Lou Klein

Louis Frank Klein, Jr. was an international baseball lifer who had a travelogue of experiences. Perhaps best known as one of 22 major league players who jumped to the outlaw Mexican League and for his tenure as a rotating manager in the Chicago Cubs’ College of Coaches, Klein had a varied and colorful career.

The rookie second baseman on the 1943 National League champion St. Louis Cardinals, Klein served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, won batting and home run titles in Cuba, and had a successful career as a minor league manager. Later, Klein helped develop future stars as an instructor, coach and manager.

Born on October 22, 1918 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Klein was of German-Irish descent. His father, Louis Frank Klein, Sr., was born and raised in New Orleans and married Florence E. Spaulding on December 12, 1917. Louis, Sr. registered for the U.S. military draft on June 5, 1918 and served in World War I. The Kleins bought an $8,000 house and raised Lou Jr., and his younger brother, Warren L. Klein. Lou, Sr. worked as a teller for Canal Bank & Trust Co. and later in the bonding and security department at Hibernia National Bank of New Orleans.1

Lou Klein, Jr. graduated from Samuel J. Peters High School in New Orleans in 1936. He starred on the baseball team and played on the New Orleans Jesuit Blue Jays that won state and regional American Legion Juniors championships.2 In 1940, St. Louis Cardinals scout Wid Matthews signed the 5’11”, 167-pound Klein as an amateur free agent.3 With Class D Daytona Beach of the Florida State League that season, Klein batted .348 with 23 doubles, 18 triples, nine home runs and 81 RBIs.4 On August 7, Klein married New Orleans native and St. Marie Academy graduate Estelle M. Bourda, the daughter of an electrician, in Volusia County, Florida. They had a daughter, Nerlyn, born in 1941, and two sons – Louis III born in 1946 and Gerald, born in 1950. The family lived next door to Klein’s parents in New Orleans.5

Klein leaped to Class A with the 1941 Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds, the American Association champions. Klein (.367) lost the batting title by three points to Lou Novikoff. The Millers’ official scorer, Halsey Hall, informed the league that Klein had gotten two hits instead of three in a July 22 game at Minneapolis.6 The Cardinals considered Klein so valuable that Branch Rickey rejected a $100,000 offer from the New York Giants.7 In 1942, Klein was batting .286 on July 16 but started suffering from headaches and double vision and finished at .249.8 Prior to the 1943 season, Cardinals owner-president Sam Breadon brought in optometrist Dr. Alvin G. Mueller, known for a procedure that restored eye muscles. Mueller found that Klein had poor vision in his right eye, caused by severe muscle strain from a blow or a small hemorrhage that left the muscle dormant. Mueller improved Klein’s vision to 20:15 and the double vision disappeared.9 By 1943 spring training, J. Roy Stockton of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Klein “displayed his power with drive after drive toward the fences.”10

As a rookie with the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals, Klein batted .287 with 28 doubles, 14 triples, seven home runs and 62 RBIs in 154 games and had a 21-game hitting streak. He played in every inning of the season, first subbing for shortstop Marty Marion, and then becoming the starting second baseman when Sgt. Jimmy Brown left for the armed forces.11 On September 18, Klein drove in both runs in a 2-1 pennant-clinching victory; with one out in the ninth inning, he beat out a potential double play at first base to allow Ray Sanders to score the winning run.12 The Cards won the National League pennant by 18 games but the New York Yankees dethroned the defending World Series champs four games to one in the Fall Classic. Klein went 3-for-22 in the World Series, earned a loser’s share of $4,231.96, and made the All-Rookie Team.13

Classified 1-A for the military draft, Klein served in the U.S. Coast Guard from November 26, 1943 to August 31, 1945, at St. Augustine, Florida and Curtis Bay, Maryland as a Specialist 1st Class, repairing ships at Curtis Bay.14 The 1945 Curtis Bay Coast Guard Cutters baseball team posted a 50-13 record and beat the Philadelphia Phillies and Athletics in exhibition games. Klein played outfield and batted .370.15 On September 1, Klein rejoined the Cardinals; the team finished second to the Chicago Cubs.

