Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Cart King here right come. Hello, sports fans, sports collectors
and all hobbyists. Welcome to The car King Sports and
Variety Show. I am your host of Catman Brian Catequit
aka The car King. We are live on ABC's km
E T fourteen ninety AM dot com. You're number one
spot right here for news and talk on the West Coast.
(00:33):
I thank everyone for tuning in this morning on a
telephone line, and welcome to the program of former Major
League Baseball infielder. He played thirteen seasons in pro baseball
for the Kansas City A's, Milwaukee Brays, Washington Senators, the
New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. And welcome to
the show, Lou Klempchok. Lou, great to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Thank you, Gott. Great to be here at anytime listen
to talk baseball. Even though this is the winner we're talking.
You know, it's always good talking.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Baseball, always an honor to speak with a professional athlete.
And Lou, I know it's been a while ago, but
nineteen fifty seven, going through your career, after graduating high school,
you get the opportunity to sign with the KC Athletics. Firstly,
how did the k C. As hear about lou clintchok.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's a very good question coming from the town that
I came from, you know, right outside of Latrobe. And
if you know where Latrob, Pennsylvania is, it's the home
of Arnold Palmer. Okay, and Rolling Rock beer are not
much came out of there. But anyhow, a friend of
mine was the recreation director there in our youth baseball.
(01:47):
He was also the coach for Saint Vincent College baseball
coach and he has some pretty good contacts with the Cardinals,
and I used to attend their summer camps. They used
to do a stun camp back then, because this is prior,
you know, prior to the draft that we're familiar with now,
So they would come to and do these camps. So
(02:08):
I was doing those summers camps from age thirteen to
age seventeen, and the you know, after I graduated from
high school to Kansas City, Scout was there and they
made the first offer, and I wanted to get up
and down, so I signed that first contract nineteen fifty seven.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Nineteen fifty seven, now you was signed by the Scout
Bruno Betzel, if I'm correct.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yes, yeah, there was a local as we used to
call him Birdog scouts back then, and he used to
cover all of the excuse the expression the beer league,
even though I didn't drink beer, used to play in
the bever League. And you know, he's the one that
recommended me to Bruno. Bruno came in and he saw
(02:56):
me play a couple of American Legion games and then
they signed me after you know, as soon as I
was out of high school, and I guess it was
about two weeks later. I was on a train to
Grand Island, Nebraska, which was a rookie league back then,
which is some pretty good baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And that's what I wanted to ask you, because you know,
you performed very well in Nebraska. I mean, seventeen years old,
you got it almost three hundred batt at two seventy
three and thirty nine games. So you know, you how
did you find the competition when you first got there.
I know it's a while ago.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yep, Hey, that was a real eye opener. You know,
when you come from Latrove, Hostare, Pennsylvania, you know you're
a big fish in a little pond. When I got
to Grand Island, there was about a hundred guys you
know that were trying to make a twenty five man team,
(03:55):
and I said, holy smoke, was that I get into
and the only thing that I made up my mind
to do with and I'm going to ever see me
walking on this baseball field. So I just, you know, worked,
I just was a workaholic, and I think through my
hustle and I did have the ability. I could hit
pretty good and had the ability, and uh I made
(04:15):
that starting nine lineup, you know, as a seventeen year old. Yeah,
it was a challenge. It was a challenge of you know,
mentally and emotionally, you know, to get over it. But
it was where I wanted to do. So it all
worked out fine for me.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And at the end of that year, I only played
thirty nine.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I was going to I was going to say, you
hit pretty good.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah I did, and I was hitting well over three hundred.
And I tore up my knee. I uh uh jammed
my knee meniscus back then, and but I still tried
to play on it. And I think I went from
about three ten down to two seventies. I should have
I should have hit over three hundred and that it
was goodly what you know, you know a good friend
(04:59):
of mine. One the one other Hall of Famer that
played in that league at that time was and I
still communicate with him. You may have even had him
on and that was Jim Jim Cott.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Oh wow, okay, no, I haven't spoken as a Jim,
but yeah, so you played with Jim Cott.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Played against played against him.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I played again.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I played against Jim and every league on the way up. Wow,
I played against me. He was just he.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Was some pitcher.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, he was a good He could really throw when
he was eighteen nineteen twenty and then he heard his
arm and Johnny Say got a hold of him and
showed him what that sinker was all about. And Jim
was a pretty smart guy, really had good command, and
that's why he had the success for twenty some years.
