 1905-31, Macon Acmes, Cuban-X Giants, Philadelphia
Giants, Leland Giants, Lincoln Giants, Chicago American Giants, Brooklyn Royal
Giants, Columbus Buckeyes, Bacharach Giants, Hilldale, New York Black Yankees

"You could put Wagner and Lloyd in a bag together," Connie Mack once said,
"and whichever you pulled out, you wouldn't go wrong."  They called Lloyd "the
black Wagner," and Honus said he considered it an honor.
     Starting in 1905, Lloyd established himself as the finest shortstop in
black baseball and one of the finest ever.  He played for independent black
teams and in Cuba, where he was adored.  They called him Cuchara, which means
"scoop" or "shovel."  Much like Wagner, he would scoop up a grounder and fire
it to first in a hail of dust and pebbles that he'd also shoveled up with the
ball.
     His finest hour came in 1909 against Ty Cobb and the Tigers in five
exhibition games in Havana.  Cobb did not steal a base, as Lloyd tagged him
out three times.  Lloyd hit .500 against the Tiger pitchers; Cobb hit .369
against the Cubans.  The Georgia Peach was so angry and embarrassed he stomped
off the field, vowing never to play blacks again.
     At bat, Lloyd was a scientific hitter, spraying line drives where the
ball was pitched.  Although he was in his mid-thirties when the Negro National
League was formed, Lloyd played for a dozen years and compiled a league
average of .342.  His best season was 1928 when he hit .564 and led the league
in home runs at the age of 44.
     More than a great shortstop and hitter, Lloyd was the model gentleman of
black ball, as Mathewson was the paragon role model of the white game. "Gosh
bob it!" was his strongest oath.
     In 1977 he was elected to the Hall of Fame.


Sherm Lollar
Catcher, Cle (A) 1946, NY (A) 1947-48, StL (A) 1949-51, Chi (A) 1952-63

Lollar put the Stop-Stop in the Go-Go White Sox of the 1950s.  The underrated
catcher anchored the Sox, a team built on speed, defense, and pitching.  On
the base paths, Sherm literally anchored the Sox' running attack as he brought
out various allusions to snails, molasses, and Ernie Lombardi.  Nevertheless,
as one of the few Sox with punch in his bat, he earned his keep on offense.
In their pennant year of 1959, he socked 22 homers.
     He excelled in defense.  He was a rock behind the plate and an excellent
handler of pitchers, absolutely crucial in the Sox scheme.  And when the
opposition tried a little go-going of its own, it was usually gone.  In 1954
Sherm played for five months straight without permitting a single stolen base.


Ernie Lombardi
Catcher, Bkn (N) 1931, Cin (N) 1932-41, Bos (N) 1942, NY (N) 1943-47

Lombardi was the slowest runner in the Hall of Fame, including executives,
pioneers, and exhibits.  "Schnozz" was a big, muscular guy, with a banana
nose, an easygoing manner, and feet of pure lead.  His lack of foot speed was
legendary.  Infielders played shallow in the outfield and could still throw
him out.  It was said he had to hit .400 to bat .300.  He was a cinch double
play anytime they got the runner at second; if they couldn't trust the
infielder's arm, he could carry it to first.
     Nonetheless, Lombardi was one of baseball's greatest catchers.  He is the
only catcher to ever lead his league in hitting while amassing 400 or more at
bats.  In 1938, he hit .342 and was voted the MVP.  His career average was
.306.  He hit with tremendous power--he had to because he never got a "leg"
hit--but on a line.  His home run totals were modest:  a high of 20 in 1939
and 190 for his career.
     He was considered barely adequate as a defensive catcher in his day,
whenever he let a pitch get even a few steps away from him, it was a passed
ball for sure.  He was on the receiving end of Johnny Vander Meer's two
no-hitters and one of the keys to Cincinnati's two straight pennants in
1939-1940.
     Lombardi was criticized unfairly for his famous "snooze" in the fourth
and final game of the 1939 World Series.  What actually happened is this:
     With Yankee runners at the corners and the score tied in the tenth, Joe
DiMaggio singled the go-ahead run home.  The right fielder misplayed the ball
and Charlie Keller, running from first, came charging homeward.  He hit
Lombardi where the chest protector doesn't cover, and while Ernie fell to the
ground in agony, DiMaggio scored.  The play didn't lose the Series, but it
probably kept Ernie out of Cooperstown until 1986, nine years after his death.


