William Joseph Klaus (December 9, 1928 – December 3, 2006) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) with the Boston / Milwaukee Braves (–),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(–),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

(–), Washington Senators (), and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

(–). He played the end of the season playing for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). Klaus batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and was listed as tall and , during his playing days. Born in

Spring Grove, Illinois Spring Grove is a village in McHenry County. Portions of unincorporated Lake County, Illinois also utilize Spring Grove postal addresses. It is a commuter village within the Chicago metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,4 ...

, Klaus attended

Grant Community High School Grant Community High School is a public high school established in 1930 and located in Fox Lake, Illinois, United States. Notable alumni * Daniel Dennis - 2016 Olympic wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entert ...

Fox Lake, Illinois Fox Lake is a village in Lake County, Illinois and Burton Township, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. Fox Lake is a northwestern Chicago suburb. The population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is located 50 miles north of Chicago. H ...

. One of four children, his family lived on a dairy farm and at one point he had to leave high school in order to help on the farm while his father was ill. Klaus was the older brother of MLB

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

Bobby Klaus, who played for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in –. After nine

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

and seven

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s without a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

during brief trials for the 1952–53 Braves, Klaus was included in one of the most important trades of the early 1950s, when Milwaukee sent him to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

on February 1, 1954, with

pitchers In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws (" pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Johnny Antonelli John August Antonelli (April 12, 1930 – February 28, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed starting pitcher who played for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves, New York / San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland Indians bet ...

and Don Liddle and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Ebba St. Claire Edward Joseph "Ebba" St. Claire (August 5, 1921 – August 22, 1982) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. St. Claire stood tall and weighed 219 pounds. He was a switch hitter and threw right-handed. He can best be described as a p ...

(plus US$50,000) for erstwhile Giants' hero

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, nicknamed "the Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), Milwaukee Brave ...

and catcher Sam Calderone. The deal came out heavily in the Giants' favor, with Antonelli pitching them to the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) pennant and

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. Thomson, meanwhile, broke his

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

and was able to play in only 43 games that season. Klaus never appeared in a Giants' uniform; he was the all-star shortstop in the Triple-A American Association (as a Minneapolis Miller), hitting 21

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

(HR), and was acquired by the Red Sox during the 1954–55 offseason. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season with the BoSox, Klaus had a career-high .283

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with seven HR, and 60

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) (another career-high), and finished second place in

American League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

voting behind

Herb Score Herbert Jude Score (June 7, 1933 – November 11, 2008) was an American professional baseball pitcher and announcer in Major League Baseball (MLB). He pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1955 through 1959 and the Chicago White Sox from 196 ...

. "On February 2, 1956, Klaus was awarded the first annual

Harry Agganis Aristotle George "Harry" Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was an American college football player and professional baseball player. After passing up a potential professional football career, he played in ...

Memorial Award by the Boston baseball writers as the Red Sox Rookie of the Year. ...

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

sent a telegram from his home in Florida, congratulating Klaus and articulating his value to the team as only Ted could put it: “Billy Klaus was one of the greatest little competitors I ever played with.”" A year later, he posted almost identical numbers (.271/7/59), and in he belted a high-career 10 homers. In an 11-season MLB career, Klaus was a .249 lifetime hitter, with 40 HR, and 250 RBI, in 821 games played. He totaled 626 hits. After his active career, Klaus managed

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

(MiLB) affiliates of the Senators and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. When he finally left baseball completely, he worked as a painter and lived in both

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

Florida and North Carolina. Klaus was inducted into the Lake County High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

References

External links

Billy Klaus
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Billy Klaus
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaus, Billy 1928 births 2006 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Japan Appleton Papermakers players Baseball players from McHenry County, Illinois Baltimore Orioles players Boston Braves players Boston Red Sox players Centralia Cubs players Chunichi Dragons players Clinton Cubs players Dallas Eagles players Major League Baseball shortstops Milwaukee Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers People from Fox Lake, Illinois People from Spring Grove, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Springfield Cubs (Massachusetts) players Toledo Sox players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Washington Senators (1961–1971) scouts York White Roses players