In 1946, Klein started at second base in 14 games until Albert “Red” Schoendienst took over on May 5. On May 23, Klein took another opportunity. “We were in New York when I received a call from Jorge Pasquel asking me if I wanted to play in Mexico,” Klein said later. “When I expressed interest, he told me, ‘Name a figure.’” Klein quoted a salary and bonus figure triple what he signed for with St. Louis. “I was really bluffing, but Pasquel agreed and that was it. I called Sam Breadon and told him, ‘I quit.’”16 Called one of “Pasquel’s pampered darlings,” Klein boasted, “I have a five-year contract at a much higher figure than I could possibly earn playing ball in the States.”17

Jorge Pasquel was a Mexican multi-millionaire customs broker with interests in shipping, automobiles, a national newspaper, even cattle. Son of a cigar factory owner, Pasquel and four brothers invested a reported $50 million in Liga Mexicana de Baseball in 1946, with the intention of competing with Organized Baseball by signing American players to big contracts.18 Stan Musial refused a $250,000 offer but Klein and pitchers Max Lanier and Fred Martin took the money and intermodal transportation to Mexico.19 Klein bussed to New Orleans to pick up his belongings while Lanier and Martin took a bus to Washington, DC, storing their cash on a luggage rack inside a shortwave radio. When the players got to Chicago, they took a $300 taxicab ride to St. Louis, picked up their belongings at Sportsman’s Park and drove to Mexico City in Lanier’s new 1946 Chrysler.20

Baseball Commissioner A. B. “Happy” Chandler warned that all players who jumped to the Mexican League faced five-year bans from Organized Baseball. Klein and Lanier played for the Veracruz Azules. They finished seventh in the eight-team league. That winter, Klein played for the Havana Lions in the Cuban Winter League and led the loop with a .330 average.21

With financial backing reported at $60 million for 1947, the Mexican League became financially-strapped from the big salaries coupled with poor attendance. Paid travel expenses and salary advances ended.22 On May 17, Klein signed with the Monterrey Industriales, who won the league “strictly on the fielding play of Lou Klein and George Hausmann around short and second base,” said umpire Harry Donovan.23

In January 1948, Klein played on an American All-Star team that defeated Cuban stars before 25,000 fans in Havana. In May, he joined Max Lanier’s All-Stars on a 100-game barnstorming tour of Missouri, Louisiana and Kansas.24 By then, Pasquel had lost several American players because of drastic pay cuts and eventually gave up control of the league.25 Chandler softened Organized Baseball’s policy on player exchanges between Mexico and Cuba and proposed reinstating the jumpers, drawing opposition from all National League owners.26

In 1949, Klein played two months for Monterrey but quit when he could not get treatment for an injury to his right hand.27 Klein signed with the Quebec Provincial League but bought out his contract when Chandler announced that the Mexican jumpers could apply for reinstatement.28 On June 15, Klein signed with St. Louis for $6,500, $1,500 higher than the $5,000 minimum Chandler required for reinstated players who made their teams.29 The next afternoon, Klein became the first of the reinstated players to appear in a game. His pinch-single keyed a four-run seventh-inning rally in a 6-2 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers at Sportsman’s Park. After the game, Klein bought Cokes for the entire team in the St. Louis clubhouse, a tradition that manager Eddie Dyer started to celebrate Cardinal victories. “Cokes on Dyer” became “Cokes on Klein.”30

On June 24, Klein homered off Vern Bickford and Johnny Antonelli in an 8-4 win over Boston that put St. Louis in first place by a half-game over Brooklyn.31 J. Roy Stockton of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that Klein “may make the difference in the National League pennant race.” He praised Klein’s versatility in filling in for shortstop Marty Marion, who had recurring back problems. On June 29, Cardinals owner-president Fred Saigh raised Klein’s salary $2,500. “(T)hings have sure changed around here, haven’t they?” Klein beamed.32 On July 2, Lanier and Martin returned to the Cardinals.33 Dyer became concerned with Klein as regular shortstop, preferring to use him as a utility infielder, pinch-hitter, or pinch-runner. Nagging injuries to Klein, Musial, Marion and others left the Cardinals a game short. The Cardinals gave the Mexican jumpers a half-World Series share of $572.77.34 Klein had his worst season, playing only one full game in September.

In December, the Cardinals traded Klein and Ron Northey for Harry Walker. Klein never played for the Reds. Cincinnati sold him to the Chicago Cubs on May 2, 1950. The Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) signed Klein to improve their infield but he excelled at the plate, batting .332 with 24 doubles, 14 homers and 76 RBIs in just 97 games. When Klein homered twice and drove in seven runs in a May 25 victory, Frank Finch wrote that “the old Mexican League outlaw, Klein, was a one-man revolution.” Before his second blast, Klein hit a long foul against the left field wall. “Cussing like a top sergeant, he picked up his bat and pickled the next offering high over the wall.”35 By July 1, Klein had hit three grand slams. On August 22, Los Angeles Times columnist Al Wolf called him “a dangerous man with the mallet and quite a trapper out there at second base.”36