Davey Lopes
Second Baseman, LA (N) 1972-81, Oak (A) 1982-84, Chi (N) 1984-86,
Hou (N) 1986-87

Lopes was the kind of player who earns a reputation as "pesty."  Translated,
that means he won a lot of games for his team without piling up big
statistics.  He was okay in the field, but no world beater.  He never led NL
second basemen in fielding, but he did top them a couple of times in errors.
He had a .263 career batting average and hit 28 homers in 1979, but it was the
only time he socked more than 17.  He did steal bases, leading the league in
1975-1976 and totaling 557.  What made that part of his game significant was
that he was almost never caught.  He had one string of 38 straight successes.
     Davey was a member of the Dodger infield with Steve Garvey, Bill Russell,
and Ron Cey, a group that played together from 1973 to 1980.  By doing all the
little things, Lopes played in four World Series.


Al Lopez
Catcher, Bkn (N) 1928, 1930-35, Bos (N) 1936-40, Pit (N) 1940-46,
Cle (A) 1947.  Manager, Cle (A) 1951-56, Chi (A) 1957-65, 1968-69

Until Bob Boone broke it in 1987, Lopez had the record for most games caught.
A good take-charge backstop, he played for nineteen seasons, mostly with
second division clubs, and hit a decent .261.  He learned a lot of baseball
and a lot more patience.  Both helped him become one of baseball's greatest
managers.
     Taking over the helm at Cleveland in 1951, he chased the Yankees to three
straight second-place finishes.  The ex-catcher's Tribe teams were built on
great pitching, with Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn, and Mike Garcia, and
home runs.  Unfortunately for Cleveland, the Yankees always seemed to have
enough pitching and more of everything else.  But in 1954 the Senor's Indians
won 111 games, the AL record, to win the pennant.
     Al moved to the White Sox in 1957 and won his second flag two years
later.  He did it with mirrors, since the Sox had almost no power.  Owner Bill
Veeck said a typical rally was two bloopers, an error, a passed ball, and two
walks.  A hit batsman would be "the final crusher."  Thirty-five of their wins
were by one run.
     Lopez was a popular leader.  If he had any fault, said Veeck, it was that
"he was too decent."  From 1949 to 1964 Lopez was the only manager other than
a Yankee to win an AL pennant.  He also brought his clubs in second ten times.
     In 1977 he was elected to the Hall of Fame.


Dick Lundy
Shortstop, Negro League, 1916-48, Bacharach Giants, Lincoln Giants, Hilldale,
Baltimore Black Sox, Philadelphia Stars, Newark Dodgers, New York Cubans,
Newark Eagles, Jacksonville Eagles

"King Richard" was one of the top shortstops of blackball history, possessing
a strong arm, sure hands, and exceptional range.  Although batting records are
incomplete, the clever switch-hitter hit in the .330 range over his long
career.  He hit .400 four times between 1921 and 1930 in the United States and
Cuba.
     Big, graceful, and a natural leader, Lundy played on several championship
teams.  In 1925, when he and "Pop" Lloyd, the nonpareil of black shortstops,
were both members of the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, Lloyd moved over to
second base because of the younger man's then-superior range.  Lundy replaced
Lloyd as manager of the Bacharachs and led them from fourth to two straight
pennants, while hitting .329 and .306.  In 1933-1934 he was a starting
shortstop in the first two black All-Star Games.


