Klein\'s professional career began as a shortstop at age 21 in the Cardinals\' farm system. He rose from Class D, the lowest level, in 1940 all the way to the top-level Columbus Red Birds in 1941, and needed only three years of minor league seasoning to reach the big leagues.\n', '

In his rookie season in the Majors, with the reigning world champion 1943 Cardinals, Klein was a strong contributor to the Redbirds\' successful defense of the National League pennant. He appeared in 154 of the club\'s 157 official games, started 32 games at shortstop, and then succeeded Jimmy Brown as St. Louis\' regular second baseman (119 starts) when Brown entered World War II military service. Klein hit a career-high .287 and was second on the Cardinals in hits (180), runs scored (91) and triples (14)—behind only Stan Musial, an eventual Baseball Hall of Famer. During the 1943 World Series against the New York Yankees, he started all five games at second base but he collected only three hits, all singles, in 22 at bats and the Cardinals fell to the Yankees, four games to one. Klein then joined the United States Coast Guard, serving in Maryland and Florida, and missed all of 1944 and most of the 1945 season.\n', '

When he returned to the Cardinals in September 1945, he battled for playing time on a talent-loaded team. Klein believed his future role in St. Louis would be limited as a utility player backing up the younger Red Schoendienst (a future Hall of Famer himself). Only two months into the 1946 season, with the Cardinals in first place, he jumped to the Mexican League, along with teammates Max Lanier and Fred Martin.\n', '

Return to Lou Klein Autograph Profile