On November 16, the Cleveland Indians selected Klein in the Rule 5 Draft, then traded him on May 10 to the Philadelphia Athletics along with Allie Clark for Sam Chapman. Klein started at second base for six weeks, then missed 10 days with pneumonia and another five weeks with a severely sprained ankle.37 In December, the A’s sold Klein to the PCL San Diego Padres for $10,000.38 The Padres led the league when Klein suffered what became a recurring right ankle injury. He batted .280 in 122 games but drove in only 44 runs as the Padres finished fifth.39

In the 1952-53 Cuban Winter League, Klein hit 16 home runs to set a new single-season record. On Christmas Day, he tied the record of 14 set by Roberto Ortiz and Don Lenhardt.40 In the Caribbean Series, Klein hit his 16th but Santurce of the Puerto Rican League dethroned Havana as Series champions. His batting feats in Cuba won him enshrinement in the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.41 On February 26, 1953, the Padres sold Klein to the Class AA New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association. In 143 games, Klein batted .311 with 33 doubles, 14 home runs and 89 RBIs.

In January 1954, the Pelicans sold Klein to the Williamsport (Pennsylvania) Grays of the Class A Eastern League.42 He never reported and started a commercial fishing business in New Orleans. Klein operated a 27-foot shrimp boat off the Gulf of Mexico and was an accomplished sport fisherman. “I use the boat for commercial fishing, shrimping or crabbing and sometimes take out pleasure parties,” he said. He fished everywhere his baseball career took him, including Mexico and Cuba.43

Back in baseball a year later with the Chicago Cubs organization, player-manager Klein led the Class C Lafayette (Louisiana) Oilers of the Evangeline League to victory in the league playoffs. The Oilers won 24 of their last 31 games, finishing a half game out of first place. Klein batted .342 with 23 home runs, playing second base, third base and left field, pitching in eight games and making the Cajun All-Star team.44

Klein moved up to the Class A Des Moines (Iowa) Bruins of the Western League in 1956 and put his young team through a rigorous spring camp. “One thing’s for sure,” he said, “this squad is going to be in good physical condition.”45 The Bruins were 21-26 after a double loss at Pioneer Stadium and the fans booed Klein. “Let ‘em get on me if they want to,” he said. “I only wish we had about 2,000 paying their way in every night to ride me.”46 Klein rallied his team to a 72-67 finish, while hitting .333 with 17 home runs. In 1957, Klein moved up to the Class AA Memphis Chickasaws of the Southern Association. The Chicks won their first nine games but found themselves in a five-team race in August. They finished a half-game behind first-place Atlanta. Klein batted .323 in 61 games, but the team lost a six-game playoff series to Nashville.47

“I’m a manager like nobody you every saw before,” Klein said after taking over the Class AA Fort Worth Cats in 1958. “Sometimes I’ll play percentages but sometimes I go against them.”48 Sportswriter Bill Van Fleet observed, “His habit of jumping out of his chair and pacing while he talks bespeaks his energy.”49 Klein held his usual boot camp but was disgusted with his team. “All I’ve seen in spring drills here in Arizona is a bunch of bums,” he said. “If we have a good team in Fort Worth this year I don’t know where we’ll get the players – the Cubs don’t have ‘em!”50

The Cats lost their first four games and were idle between April 26 and May 2 because of rain.51 They won 31 of 47 games to take first place and won the league by 10 games.52 Pitchers Marcelino Solis (15-2), Bob Anderson (9-6) and Gene Fodge (8-3) all got calls to Chicago during the season. In the playoffs, the Austin Senators swept the Cats in four games. “We did our best and got beat,” Klein said. “I did hate to finish up like we started, though.”53

Klein had recently returned to New Orleans when tragedy struck the family on the evening of September 29, 1958. Estelle Klein was driving their eight-year-old son Gerald to the hospital in the family station wagon when she tried to pass another vehicle at a high rate of speed. She sideswiped a truck and lost control of the wagon. The car skidded 544 feet before crashing into a metal sign post. Estelle Klein, 39, was killed instantly. Two nights later, Gerald died at a New Orleans hospital of brain and internal injuries. Twelve-year-old Louis III suffered a broken pelvis and broken leg and was treated at the same hospital.54

Returning to Fort Worth in 1959, Klein’s Cats were favored to win the American Association Western Division. With ten of his 1958 players on the Cubs’ spring roster, Klein relied on pitchers Ben Johnson, Steve Ridzik, Al Lary, and Dick Ellsworth and Association MVP outfielder Bob Will to carry the load.55 The Cats lost seven of their first eight games and 15 of their first 20 home games. Tied with the Omaha Cardinals for the division lead on August 22, they lost three straight home games to the Cardinals and finished second. The Cats swept a four-game playoff series with Louisville, then lost in seven games to Minneapolis.56