Very very good competitor.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And Lou nineteen fifty eight, you were playing in the
Pioneer League, and boy did you smash that league up.
I mean there you batted nearly four one hundred. You
led the league in hits, run scored, and batting average.
I mean that is unbelievable. Nearly four hundred that year
fifty eight.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, that was one of those years where everything fell
into place, and I can remember catcher by then. You know,
when we first started the season, I didn't get up
a good start. And my catcher, you never forget the guy.
My name is Tony Degennio out of Brooklyn, New York. Anyhow,
he said, Lou, you get to set back a little
(06:31):
bit more. He said, I'm trying to jump at the ball.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And just that little.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Suggestion there helped me stay back on the ball where
I was hitting the ball to all fields. And I
was always a good contact hitter, didn't strike out much.
I was a line drive hitter, completely away from the
metrics that we see today. You know, didn't lost the ball,
just one that hit line drives through the middle, and
if you've got your piss, you hit it out of
(06:56):
the ballpark.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Now at Polkatello where you know the team you played for,
you you you were Rookie of the Year that year, right,
fifty eight, Rookie of the.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Year winner, rookie year, Yeah, Rookie of the year, most
valuable player. And it's kind of interesting getting back to
Jim cot. You know, we bumped into each other a
lot of some of the alumni activities, and Jim uh
he had the best cra most strike us, most wins
(07:29):
in the league, and he came up to me and
he says, Louis, they could have given me one of
the awards, the Rookie of the Year or the m DP.
It didn't have to give you both of them.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So you see.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That area exactly now, Jim. Yeah, he was was and first.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Of all, a very good pitcher, but very nice gentleman.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
All right, now, your major league debut. It came at
fifty eight I believe it was September twenty seventh. How
well do you remember that game?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Pretty well? First of all, got called up from Pocatella,
and I sat on the bench and just did a
lot of things, you know, working out every game thinking
you're going to get to play. So I was probably
there pretty close to a month, you know, before I
actually got in the ballgame. So I got in the
(08:28):
last two ball games, and one of them was a
Saturday afternoon and Hall of Famer Early Win was pitching,
and I think when I was leading off, and I
think I flied out three times, three times to reach
right field. He had this nice little cut slider. You
(08:52):
could see it get on top of it. If he
didn't get on top of it. The fly ball instead
of a line drive. So I flied out three times,
but once once I did do attempt at sacrifice bunce,
but I wasn't successful. So it was on first base,
and I don't know, somebody hit a double or cripple
(09:12):
and I scored a winning run for that ball game.
So we beat We beat Early Win.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Amazing. So you scored the winning run after reaching a
fielder's choice against the future Hall of Famer Early Win.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, and I did go. I did goal for five
that game. And then the next day was the last
day of the season, a Sunday game, and again I
was leading off, and my first at that uh Commissie Park,
I hit a home run. I hit a home run
in the upper deck and Commisty Park for my first
(09:47):
base hit. And there's a little little history on that, Brian,
the picture that I hit a home run off. Yeah,
the picture that I hit that home run off. He
was teenager and I was the first teenager and he
hit a home run off of another teenager in Major
(10:07):
League baseball?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
A lot of history that.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Now fast forward as to some of the other unique things. Oh,
probably about eight ten years ago, justin profile, he was
leading off a game. He was leading off a game
for the Rangers, and he let off that game with
a home run. And there was a press release and
I'm getting all these comments because my name was included
(10:37):
in that press release. He became the third youngest guy
to lead off the ballgame with the home run. You
know who the youngest guy to lead off a ballgame is?
