Fred Klobedanz
{{Short description|American baseball player (1871–1940)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Fred Klobedanz
|position=Pitcher
|image=Klobedanz.jpg
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{birth date|1871|6|13}}
|birth_place=Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1940|4|12|1871|6|13}}
|death_place=Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 20
|debutyear=1896
|debutteam=Boston Beaneaters
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 5
|finalyear=1902
|finalteam=Boston Beaneaters
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value=53-25
|stat2label=Earned run average
|stat2value=4.12
|stat3label=Strikeouts
|stat3value=181
|teams=
- Boston Beaneaters (1896–1899, 1902)
|highlights=
- 2× National League pennant winner (1897, 1898)
- Led National League in winning percentage (1897)
}}
Frederick Augustus "Duke" Klobedanz (June 13, 1871 – April 12, 1940) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Beaneaters in five seasons and had a lifetime major league win–loss record of 53–25.
Career
Klobedanz, a "hard throwing, wild lefty,"Voigt, David Quentin. [https://books.google.com/books?id=m3gTAQAAIAAJ&q=%22fred+klobedanz%22 The League That Failed] (Scarecrow Press, 1998), p. 75. began playing semi-professional baseball in 1889,Prichard, Sarah Johnson. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sjm_OCVcZEgC The Town and City of Waterbury, Connecticut, Volume 3] (The Price and Lee company, 1896), p. 1107. around the age of 17, and then started his professional baseball career in 1892. He played in the New England League for the next few years, mostly with the Fall River Indians and New Bedford Whalers.
During the 1895 season, Klobedanz married the former Annie L. Durfee of Fall River. If married life hurt his pitching, then it is not evident from the statistics because that season he won a career-high 28 games, [https://books.google.com/books?id=KWvaAAAACAAJ&q=nineteenth+century+stars Nineteenth Century Stars] (Society for American Baseball Research, 1989), p. 73. batted a robust .377, and led the Indians to their third consecutive pennant. In 1896, Klobedanz had another good season, going 25–6 with a 2.38 earned run average,[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=klobed001fre "Fred Klobedanz Minor League Statistics & History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-22. leading the league in wins[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/leader.cgi?type=pitch&id=12914 "1896 New England League Pitching Leaders"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-22. and batting .353. He was then purchased by the National League's Beaneaters that August and pitched well in his first MLB action during the last several weeks of the season.
In 1897, Klobedanz went 26–7 to lead the majors in winning percentage.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/klobefr01.shtml "Fred Klobedanz Statistics and History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-22. At one point, he won 14 consecutive games.[https://books.google.com/books?id=lNSlQHMV5c0C A History of the Boston Base Ball Club] (M.F. Quinn & Co., 1897), p. 170. His ERA was mediocre, but he was aided by the powerful Boston offense which provided league-leading run support;[https://baseballbiography.com/fred-klobedanz-1871 "The Ballplayers - Fred Klobedanz"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224171929/http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Fred_Klobedanz_1871 |date=2010-12-24 }}. baseballlibrary.com. Retrieved 2010-11-22. Klobedanz himself batted .324 that season. The Beaneaters won the pennant by two games, however they lost the Temple Cup series in five games to the second place Baltimore Orioles. In 2004, baseball analyst Bill James wrote that Klobedanz had the second-luckiest pitcher season of all-time. According to James, Klobedanz actually "deserved" a win–loss record of 16–17.James, Bill and Neyer, Rob. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7FfRLE6I5EEC The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches] (Simon and Schuster, 2004), p. 473.
In 1898, Klobedanz had a record of 19–10, helping the team to another championship. He started off slow in 1899, however, and was sold to the Eastern League in May. Besides another short stint with Boston in 1902, he remained in the minor leagues from 1900 to 1908. In 1902, he went 26–10 with a 1.29 ERA for the New England League's Lawrence Colts. His last winning season was 1906, when he went 18–10.
In 1909, he pitched for Hyannis in what is now the Cape Cod Baseball League. At age 38, Klobedanz was still pitching complete games and it was reported that, "to one who remembers him nine or ten years ago,...he seems as fit as ever."{{cite news | title = 4th of July at Hyannis | pages = 2 | newspaper = Hyannis Patriot | location = Hyannis, MA | date = July 5, 1909 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Yarmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=HYP%2F1909%2F07%2F05&id=Ar00231&sk=42DB0D23&viewMode=image }}{{cite news | title = Base Ball at Hyannis | pages = 4 | newspaper = Hyannis Patriot | location = Hyannis, MA | date = July 19, 1909 | url = http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/APA/Yarmouth/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=HYP%2F1909%2F07%2F19&id=Ar00414&sk=C00E738F&viewMode=image }}
Overall, Klobedanz won 234 games in the minor leagues to go along with his 53 major league victories. He died in 1940, in his hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Baseballstats|br=k/klobefr01}}
{{1897 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{1898 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klobedanz, Fred}}
Category:Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut
Category:Baseball players from New Haven County, Connecticut
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Boston Beaneaters players
Category:Fall River Indians players
Category:Worcester Farmers players
Category:Worcester Quakers players
Category:Lawrence Colts players
Category:New Bedford Whalers (baseball) players
Category:Brockton Tigers players
Category:Hyannis Harbor Hawks players
Category:Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era)