Klobedanz, a "hard throwing, wild lefty," began playing semi-professional baseball in 1889, around the age of 17, and then started his professional baseball career in 1892. He played in the New England League for the next few years, mostly with the Fall River Indians.\n', '

During the 1895 season, Klobedanz married the former Annie L. Durfee of Fall River. If married life hurt his pitching, then it is not evident from the statistics because that season he won a career-high 28 games, batted a robust .377, and led the Indians to their third consecutive pennant. In 1896, Klobedanz had another good season, going 25–6 with a 2.38 earned run average, leading the league in wins and batting .353. He was then purchased by the National League\'s Beaneaters that August and pitched well in his first MLB action during the last several weeks of the season.\n', '

In 1897, Klobedanz went 26–7 to lead the majors in winning percentage. At one point, he won 14 consecutive games. His ERA was mediocre, but he was aided by the powerful Boston offense which provided league-leading run support; Klobedanz himself batted .324 that season. The Beaneaters won the pennant by two games. In 2004, baseball analyst Bill James wrote that Klobedanz had the second-luckiest pitcher season of all-time. According to James, Klobedanz actually "deserved" a win-loss record of 16–17.\n', '

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