Don't you thank you? No?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I am yeah, I thought, really.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, he needed all the sister Digger.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
I didn't know this. This is all a fun fact
on lou Klimpchok, who's with them this morning?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
But yeah, that's kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Yeah all right, So, yeah, you were young, fifty eight
to fifty nine. You're playing with Kansas City Athletics, a
team that had, you know, a young Roger Maris. What
do you remember most about Roger Maris.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Roger? First of all, you know, on the field, you know,
it probably should have received more credit than he did,
although sometimes they did. I mean, he had won a
heck of an arm. He was a good outfielder, and
you know, obviously he was a good hitter. He just
hadn't found that home run slot. Until he got into
the Yankee stadium. But there's another thing that sticks out
(11:48):
of my mind. Our director player of personnel, a guy
the named of George Selker. And if you want to
read who George Shelker was, he played with the Yankees,
and I think he took Babe Ruth's place when he
went out and played the right field. But anyhow, George
was the hitting instructor and he just told Roger just
(12:11):
to open up that front hip a little bit in
his batting stance. And that's all he did, you know,
the last two or three weeks of that season, and
he started to pull the ball more. Okay, then he
gets traded to the Yankees and the rest is history.
And I just looked one little suggested. So what Selkirk
saw was he was kind of locking himself instead of
(12:34):
getting out front.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So he always had even at a young age, Baris
always had the potential to you know, to pull the
ball and hit home runs. You saw that at a
young age.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, he had. He had the power. I mean in
most of the balls that he was hitting, you know,
was the deepest part of the field, you know, left
center of center field and right center. And once he
got into the Yankee Stadium. You know that was made
for him, you know, just to pull the ball.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So you played with the Kansas City Athletics lou fifty
eight through sixty one. You played with them four seasons. Now,
what happen? Why did the A's trade you? What happened there?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
First of all, I was I was the third I
was the second baseman coming up, and they start moving
me around because.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
They wanted me to play third. So I went back
to Triple A and played some third.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Excuse me. And then after that I played some first
base and really struggled. And the downside of that nineteen
sixty one year, Joe Gordon was our manager, and Joe
and I had a pretty good relationship. So I was
playing every day, you know, till he got there. And
then Joe didn't take anything from Charlie Finley and they
(13:58):
had knockdown Dragott and you know, Joe just resigned right there.
And that's when they put Hank Bauer in and Hank
Bayer start managing the team. And I didn't get to
play much at all after that, and so I was
I was thrown in on the trade with the Bob Shaw,
pretty good pitcher, Bob and I went to Milwaukee for
(14:20):
three or four ball players, you know, with the Braves.
So that's how I ended up in the Brave organization
after the nineteen sixty one season.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And I think one of those players you would trade
it for was the was the later on the New
York met player Ed Charles. I believe he was one
of them.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
And Charles, and that's what they were looking for. They
were looking for a third basement in Kansas City, and
Ed Ed basically was he was smooth, and he was older.
He was about twenty seven or twenty eight, so he
had a lot of experience. So that's what they were
looking for, you know, to start developing, developing winning, winning
attitude right now, versus player development. So that's why they
(15:04):
let me go to the Braves.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
All right, So you leave Kansas City, you head to
Milwaukee a team in sixty two sixty three, which I
believe was managed by Bertie Tebbitts. Was that the manager
at the time, sixty two sixty three exactly?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yep, they have Bertie Tebbitts. And again the same situation there,
Pinch has filled in because when you have guys and
you're sitting on the bench, you're watching Eddie Matthews at
third and bowling at second, and Dad thought at first
and some guy by the name of Aaron in rightfield.
