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Louis Stephen Klimchock
Milwaukee Braves
Infield
Born: October 15, 1939, Hostetter, PA
Signed: Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: Kansas City Athletics 1958-1961; Milwaukee Braves 1962; Washington Senators 1963; Milwaukee Braves 1963-1965; New York Mets 1966; Cleveland Indians 1968-1970
Lou Klimchock played professionally for 15 seasons, with none of his 12 seasons in the majors spent without also some time in the minor leagues. His best season came early when he batted .389 with 25 home runs and 112 RBIs for the Pocatello A's of the Class C Pioneer League in 1958. He'd repeat that minor league success throughout his career, earning frequent call-ups to the majors. Klimchock appeared in 86 games for the Athletics between 1958 and 1961, and 76 games for the Braves between 1962 and 1965, never matching the success he found in the minors, or receiving regular playing time. He played in a career-high 90 games for the Indians in 1969, hitting .287 with six home runs and 26 RBIs as a back-up third and second baseman.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #530
This is the 46th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders. Much to my pleasant surprise, they had. This Klimchock card was $4 and was one of 49 commons and semi-stars purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October. It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
The Card / Braves Team Set
This photo is from the 1963 season when Klimchock wore #16 with the Braves. As he shuttled frequently between the minors and majors, he never quite earned a permanent number with the team, wearing #18 in 1962, #16 in 1963 and #11 with the club through the 1965 season. This is also Klimchock's only Topps flagship baseball card showing him wearing a Braves uniform. The write-up on the back of the card highlights his solid 1964 season playing for the Denver Bears, then the Braves' top farm club. He batted .334 in 153 games for the Bears, leading the team with 112 RBIs. He was second on the team in home runs with 19, behind Tommie Aaron (#567) who had hit 21.
1965 Season
Klimchock made the Braves opening day roster as a back-up infielder, but was used sparingly between April and mid-July. In just 34 games, he batted .077 (3 for 39) with only two starts at first base in late April. Sent down to the Atlanta Crackers in late July, Klimchock appeared in 29 games, batting .265 with a pair of home runs and 13 RBIs. On September 25th, he and fellow infielder Ernie Bowman were sent to the Mets as the players to be named later in the August 5th trade in which the Braves had acquired outfielder Billy Cowan (#186).
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #137
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1960-1963, 1965-1966, 1970
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-LK
22 - Klimchock non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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