Death; Posthumous Honors
Chuck Klein died in Indianapolis, Indiana, aged 53, from undisclosed causes.
After years of lobbying, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.
The Phillies honored him on the outfield wall of Veterans Stadium with his name and an Old English-style "P" where a retired uniform number would go. The Phillies began using numbers in 1932, and in that season and 1933, Klein wore number 3. He was then traded to the Chicago Cubs, and when he returned to the Phillies in 1936, he wore 32 (later retired by the Phillies for Steve Carlton), and soon switched to 36 (later retired by the Phillies for Robin Roberts) for that season and 1937. In 1938 he wore number 1 (later retired by the Phillies for Richie Ashburn), wore 26 and then 14 (later retired by the Phillies for Jim Bunning) in 1939, wore 29 in 1940 and 1941, 3 again in 1942, 8 in 1943 and 26 again in 1944, his last major league season. Rather than choose one of these numbers, the Phillies simply retired a "P" for him, as they did for pre-numbers legend Grover Cleveland Alexander.
In 1999, he ranked number 92 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Read more about this topic: Chuck Klein
Famous quotes containing the words posthumous and/or honors:
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Even to the very quality of my lord.
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