You didn't get many opportunities to play, and even the
(15:41):
fishing staff hit. You know, Spawn was such a good
pitcher and Vernette was such a good pitcher. We didn't
even pinchhit. We didn't even have pinch hitters.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
I think me and ty Klein was on that team.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
We went about twenty five days without even getting in
the ball game.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
But I mean, lou being in the presence of three
future Hall of Famers that you just mentioned, Spawn, Matthews
and Aaron, I mean, I mean, how good is that?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I had a pretty good seat watch, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I wanted to ask you Eddie Matthews, Aaron and Spawn,
how did they treat you?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
How awesome? Very good in tect to get to know
Eddie probably better than the other two. Uh. But Hank
and I was very good friends because we played together
with his brother Tommy. Tommy and I played in the
mind of Leagues a couple of years. So Hank and
I are very very good and he very gracious and uh,
(16:45):
he would talk to you and because he was kind
of quiet. He didn't talk to you any guys, but
he kind of uh you know, take take in, talk
to you and visit with you. You know, nothing elaborate
or anything, but he is very social. Uh. Spawn pretty
much stuck to himself at that time. And although I
got to those spawning afterwards, because I used to do
(17:06):
a lot of alumni golf center minshere in Arizona, and
he used to come out and apart me quite a bit.
And I've got to know Eddie real well. Uh Eddie
wasn't afraid to excuse the expression again, you know, drink
a beer, so I you know, I had a couple
of beers with Eddie, and I learned more from these
guys after the game. You know that they did in
(17:28):
the clubhous, because when they're in the clubhous, you know,
they're concerned about who they are and what they're going
to be doing today. You get them and relaxed atmosphere,
this is when they'll talk baseball. So I learned that
at a pretty young age.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And when you when you travel to away games during
that those those years, who did you room with.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Uh in Kent?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Gosh? Uh in Milwaukee was mentioned? I climbed with my
roommate in Milwaukee. Getting back to Kansas City. Kansas City,
I had a right handed.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Picture by named of Ken Johnson. Well, we came to Kansas.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
City, and I think I went to Houston and really
did a good job for Houston down there, good knuckleball picture.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
And we're talking with Lou Klimpchok, who played for the
sixty three Washington Senators, Milwaukee Braves and the sixty six
New York Mets. And I want to ask you getting
traded to Washington and sixty three, Lou, that was an
odd year for the Senators. I believe that year sixty
three they had three managers, right. I think Gill Hodges
was one of them.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
That was a very interesting year. In the fall of
sixty two, Number one, I got married.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Married at that time, but this is UH, and then
I had I.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Had to complete my military obligation, so I had to
go into the SERVI was two weeks after my wedding.
So after my wedding, UH, the Senators bought me from
UH from the Braves conditionally. And the general manager now
at the at Washington was George Selker. Okay, and again
(19:18):
this is guy that I mentioned about Roger Merricks that
George always be friend of me and he wanted he
wanted to get me over there to.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Washington, so he didn't realize that I was in the service.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So I had no spring training at all. Uh, you know,
I put my six months in in the off season,
and I got the spring training about a week about
a week before the season start, get a uniform and
started getting in shape because they had purchased me conditionally,
they had to keep me. And this didn't make This
didn't make some of the ballfare a few happy that
(19:51):
were there for six seven weeks trying to make a
ball club. But anyhow, same thing when I got to Washington.
Mickey Vernon was the manager then, and I got a
couple of pinchhate appearances and a couple of filling but
that was that was about it. And then they sent
me back to the Braves and they ended up in
Triple A in Denver with the Denver Baar ball Club.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And then sixty six she played You're playing at cha
Stadium for West Western.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yes, And that's why I mentioned in sixty six I
was down there on a Triple A contract and I
had a real good spring training hit a couple of
penchiate home runs and you know, had a real good
and then thought I was going to get an opportunity
to play third base. Right halfway through spring training, they
(20:45):
made a deal and purchased Kenny Boyer, so that screwed
up my third baseman. And they were all set with
Crane for the first base and Hunt was playing second base,
so there was no spot for the other in the
fill in. So that's why I got four or five
pinch Yit appearances. And you know, back I was back
to Triple A and UH went to Triple A down
(21:08):
to Jacksonville and that was a Triple A club. And
on that team, the sixty six team in Jacksonville, I
hate to say this what we finished about twenty six
games out the first place. But our shortstop was the Harrison,
second baseman was Boswell. I played first base, and I
(21:28):
want to I want to silver God playing first base. Duh.