In October, Klein made the majors as a coach remarried. Charlie Grimm became Cubs manager and hired Klein as first base coach. In New Orleans, Klein married Miss Robyn Roberts of Greenwood, Tennessee.57 Klein’s new job lasted 16 games into the regular season. On May 5, Cubs owner P . K. Wrigley moved Lou Boudreau from the radio booth to the dugout and Grimm became a broadcaster.58 Klein briefly scouted for the Cubs, then became manager of the San Antonio Missions on July 18, replacing Grady Hatton, who joined Boudreau’s staff. “I’m happy to get back into managing and look forward to taking the San Antonio opportunity Monday night,” said Klein.59 San Antonio, 50-42 when Klein took over, finished 77-68, and lost a first-round playoff series to the Tulsa Oilers.60

In May 1961, Klein left his managerial job with the Class D Carlsbad (New Mexico) Potashers and replaced Fred Martin as manager of the Triple A Houston Buffaloes of the American Association. Martin had filled in since Hatton left to become player personnel director of the Houston Colt .45s. On July 16, Harry Craft replaced Klein. Lou returned to the Cubs as a coach under a bizarre system called the College of Coaches.61

When Boudreau asked for a two-year contract after the 1960 season, Wrigley refused and decided to try a manager-less system of rotating coaches who would develop minor league players and take turns as head coaches in Chicago throughout the season. Klein debuted as head coach on September 1 and had a 5-6 record. Second baseman Don Zimmer blamed the system for the Cubs’ seventh-place finish. “When you have nine managers giving nine different bits of advice to one player, what can you expect?” Zimmer said.62 “There was jealousy among the coaches,” reliever Don Elston later said. “They just sat there waiting for their turn.”63

Wrigley hired Charlie Metro in 1962 to lead the 10-member coaching panel. Klein became head coach on May 1 and announced that center fielder Lou Brock would play every day. “He covers a lot of ground in the outfield, he’s more confident at the plate now and when he gets on base, he really worries the opposition.” 64 Klein posted a 12-18 record. In August, he coached the Cubs’ minor league teams along with John “Buck” O’Neil the first African-American coach in the major leagues.

Seeking stronger leadership for 1963, Wrigley hired USAF Col. (Ret.) Robert Whitlow to run the entire Cubs organization as its new athletic director.65 In March, Whitlow appointed Bob Kennedy head coach, with Klein coaching first base.66 On July 16, the Cubs were in second place at 50-40 and had their first winning season in 17 years, finishing 82-80. “It figures to happen this way,” said Klein, who managed 22-game winner Dick Ellsworth, sluggers Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and second baseman Kenny Hubbs in the minors.67 With Hubbs’ tragic death in a private plane crash and the trade of Lou Brock to St. Louis, losing returned in 1964. The Cubs finished eighth at 76-86.

On June 14, 1965, Wrigley appointed Klein manager for the rest of the season, admitting that the rotating coaches system was “somewhat of a failure at the head coaching and managerial level.”68 Klein installed rookie Don Kessinger at shortstop alongside second baseman Glenn Beckert, forming a double play duo that lasted nine seasons. “Put him down in your book,” Klein said of Kessinger. “This boy will make it and make it big.” Klein called Beckert “an old pro from the time we put him in there.”69 By August 29, the Cubs were 39-39. General manager John Holland said, “Frankly, we’re very pleased with Klein.” So was pitcher Bill Faul, acquired from the Detroit Tigers and famous for his uniform number 13 and for using self-hypnosis before pitching. “Ask Lou a question and you get answer,” Faul said. “Ask (Tiger manager Chuck) Dressen a question and all you ever get is ‘I this’ and I that.’70

Not everybody was happy. In July, starting pitcher Bob Buhl squawked about getting early hooks, even if he was hit hard. “Maybe he’s under orders to yank us early,” Buhl said. “Anyway I don’t want to get (Klein) into trouble. You know how it is with our head coaches. They’re all on thin ice.”71

Klein posted a 48-58 record and was the favorite to manage the Cubs in 1966.72 Instead, Wrigley hired Leo Durocher to take charge and build a winner. Klein went to Arizona as an instructor in the minors and instructional league.73

On July 12, he became manager of the last-place Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs, succeeding Pete Reiser, who joined Durocher’s staff. He got a rousing welcome from a Shetland pony, learned that Mickey Mantle would attend the next game and that the wedding of Spurs outfielder Gene Etter would take place at home plate July 16. “I guess that’s part of the game,” Klein said. “Holy Cow,” he said later, “it is kind of weird.” Klein won his debut at Arlington’s Turnpike Stadium, 8-3.74

