Clyde Kluttz

Clyde Franklin Kluttz (December 12, 1917 – May 12, 1979) was an American professional baseball player, scout and front-office executive. In Major League Baseball, Kluttz was a catcher for the Boston Braves (1942–45), New York Giants (1945–46), St. Louis Cardinals (1946), Pittsburgh Pirates (1947–48), St. Louis Browns (1951) and Washington Senators (1951–52). He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 193 pounds (88 kg).

Clyde Kluttz
Catcher
Born: (1917-12-12)December 12, 1917
Rockwell, North Carolina
Died: May 12, 1979(1979-05-12) (aged 61)
Salisbury, North Carolina
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 20, 1942, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1952, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Batting average.268
Home runs19
Runs batted in212
Teams

Born in nearby Rockwell, he was a longtime resident of Salisbury, North Carolina, where he attended Catawba College. His 17-year playing career began in 1938. Kluttz appeared in 52 regular season games as a member of the 1946 world champion Cardinals—and was the starting catcher on October 3 for the flag-clinching Game 2 of the postseason playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers[1]—but he did not play in the 1946 World Series.

In nine Major League seasons, Kluttz played in 656 games, and had 1,903 at-bats, 172 runs, 510 hits, 90 doubles, 8 triples, 19 home runs, 212 RBI, 5 stolen bases, 132 walks, .268 batting average, .318 on-base percentage, .354 slugging percentage, 673 total bases and 30 sacrifice hits.

Kluttz was a longtime scout after his playing days ended, working with the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. He was credited with signing Baseball Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter, a fellow North Carolinian, for the Athletics in 1964, and, 11 years later, while serving as the Yankees' scouting director (1974–75), he played a key role in convincing free agent Hunter to join the Yankees.[2] Kluttz soon departed to become director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles, serving from 1976 until his 1979 death, in Salisbury, at age 61 from kidney and heart ailments.[3][4]

References
  1. 1946-10-3 box score from Retrosheet
  2. Catfish Hunter obituary, Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1999
  3. "Clyde Kluttz: Baseball America Executive Database". Baseball America. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  4. Associated Press, May 13, 1979

Sources
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