And we had a pitcher that won't too bad either,
Tom Seaver Okay. So but again that was all young
and all development type of guys. UH, and I think
Tug Tug was even there for a while. And then eventually,
you know, three years later, three years later, these are
(21:50):
the sixty nine minutes.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yes, indeed, I know you. You you made five appearances
game appearances as a New York met player. But did
you did you enjoy the fans at Shaye Stadium in
sixty six?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Oh yeah, yes, there's no place in you know, speaking
about Shase Stadium, you know, and then you know, maybe.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Even getting back the Yankee Stadium in the americanly.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know, New York is such a great town. And
I don't know who it was. It might have been
somebody like a Roger Mirrors or or a bob Server.
Bob Server because he was a real good friend of
mine too. He said, look, you can get a hit
in Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
A couple of people know it. He said, you get
a hit, you can get.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
A base hit in New York. He said, the whole
world knows it. And that put things into perspective on
what New York City was. But the fans, you know,
the only the people that I see, you know reading
through the media that have a problem, you know, the
guys that I don't want to use it aren't hustling.
If you give one hundred percent, those New York people
(22:55):
are gonna love you regardless of what the results are.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And I have a few minutes left with you, Lew
and then you know you're off to You end your
career sixty eight sixty ninety seventy with the Cleveland Indians.
So you leave the Mets off to Cleveland. How is
that transition for you? Like what happened there?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That was pretty much the same thing. And as one
guy can really thank you that we mentioned Alvin Dark
And this is the time when there was a lot
of military call ups. So I was playing Triple A
in Portland and doing real well playing a triple A welfare.
So somebody would go to the service, they'd bring me
up for two weeks and they go back. Well a
(23:38):
couple of times, Alvin says, you know, I'm going to
bring you to spring training in nineteen sixty nine. So
he brought me to spring training in sixty nine, and
you know, I got off to a good start, broke
a hand and kept me out for about six weeks.
That he brought me back around Memorial Day and he
told me how he was going to use me. So
(23:58):
he got me into about one hundred ball games and
that's when I hit about to eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That he gave me the.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Opportunity to because the first time in my career somebody
played me every day in the big ligue. You know,
I could play in the minor leagues. That was easy.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Okay, what easy?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
But you know I had more success there. But somebody
giving you that opportunity and being successful at the major
league level. You know, I thank Alvin Dark for that
and plus big up me enough time, you know, to
qualify the five years, you know, for the pension benefits.
You know that I still reap right now now. Alvin
(24:35):
was a good friend.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, and then you know that's sixty eight sixty nineteen.
You know, they had some good pitching, pitching pitchers. You know,
you had Louis ti On, the young Louis Tian. You
had Sam mcdonwell, uh, these were you know, iconic names now,
but again you know, two really strong ballplayers and Sam
McDonald uh.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, and Sonny Sebert was pretty goo. And we mentioned
Steve Hargan, he was pretty good. Williams, right, Stan Williams
is there also, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, Eddie Fisher, Romo, there's a bunch.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah yeah, Hosts Kenya and Romo. Man, those two guys
could really bring it, you know, as far as the
Bullpennerson turn. They did to get a great job for us.
And then that's when FOSSi came up to and Murray
was my foss. Ray was my roommate uh in Cleveland,
and uh, you know he really handled him. Well you
(25:37):
know that pision.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Staff and I have one minute left, lou. Uh do
you still follow the game? What do you think of
the players of today compared to the playoff of the
sixties and seventies.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, I was involved in a lot of youth baseball.
In fact that a grandson, you know, played about ten
eleven years of minor league baseball. But anyhow, kids today
are bigger, stronger, quicker, and more talent. They just need
to develop more at the minor league level. If they
would take the Ted Williams theory, you give that hit
or fifteen hundred bats in the minor league before you
(26:16):
bring him up, because you're going to learn your mistakes
down there in the minor leagues, you know, versus learning
him at the major league. You know, the major leagues
is a doing league and it's not a trying leg
like the minor league. So I think that, But the talent,
I mean, I can't believe some of the players that
take to make diving for the ball some of the
way to hit the ball. I would just like to
(26:36):
see if you've got a guy he's from Arizona here.
