Clyde Donald Kaiser (born February 3, 1935) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

former 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 ...

player and a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

between and . A high school phenom from

Byng, Oklahoma Byng is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,175 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The beginnings of the town of Byng were established in 1917 with the building ...

, Kaiser was the first "

Bonus Baby The bonus rule was a contractual rule affecting major league baseball intermittently between 1947 and 1964, meant to prevent teams from assigning certain players to farm teams. The rule stipulated that when a major-league team signed a player to ...

" signed by the Cub franchise.Kelley, Brent (2006), ''Baseball's Bonus Babies: Conversations with 24 High-Priced Ballplayers Who Signed From 1953 to 1957,'' McFarland & Company, , pages 90–95. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and .

Education

At Byng High School, Kaiser won 49 of 50 decisions and pitched seven

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

s and two perfect games. He attended

East Central University East Central University (ECU or East Central) is a public university in Ada, Oklahoma. It is part of Oklahoma's Regional University System. Beyond its flagship campus in Ada, the university has courses available in McAlester, Shawnee, and Duran ...

on a

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scholarship, but was signed by the Cubs for a $15,000 bonus after one semester.

Play for the Chicago Cubs

Compelled by the bonus rule to spend the first two years of his pro career on the Cubbies' big-league roster, Kaiser worked in only 11

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

and 18

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

in , with no decisions and a high 5.40

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He was used sparingly to begin , until June 2, when he received his first starting assignment. Facing the defending world champion

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

, he allowed only two

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, four

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

and one

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, 8–1 triumph. Almost exactly a month later, on July 1, he

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable ...

the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

on six hits and only one walk, with five

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s. Kaiser made 22 starts for the 1956 Cubs and his career-best 3.59 earned run average was third-best on the team, but his won–lost record was only 4–9, and the Cubs finished eighth and last in 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 ...

at 60–94. He began in the rotation and in his third start, on May 6, he defeated 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 six hits, 6–2, at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

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br>box score (6 May 1957): "Chicago Cubs 6, New York Giants 2"
/ref> for the sixth and last complete game of his career. But Kaiser spent the bulk of 1957 in the top-level (Open Classification)

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

until he was called up in September. In his one late-season appearance, he turned in a mediocre start against the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, allowing four

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in four

—just enough to be tagged with Chicago's 4–3 defeat. It was the last appearance of his Cub and major league career. In 58 games pitched, 35 of them starts, Kaiser compiled a 6–15 won–lost mark and a 4.15 career ERA. In 240 innings, he allowed 255 hits and 85 bases on balls, and was credited with 108 strikeouts. His blanking of the Braves in July 1956 was his only career

MLB 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 ...

shutout.

Later life

Kaiser would be included in off-season trades to the Braves in December 1957 and the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in October 1959, but he never returned to the major leagues. He retired from pro ball after the 1961 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Don 1935 births Living people Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Oklahoma Birmingham Barons players Chicago Cubs players Denver Bears players East Central Tigers baseball players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Pontotoc County, Oklahoma Portland Beavers players Wichita Braves players 20th-century American sportsmen