The Spurs finished last but had plenty of fire. On July 25 at Albuquerque, Klein demanded an apology from home plate umpire Larry Barnett for calling his players “monkeys.” Barnett had called a balk on pitcher Jon Robisch with the bases loaded. One pitch later, Robisch and the entire infield, four Spurs infielders – Dominican Republic native Roberto Pena and blacks Clarence Jones, Charles Benson and Jessie White – rushed in to protest. “Klein, get your monkeys out of here and back to their positions,” Barnett said. That triggered verbal assaults at Barnett and emptied the Spurs’ bench. “I want the umpire to apologize to the players,” Klein said afterward. “They resent the fact that he referred to them as monkeys and I do too.” Pena and Robisch were ejected. A letter from the league said Barnett didn’t mean it and fines levied on Spurs players stood. “He caused the incident,” Klein said. “We get reprimanded and he walked off with nothing.”75

In 1967, Klein was a roving minor league instructor for the Cubs, then scouted for the Los Angeles Dodgers.76 In 1968, he steered the Cubs’ Arizona Instructional League team to the championship with a 32-8 record. Eighteen-year-old Oscar Gamble led the team with a .338 average. “He has an opportunity to be a great player,” Klein said. “Great bat, lots of speed, ability to learn.”77 Gamble played center field for the Cubs in September 1969, then spent 16 seasons in the majors with six teams.

In 1972, Klein began a three-year term as the Cubs’ supervisor of player development, also running the Bradenton (Florida) Cubs in the Gulf Coast Rookie League in 1973. Klein became a Midwest scout in 1975 after Whitey Lockman took over as vice-president of player personnel.78

In June 1976, Lou Klein suffered a stroke and had surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He never came out of a coma and died a day after surgery on June 20 at East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie, Louisiana. He was 57 years old. Klein is buried at St. Louis Cemetery #3 in Metairie alongside Estelle and Gerald Klein.79

Klein took his baseball career seriously, playing in three countries, managing eight minor league teams, and realizing his dream of managing in the majors. All along, he worked hard to give players the same chance he got when he was a kid from New Orleans who loved the game of baseball.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Darren Gibson and Bruce Harris and fact-checked by Kevin Larkin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the endnotes, the author consulted the following:

BaseballReference.com

Baseball-almanac.com

https://BaseballAlmanac.com/legendary/MexicanLeague.shtml

The Cuban History.com, Cuban Baseball History, https://www.thecubanhistory.com/2011/11/2524/.

Notes

1 Louis F. Klein, Sr., Marriage Records, Ancestry.com.; Source: Louis F. Klein, Sr., Draft Records, U. S. World WAR I, Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18, www.ancestry.com; U.S. Federal Census 1930; Louis F. Klein, Sr., U. S. City Directories, 1822-1995, New Orleans, LA, 1947: 690.

2 “All-Star Legion Nines to Meet in Series of Games,” The Shreveport (Louisiana) Journal, August 7, 1936: 16; “N. O. Jesuits Win Legion Title,” The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana), August 15, 1936: 8.

3 Louis Frank Klein, Jr., “U.S. Baseball Questionnaires, 1945-2005,” Ancestry.com.

4 Lou Klein, “Gary Bedingfield’s Baseball in Wartime – Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice,”

https://baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/klein_lou.htm.

5 Louis F. Klein, Jr., Marriage Records, Florida Dept. of Health; Louis Klein, Jr., Draft Records, U.S. World War II, Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Estelle M. Bourda, U.S. Federal Census, 1940; Louis Klein, Jr., U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, New Orleans, LA, 1949, www.ancestry.com.

6 Bob Hooey, “Junior Title Third for Columbus in Last 9 Years of Competition,” The Sporting News, October 9, 1941: 12; “Has .370 Mark for 90 Games,” Indianapolis Star, September 14, 1941: 43; “Fourth Title for Novikoff,” The Sporting News, September 18, 1941: 12.

7 “Fanning With Farrington,” The Sporting News, April 9, 1942: 4.

8 “Vosmik Passes Tribe Infielder,” The Indianapolis Star, July 19, 1942: 36.

9 Dick Farrington, “Lou Klein, Half Blind With Columbus Birds Last Season, Helping to See Cardinals Through as Relief Infielder,” The Sporting News, May 6, 1943: 3.

10 J. Roy Stockton, “Redbirds to be Well-Prepared,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 1943: 14,16.

11 J. Roy Stockton, “Browns Win Spring Series,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 11, 1943: 22; Warren Corbett, “Jimmy Brown,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jimmy-brown; “Brown Is Accepted for Army,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 30, 1943: 10.

12 J. Roy Stockton, “Birds’ Seventh Flag; Second for Southworth,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 19, 1943: 22.