I'm glad to see him back. And that's Cody. Cody Bellinger.
Dellinger is hitting now the way he hit is his
junior in high school, except now he weighs He weighs
two ten or two fifteen instead of one hundred and fifty.
He used to spray the ball the left center, right center,
(26:57):
and he didn't strike out much. You know, along Dong.
They wanted him to start pulling the ball, and that's
why I went downhill. No Cody and the dead Clay.
They did a pretty good job of making an adjustment
with all the things that are going on out there
with the metrics and hey, we want you to pull
and lost the ball and hit home runs. A hitter
has to decide which way he wants to go.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Lou, thank you so much for your time, great job.
Happy holidays so you and your family, and let's keep
in touch. Maybe we could do a part two.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
If yeah, exactly, if you ever get in the temporary
give me a call, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Lou clipchock. Everyone, Lou clipchock until next week. Happy collecting too,
all
Cart King here right come. Hello, sports fans, sports collectors
and all hobbyists. Welcome to The car King Sports and
Variety Show. I am your host of Catman Brian Catequit
aka The car King. We are live on ABC's km
E T fourteen ninety AM dot com. You're number one
spot right here for news and talk on the West Coast.
(00:33):
I thank everyone for tuning in this morning on a
telephone line, and welcome to the program of former Major
League Baseball infielder. He played thirteen seasons in pro baseball
for the Kansas City A's, Milwaukee Brays, Washington Senators, the
New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. And welcome to
the show, Lou Klempchok. Lou, great to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Thank you, Gott. Great to be here at anytime listen
to talk baseball. Even though this is the winner we're talking.
You know, it's always good talking.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Baseball, always an honor to speak with a professional athlete.
And Lou, I know it's been a while ago, but
nineteen fifty seven, going through your career, after graduating high school,
you get the opportunity to sign with the KC Athletics. Firstly,
how did the k C. As hear about lou clintchok.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's a very good question coming from the town that
I came from, you know, right outside of Latrobe. And
if you know where Latrob, Pennsylvania is, it's the home
of Arnold Palmer. Okay, and Rolling Rock beer are not
much came out of there. But anyhow, a friend of
mine was the recreation director there in our youth baseball.
(01:47):
He was also the coach for Saint Vincent College baseball
coach and he has some pretty good contacts with the Cardinals,
and I used to attend their summer camps. They used
to do a stun camp back then, because this is prior,
you know, prior to the draft that we're familiar with now,
So they would come to and do these camps. So
(02:08):
I was doing those summers camps from age thirteen to
age seventeen, and the you know, after I graduated from
high school to Kansas City, Scout was there and they
made the first offer, and I wanted to get up
and down, so I signed that first contract nineteen fifty seven.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Nineteen fifty seven, now you was signed by the Scout
Bruno Betzel, if I'm correct.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yes, yeah, there was a local as we used to
call him Birdog scouts back then, and he used to
cover all of the excuse the expression the beer league,
even though I didn't drink beer, used to play in
the bever League. And you know, he's the one that
recommended me to Bruno. Bruno came in and he saw
(02:56):
me play a couple of American Legion games and then
they signed me after you know, as soon as I
was out of high school, and I guess it was
about two weeks later. I was on a train to
Grand Island, Nebraska, which was a rookie league back then,
which is some pretty good baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And that's what I wanted to ask you, because you know,
you performed very well in Nebraska. I mean, seventeen years old,
you got it almost three hundred batt at two seventy
three and thirty nine games. So you know, you how
did you find the competition when you first got there.