Adolfo "Dolf" Luque
Pitcher, Bos (N) 1914-15, Cin (N) 1918-29, Bkn (N) 1930-31, NY (N) 1932-35

One of Cuba's first major league pitching stars, Luque was the leading pitcher
in the NL in 1923.  He was 27-8 for the second-place Reds, with a
league-leading 1.93 ERA.  Two years later, he led the NL in ERA again with a
2.63 mark.  In twenty years of pitching, twelve with the Reds, he won 193
games.
     The pride of Havana even found a new career at age 43.  He became the
bullpen stopper of the New York Giants and led the NL in relief wins with 8.
     Always hot-tempered, he reportedly stomped into the opposing team's
dugout one day in response to some unkind words and popped Casey Stengel on
the nose.


Albert "Sparky" Lyle
Pitcher, Bos (A) 1967-71, NY (A) 1972-78, Tex (A) 1979-80, Phi (N) 1980-82,
Chi (A) 1982

Lyle won 99 games in relief and saved 238.  Every one of his 899 pitching
appearances was in relief.  The durable lefthander was a big factor in getting
the Yankees into the 1976 and 1977 World Series, with 23 saves the first year
and 26 the next, when he also won 13 and earned the Cy Young Award.
     Sparky used his slider to write a fine postseason record in 1977.  With
New York losing the LCS two games to one, Lyle pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings
to beat Kansas City and even the series.  The next day he went 1 1/3 more
scoreless innings as the Yanks rallied to win.  Two days later he pitched 3
1/3 more innings of one-hit ball to beat the Dodgers in the World Series
opener.
     Then in 1978 his world was shattered when the Yanks paid millions to sign
free agent Goose Gossage.  Goose pushed Sparky right off the bullpen bench,
and he spent the season in mop-up roles.  He told of it in his book, The Bronx
Zoo.
     A flake and clubhouse cutup, Sparky once leaped nude onto a birthday
cake, only to learn later that it was intended for Yankee manager Ralph Houk.


Fred Lynn
Outfielder, Bos (A) 1974-80, Cal (A) 1981-84, Bal (A) 1985-88,
Det (A) 1988-89, SD (N) 1990

Lynn had one of baseball's most remarkable rookie years in 1975--he is the
only man to win the MVP his first year in the majors. The Red Sox won the
pennant as Lynn, their center fielder, hit .331, led the league in doubles and
runs, cracked 21 homers, and batted in 105 runs.
     Fred continued to hit with good power, getting up to 39 home runs in
1979, when he won the batting title with .333. In 1982 Lynn helped California
win the division title, then walloped .611 in the LCS. He won four Gold
Gloves.
     Yet Fred's career was a disappointment in view of its brilliant
beginning. His batting average fell through the 1980s, as did his
RBIs. Many of his problems stemmed from frequent injuries--too frequent,
say his critics.


Ted Lyons
Pitcher, Chi (A) 1923-42, 1946.  Manager, Chi (A) 1946-48

Lyons pitched twenty-one seasons for the White Sox.  During those years, the
Sox finished in the second division sixteen times.  Fans in other cities
celebrated pennants; in Chicago they celebrated Ted Lyons.  Possibly the most
popular player ever to take the mound in the Windy City, he earned fans'
devotion with his upbeat personality, indomitable spirit, and by being one of
the greatest pitchers of all time.
     He came straight out of Baylor University, skipped the minors, and
relieved in the first major league game he ever saw.  By the next year he was
a regular starter.  Using a good fastball, curve, and knuckler, he won 20-plus
three times with the second-division White Sox:  in 1925, 1927, and for the
last time in 1930.
     In 1931 a sore arm cost him his fastball and nearly his career. Although
he was no longer the dominating pitcher he had been in the 1920s, he used
control and guile to remain the Sox stopper through the 1930s.  Near the end
of the decade, he became a "Sunday" pitcher, always pitching on that day
because the biggest crowds showed up then.
     Lyons won 260 games for the Sox, many fewer than he might have won for
stronger teams, but he never complained.  In 1955 he was named to the Hall of
Fame.