13 Frederick G. Lieb, “Owlish Browns Eye Additional Night Contests,” The Sporting News, November 25, 1943: 16; Frederick G. Lieb, “Majors 11-Star All-Freshmen Team Gleams,” The Sporting News, October 21, 1943: 4.

14 Louis Frank Klein, Jr., “U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” www.ancestry.com; “Lou Klein Sworn Into Coast Guard,” The Sporting News, December 2, 1943: 16; Frederick G. Lieb, “Traveling Sec Cut to Half Share,” The Sporting News, October 26,1944: 1; Lou Klein, “Gary Bedingfield’s Baseball in Wartime,” www.baseballinwartime.com/player_biographies/klein_lou.htm.

15 Milton Gross, “Maryland Team’s 50 Victims Include Major League Outfits,” The Sporting News, October 4, 1945: 19.

16 “Louis F. (Lou) Klein,” The Sporting News, July 3, 1976: 49.

17 Milton Bracker, “Mexico’s Baseball Raiders Ride Again,” The Saturday Evening Post, March 8, 1947: 145.

18 Frank Graham, Jr., “The Mexican War,” Sports Illustrated, September 19, 1966: 118, 120, 123, 126; Theodore Ediger, “50 Million Capital Reported Behind Mexican League,” The Sporting News, February 28, 1946: 4.

19 Frederick G. Lieb, “‘Mexican Jumps Will Arouse Cards’ – Breadon,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1946: 7.

20 John Virtue, South of the Color Barrier – How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2008), 141-142, 156-158; Albert B. Chandler, Heroes, Plain Folks, and Skunks – The Life and Times of Happy Chandler (Chicago: Bonus Books, 1989), 84.

21 Rene Canizares, “Gates of New Million-Dollar Stadium in Havana Opened Before 31,000 Paid,” The Sporting News, November 6, 1946: 14; www.cubanbeisbol.com/cuban-league-champion-batters; Rene Canizares, “Promised Aid Missing; League Appears Doomed,” The Sporting News, December 18, 1946: 2.

22 Milton Bracker, “Mexico’s Baseball Raiders Ride Again,” 26; “Stars Missing as Mexican Loop Lifts Lid,” The Sporting News, April 2, 1947: 11; “Pasquel Loop Thins Ranks of U. S. Stars,” The Sporting News, April 9, 1947: 9.

23 Ray Gillespie, “Mexicans Tip Hats to American Umps, Says Donovan, Dean of Pasquel Staff,” The Sporting News, March 31, 1948: 18; “1947 Monterrey Industriales Roster,” www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster; Frank Graham, Jr., “The Mexican War,” 129-130, 133.

24 Pedro Galiana, “Gonzalez Slow to Reply to Bid to Rejoin O.B.,” The Sporting News, January 28, 1948: 21; “Max Lanier Ineligibles Prep for 100-Game Tour,” The Sporting News, May 5, 1948: 22.

25 Pedro Galiana, “Mexican Jumpers Balk Over Pasquel Pay Cuts,” The Sporting News, February 25, 1948: 21.

26 Dan Daniel, “N. L. Opposes Amnesty for Jumpers,” The Sporting News, February 11, 1948: 1.

27 Jorge Alarcon, “Ex-Card Klein Quits Mexican League Team,” The Sporting News, June 8, 1949: 45; “Lou Klein Quits Mexican League,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 31, 1949: 16.

28 Staff, “‘Come Home, All Forgiven,’ Dyer Tells Three Jumpers,” St. Louis-Post Dispatch, June 6, 1949: 16-17; “Bottle Thrown at Umpire as Indians Win,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 8, 1949: 17; J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 14, 1949: 1.

29 “Outfielder Sauer Sold to Pirates By Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1949: 16; “Martin, Klein, Olmo Given Best Chances,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 9, 1949: 26.

30 J. Roy Stockton, “No Let-Up in Sight as Phils Call Tonight,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1949: 28.

31 Robert Morrison, “6th Victory in Row Over Braves Turns the Trick; Klein Hits Two Homers as ‘Pony’ Infield Shines,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 25, 1949: 6.

32 J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings – Lou Klein Just the Man the Cardinals Were Seeking ,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 26, 1949: 55; “Klein Gets Increase of About $2500 in New Contract,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 30, 1949: 18; J. Roy Stockton, “Extra Innings – Cardinals Expect the Cat to Have Sharp Claws Soon,” St. Louis-Post Dispatch, July 1, 1949: 21.

33 “Happy Days Are Here Again, By Jorge!” St. Louis Post-Dispatch (photo), July 3, 1949: 15.

