White Sox Flashback: The Trade 60 Years Ago This Week That Helped Win the 1959 Pennant
By Art Berke
The White Sox took over first place for good on July 28, 1959 and likely would have captured their first American League pennant since 1919 without the notable trade 60 years ago this week that brought Argo, Illinois native and slugging first baseman Ted Kluszewski to the South Side on August 25. Big Klu just made it a lot easier.
The arrival of the 6-foot-2, 225-pound first baseman, who is well known in baseball lore for cutting off his uniform sleeves to showcase his bulging biceps, gave the Sox a much-needed middle of the lineup bat in one of baseball’s pre-eminent power hitters of the 1950s. From 1953–56 with the Reds he averaged 43 homers and 105 RBI while hitting above .300 each year — and in ’54 led all major-league hitters with 49 HR and 141 ribbies. That’s Klu in the middle of the photo above having some fun comparing muscles with his diminutive Sox teammates Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio.
The 34-year-old Kluszewski, who was acquired from the Pirates for first baseman-outfielder Harry “Suitcase” Simpson and a minor league pitcher, was not the same performer in 1959 as he was earlier in the decade because of a back injury and Father Time. He was, however, welcomed to the White Sox with open arms, giving power and balance to a club — headed by future Hall of Famers Fox, Aparicio and right-hander Early Wynn — that counted primarily on pitching, speed and defense to win ballgames.
“When we got Ted, we all thought it was a very, very good thing for us, because he gave us a strong left-handed hitter with a good reputation,” said Sox pitching great Billy Pierce, another big contributor in ’59. “We never thought he was past his prime but that he would help us. We were very glad to have him on our ballclub.
“Ted was a quiet fellow, but he had been with a winner in Cincinnati and had many accomplishments in his career. A fellow like that is a kind of automatic leader on the team. He gave us stability, which was very good for us.”
Here is the official team photo of the ’59 AL champs below with Klu on the far right of the third row. Fox is third from the far right in the top row, Pierce is next to him, second from the right, Aparicio is on the far left of the bottom row and Wynn is on the far left of the top row.
Kluszewski hit .357 with three walks in his first six games with the White Sox, early evidence that he would be a factor down the stretch. And it wasn’t a coincidence that the club enjoyed a hot streak in Ted’s first few games in a Sox uniform.
In 32 regular season games with Chicago, Klu hit .297 with a pair of homers and 10 RBI while playing solid defense at first. His high point was in an early September doubleheader with the Kansas City A’s. He delivered a run-scoring hit in a 2–1 win in the opener and blasted two homers and drove in five runs in a 13–7 victory in the nightcap.
“Ted was a great asset for us,” Pierce commented. “He was an important cog in the middle of the lineup.” In fact, the numbers proved that the Sox scored more runs and won at a higher clip with Kluszewski’s presence in the lineup.
Klu certainly helped get the Sox into the World Series, but he will forever be remembered for his exploits in his first and only fall classic that October. In six Series games (the Dodgers prevailed four games to two), Kluszewski batted .391, cranked three homers and drove in 10 runs — a 1.266 OPS. Most memorable was his two homers in Game 1 as the Sox overpowered the Dodgers, 11–0 (that’s him launching one of those big flies in the photo below).
“Oh, man, the two home runs that Ted hit,” Pierce recalled. “That was exciting. I mean, there we were in the World Series. The fans were excited, we were excited, everybody was excited.”
(The author thanks Paul Ladewski. His Kluszewski bio for the Society of American Baseball Research, including the Billy Pierce quotes, was extremely helpful in writing this post).
