John Calvin Klippstein (October 17, 1927 – October 10, 2003) 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 ...

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, ...

(mostly a reliever), 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) for a number of teams, over an 18-season career. The most prominent portion of his early career was spent with 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 ...

(–). Klippstein’s career stat line included a 101–118 record, with a 4.24 earned run average (ERA), in 711 games (161 of them as a starter). He had 1,158 strikeouts in

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 ...

. Klippstein was often known for his control problems. Klippstein became a world champion with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, in the 1959 World Series, but played a much more significant role in the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

’ pennant run in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

. He was the son-in-law of (the late) MLB pitcher Dutch Leonard. Klippstein was tied (with Mike Fornieles) for the league lead in saves in , with 14. Klippstein died October 10, 2003, while listening to a radio broadcast of the Cubs versus Florida Marlins game of the 2003 National League Championship Series.

References

External links

Johnny Klippstein
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Johnny Klippstein
at Baseball Almanac
A Pennant for the Twin Cities: The 1965 Minnesota Twins
at SABR (Baseball Games Project) 1927 births 2003 deaths Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Redlegs players Los Angeles Dodgers players Cleveland Indians players Cincinnati Reds players Philadelphia Phillies players Minnesota Twins players Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers scouts Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Baseball players from Washington, D.C. Major League Baseball pitchers Allentown Cardinals players Winston-Salem Cardinals players Lynchburg Cardinals players Omaha Cardinals players Columbus Red Birds players Mobile Bears players Lima Red Birds players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub

See also

References

External links