34 Bob Broeg, “Pittsburgh, at Home, Has Won Three of Five Games from Redbirds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 19, 1949: 24; Bob Broeg, “Pollet Shines in Relief and Gains 16th Victory; Harry Gumbert the Loser,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 21, 1949: 51; “No Flowers Please,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 3, 1949: 18; “Cards Give Half-Shares to Jumpers,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 17, 1949: 19.

35 Frank Finch, “Seraph Bats Batter Ducks for 9-2 Win,” Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1950: 61.

36 Al Wolf, “Sportraits,” Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1950: 54.

37 “Boy Hurt by Auto of A’s Lou Klein,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 29, 1951: 27.

38 Art Morrow, “A’s Fans Fear DiMag’s Goodbye Will Force Yankee Grab at Fain,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1951: 14.

39 Associated Press, “Padres Beat LA in Pitching Battle,” Sacramento Bee, May 14, 1952: 34; “Pesty Pads Sweep Card With Seals,” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1952: 67; Al Wolf, “Twinks Take 10th; Then Pads Step In,” Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1952: 57-58.

40 Pedro Galiana, “Havana Scores 18-1 Beating, But Rolls With Punch,” The Sporting News, December 24, 1952: 26; Pedro Galiana, “Klein and Rand Go on Homer Spree for Havana Reds,” The Sporting News, January 7, 1953: 23.

41 Pedro Galiana, “Klein Breaks Cuban Loop’s Homer Mark,” The Sporting News, February 18, 1953: 27; Pedro Galiana, “Havana, ‘Yankees of Cuba,’ Win 30th Title Since ’78, The Sporting News, February 25, 1953: 24; Pedro Galiana, “Santurce Wins Six in Row to Notch Caribbean Series,” The Sporting News, March 4, 1953: 24.

42 Pedro Galiana, “Cuba Lifts Lid; Hernandez New Pilot at Havana,” The Sporting News, October 14, 1953: 27; Pedro Galiana, “Bragan, Goat in Havana Last Season, Now Big Hero,” The Sporting News, November 25, 1953: 19; United Press, “Grays Purchase Ex-Majors Players Klein and Clay,” Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, New York), January 15, 1954: 18; “Shepard Still Uncertain as to Starting Batting Order for ’54 Opener,” Williamsport Sun-Gazette, April 20, 1954: 12.

43 George Kellam, “The Great Outdoors,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 13, 1958: 14.

44 Don Engel, “‘Cajun’ Squad Selected,” The (Lafayette) Daily Advertiser, June 27, 1955: 8; Don Engel, “Lafayette Clinches Second Half Crown,” The Daily Advertiser, August 29, 1955: 11; “Race at a Glance,” The Daily Advertiser, August 29, 1955: 11; Don Engel, “Holleman, Moore Fight on Diamond,” The Daily Advertiser, August 31, 1955: 11; “Klein Leads 8-5 Win Over Aces to End Season,” The Daily Advertiser, September 18, 1955: 11.

45 “Lots of Aches and Blisters As Bruins Get Out and Run,” Des Moines Register, March 24, 1956: 10.

46 Bill Bryson, “Lincoln Deals Bruins Double Blow, 6-3, 8-3,” Des Moines Register, June 6, 1956: 17.

47 “Southern Association – Final Standings,” The Tennessean, September 9, 1957: 16; George Leonard, “Atlanta Again Rated Dixie’s Team to Beat,” The Sporting News, April 10, 1957: 26; F. M. Williams, “Victory Gives Nashville First Round of Playoff,” The Tennessean, September 17, 1957: 14.

48 Bill Van Fleet, “Confidence Keynote of New Cat Manager,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 11, 1958: 13.

49 Van Fleet, “Confidence Keynote of New Cat Manager.”

50 Gene Gregston, “Sports Report,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 1, 1958: 27.

51 Bill Van Fleet, “Too Wet Here, Cats Try Road,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 2, 1958: 30; “Want Some Action, Cat Pilot Says,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 3, 1958: 14.

52 “Cats Hit Road in First Place,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 5, 1958: 61; John Morrison, “Cats to Face Padre Threat,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 24, 1958: 26.

53 “Baseball Chart – The Standings,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 23, 1958: 10; Bill Van Fleet, “Cats Win Title,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 29, 1958: 10; Bill Van Fleet, “Fort Worth Suffers Fourth Loss in a Row,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 14, 1958: 25, 30.

54 “Car Kills Wife Of Cats’ Klein,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 30, 1958: 1; “Klein Children Remain in Hospital After Crash,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 30, 1958: 1; “Lou Klein’s Wife Killed,” The (Baltimore) Evening Sun, September 30, 1958: 35; “Klein’s Son, Gerald, Dies,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 2, 1958: 1.