I know it's a while ago.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yep, Hey, that was a real eye opener. You know,
when you come from Latrove, Hostare, Pennsylvania, you know you're
a big fish in a little pond. When I got
to Grand Island, there was about a hundred guys you
know that were trying to make a twenty five man team,
(03:55):
and I said, holy smoke, was that I get into
and the only thing that I made up my mind
to do with and I'm going to ever see me
walking on this baseball field. So I just, you know, worked,
I just was a workaholic, and I think through my
hustle and I did have the ability. I could hit
pretty good and had the ability, and uh I made
(04:15):
that starting nine lineup, you know, as a seventeen year old. Yeah,
it was a challenge. It was a challenge of you know,
mentally and emotionally, you know, to get over it. But
it was where I wanted to do. So it all
worked out fine for me.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And at the end of that year, I only played
thirty nine.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I was going to I was going to say, you
hit pretty good.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah I did, and I was hitting well over three hundred.
And I tore up my knee. I uh uh jammed
my knee meniscus back then, and but I still tried
to play on it. And I think I went from
about three ten down to two seventies. I should have
I should have hit over three hundred and that it
was goodly what you know, you know a good friend
(04:59):
of mine. One the one other Hall of Famer that
played in that league at that time was and I
still communicate with him. You may have even had him
on and that was Jim Jim Cott.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Oh wow, okay, no, I haven't spoken as a Jim,
but yeah, so you played with Jim Cott.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Played against played against him.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I played again.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I played against Jim and every league on the way up. Wow,
I played against me. He was just he.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Was some pitcher.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, he was a good He could really throw when
he was eighteen nineteen twenty and then he heard his
arm and Johnny Say got a hold of him and
showed him what that sinker was all about. And Jim
was a pretty smart guy, really had good command, and
that's why he had the success for twenty some years.
Very very good competitor.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And Lou nineteen fifty eight, you were playing in the
Pioneer League, and boy did you smash that league up.
I mean there you batted nearly four one hundred. You
led the league in hits, run scored, and batting average.
I mean that is unbelievable. Nearly four hundred that year
fifty eight.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, that was one of those years where everything fell
into place, and I can remember catcher by then. You know,
when we first started the season, I didn't get up
a good start. And my catcher, you never forget the guy.
My name is Tony Degennio out of Brooklyn, New York. Anyhow,
he said, Lou, you get to set back a little
(06:31):
bit more. He said, I'm trying to jump at the ball.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And just that little.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Suggestion there helped me stay back on the ball where
I was hitting the ball to all fields. And I
was always a good contact hitter, didn't strike out much.
I was a line drive hitter, completely away from the
metrics that we see today. You know, didn't lost the ball,
just one that hit line drives through the middle, and
if you've got your piss, you hit it out of
(06:56):
the ballpark.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Now at Polkatello where you know the team you played for,
you you you were Rookie of the Year that year, right,
fifty eight, Rookie of the.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Year winner, rookie year, Yeah, Rookie of the year, most
valuable player. And it's kind of interesting getting back to
Jim cot. You know, we bumped into each other a
lot of some of the alumni activities, and Jim uh
he had the best cra most strike us, most wins
(07:29):
in the league, and he came up to me and
he says, Louis, they could have given me one of
the awards, the Rookie of the Year or the m DP.
It didn't have to give you both of them.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So you see.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
That area exactly now, Jim. Yeah, he was was and first.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Of all, a very good pitcher, but very nice gentleman.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
All right, now, your major league debut. It came at
fifty eight I believe it was September twenty seventh. How
well do you remember that game?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Pretty well? First of all, got called up from Pocatella,
and I sat on the bench and just did a
lot of things, you know, working out every game thinking
you're going to get to play. So I was probably
there pretty close to a month, you know, before I
actually got in the ballgame. So I got in the
(08:28):
last two ball games, and one of them was a
Saturday afternoon and Hall of Famer Early Win was pitching,
and I think when I was leading off, and I
think I flied out three times, three times to reach
right field. He had this nice little cut slider. You
(08:52):
could see it get on top of it. If he
didn't get on top of it. The fly ball instead
of a line drive. So I flied out three times,
but once once I did do attempt at sacrifice bunce,
but I wasn't successful. So it was on first base,
and I don't know, somebody hit a double or cripple
(09:12):
and I scored a winning run for that ball game.
