Ted Kluszewski was among the most feared NL hitters of the early and mid 1950s. In his best 4-year run from 1953 to 1956, he compiled 148 OPS+ while batting .315 with 171 HR and 464 RBI, ranking, respectively, 4th, 3rd, 1st and 2nd in the NL for those categories.
Interestingly, though, Ted is a member of two quite different groups of hitters. After the jump, you’ll see what I mean.
Congratulations to JoshG and John Autin! JoshG identified that Ted Kluszewski is one of just 8 hitters since 1946 with a season of 30 or more HR and fewer strikeouts than HR (Kluszewski had 4 such seasons; only DiMaggio had more, with 6, including 5 in a row in 1937-41). John Autin got the second part of the quiz, identifying that Kluszewski also (probably surprisingly) is one of just 12 hitters since 1946 with a season (min. 502 PA) of 10 or fewer HR and also 25 or fewer of both strikeouts and walks. Kluszewski had such a season in 1949. Glenn Beckert and Don Mueller lead the way, each with 3 such seasons.
So, here are the two lists. Each list represents all players who have achieved a particular season (min. 502 PA) accomplishment since 1946.
| Player |
|---|
| Ted Kluszewski |
| Yogi Berra |
| Johnny Mize |
| Barry Bonds |
| Andy Pafko |
| Stan Musial |
| Joe DiMaggio |
| Willard Marshall |
And, the second, very different, group of hitters.
| Player |
|---|
| Glenn Beckert |
| Don Mueller |
| Tim Foli |
| Vic Power |
| Emil Verban |
| Ozzie Guillen |
| Felix Fermin |
| Felipe Alou |
| Bobby Richardson |
| Nellie Fox |
| Ted Kluszewski |
| Dale Mitchell |
So, the question is: What are those two season accomplishments? There’s nothing tricky here – the accomplishments are based only on simple counting stats.