55 Bill Van Fleet, “Money Says Cats Are On Way Back,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 22, 1959: 21; 1959 Fort Worth Cats Statistics, https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-fc11604/y-1958.

56 “Home Run by Gabler Paces Cats,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 2, 1959: 16; John Morrison, “Martin, Will, Walters Add to Victory,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 15, 1959: 29; John Morrison, “2-Run Spurt In 4th Leads to Downfall,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 26, 1959: 11.

57 “Klein Named Cubs’ Coach,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 10, 1959: 14; “Fort Worth Skipper Lou Klein Marries,” Fort Worth-Star Telegram, October 16, 1959: 22.

58 Richard Dozer, “Grimm’s Face Doesn’t Give Away His Ouster,” Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1960: 104.

59 Bill Van Fleet “Lou Klein Named Mission Manager,” Corpus Christi Caller-Times, July 17, 1960: 56.

60 “Baseball Standings – Pan American Association – Texas League,” Austin American-Statesman, July 18, 1960: 15; “Sens Hot at Finish,” Austin American-Statesman, September 9, 1960: 27.

61 Clark Nealon, “Colts Shuffle Front Office Talent; Bragan Named Special Aide to G.M.,” The Sporting News, May 10, 1961: 21; “Craft Takes Houston Helm, Klein Back as Cubs’ Coach,” The Sporting News, July 19, 1961: 22; “Cubs Shake Up Coach Staff,” The Sporting News, August 9, 1961: 23.

62 Edgar Munzel, “Zimmer Rips Cub Coaching Setup,” The Sporting News, October 25, 1961: 18.

63 “Jerome Holtzman on Baseball,” Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1986: 40.

64 Jerome Holtzman, “Razor Sharp on Hill, Cubs Can’t Cut Corners With Popgun Attack,” The Sporting News, September 1, 1962: 14.

65 Jerome Holtzman, “Wrigley Enlists Air Force to Help Bruins Off Ground,” The Sporting News, January 19, 1963: 15; Jerome Holtzman, “Flabby Cubs Face Commando Training Under their Colonel,” The Sporting News, January 26, 1963: 20.

66 Jerome Holtzman, “Bruins Face New N.L. Frontier with Kennedy in Driver’s Seat,” The Sporting News, March 2, 1963: 17; “Bob to Be Boss on Bench,” The Sporting News, March 23, 1963: 5.

67 Jerome Holtzman, “Cubs Erase ‘Fluke’ Label, Credit Rapid Maturity for Climb,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1963: 10.

68 Edward Prell, “Kennedy Deposed; Kept as Holland’s Assistant,” Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1965: 55.

69 Jerome Holtzman, “Don Kessinger: New Bruin With a Bright Future,” The Sporting News, July 3, 1965: 21; Edgar Munzel, “.200 Swinging Keystone Duo Pleases Bruins,” The Sporting News, September 18, 1965: 11; Edgar Munzel, “Beckert Sews Up Keystone Job,” The Sporting News, October 9, 1965: 38.

70 James Enright, “Faul Guy ? Not This Colorful Cub!” The Sporting News, August 21, 1965: 15-16; Edgar Munzel, “Klein Passes Dark in Race for ’66 Cub Top Coaching Job,” The Sporting News, August 28, 1965: 13.

71 Jerome Holtzman, “Quick Hook Annoys Cub Hurler Buhl – ‘Trade Me,’ He Asks,” The Sporting News, July 17, 1965: 39.

72 Edgar Munzel, “Klein Passes Dark in Race for ’66 Cub Top Coaching Job.”

73 Edgar Munzel, “P. K. Asks Lippy to Lead Cubs to Light,” The Sporting News, November 6, 1965: 3,6.

74 Frank Luksa, “Lou Only Unbeaten Skipper in Baseball,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 13, 1966: 35; Pat Truly, “Pat Truly,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 13, 1966: 35.

75 “Lou Mad as Spurs Fall, 7-3,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 26, 1966: 15; Frank Luksa, “Klein Calls for Apology by Umpire,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 1, 1966: 13.

76 Edward Prell, “Cubs’ Minor Leaguers Get Into Training Grind, The Sporting News, March 14, 1967: 60; “Major Flashes,” The Sporting News, August 26, 1967: 25.

77 George Chrisman, “Skipper Klein Praises Cubs, Loop Champs,” The Sporting News, December 7, 1968: 47.

78 “Minor League Directory,” The Sporting News, April 17, 1973: 38; “National League Directory,” The Sporting News, April 12, 1975: 39.

79 “Klein Dead: ex-Cub Head Coach,” Chicago Daily Herald, June 21, 1976: 14.