So we beat We beat Early Win.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Amazing. So you scored the winning run after reaching a
fielder's choice against the future Hall of Famer Early Win.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, and I did go. I did goal for five
that game. And then the next day was the last
day of the season, a Sunday game, and again I
was leading off, and my first at that uh Commissie Park,
I hit a home run. I hit a home run
in the upper deck and Commisty Park for my first
(09:47):
base hit. And there's a little little history on that, Brian,
the picture that I hit a home run off. Yeah,
the picture that I hit that home run off. He
was teenager and I was the first teenager and he
hit a home run off of another teenager in Major
(10:07):
League baseball?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
A lot of history that.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Now fast forward as to some of the other unique things. Oh,
probably about eight ten years ago, justin profile, he was
leading off a game. He was leading off a game
for the Rangers, and he let off that game with
a home run. And there was a press release and
I'm getting all these comments because my name was included
(10:37):
in that press release. He became the third youngest guy
to lead off the ballgame with the home run. You
know who the youngest guy to lead off a ballgame is?
Don't you thank you? No?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I am yeah, I thought, really.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, he needed all the sister Digger.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
I didn't know this. This is all a fun fact
on lou Klimpchok, who's with them this morning?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
But yeah, that's kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Yeah all right, So, yeah, you were young, fifty eight
to fifty nine. You're playing with Kansas City Athletics, a
team that had, you know, a young Roger Maris. What
do you remember most about Roger Maris.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Roger? First of all, you know, on the field, you know,
it probably should have received more credit than he did,
although sometimes they did. I mean, he had won a
heck of an arm. He was a good outfielder, and
you know, obviously he was a good hitter. He just
hadn't found that home run slot. Until he got into
the Yankee stadium. But there's another thing that sticks out
(11:48):
of my mind. Our director player of personnel, a guy
the named of George Selker. And if you want to
read who George Shelker was, he played with the Yankees,
and I think he took Babe Ruth's place when he
went out and played the right field. But anyhow, George
was the hitting instructor and he just told Roger just
(12:11):
to open up that front hip a little bit in
his batting stance. And that's all he did, you know,
the last two or three weeks of that season, and
he started to pull the ball more. Okay, then he
gets traded to the Yankees and the rest is history.
And I just looked one little suggested. So what Selkirk
saw was he was kind of locking himself instead of
(12:34):
getting out front.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
So he always had even at a young age, Baris
always had the potential to you know, to pull the
ball and hit home runs. You saw that at a
young age.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Yeah, he had. He had the power. I mean in
most of the balls that he was hitting, you know,
was the deepest part of the field, you know, left
center of center field and right center. And once he
got into the Yankee Stadium. You know that was made
for him, you know, just to pull the ball.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So you played with the Kansas City Athletics lou fifty
eight through sixty one. You played with them four seasons. Now,
what happen? Why did the A's trade you? What happened there?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
First of all, I was I was the third I
was the second baseman coming up, and they start moving
me around because.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
They wanted me to play third. So I went back
to Triple A and played some third.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Excuse me. And then after that I played some first
base and really struggled. And the downside of that nineteen
sixty one year, Joe Gordon was our manager, and Joe
and I had a pretty good relationship. So I was
playing every day, you know, till he got there. And
then Joe didn't take anything from Charlie Finley and they
(13:58):
had knockdown Dragott and you know, Joe just resigned right there.
And that's when they put Hank Bauer in and Hank
Bayer start managing the team. And I didn't get to
play much at all after that, and so I was
I was thrown in on the trade with the Bob Shaw,
pretty good pitcher, Bob and I went to Milwaukee for
(14:20):
three or four ball players, you know, with the Braves.
So that's how I ended up in the Brave organization
after the nineteen sixty one season.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And I think one of those players you would trade
it for was the was the later on the New
York met player Ed Charles. I believe he was one
of them.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
And Charles, and that's what they were looking for. They
were looking for a third basement in Kansas City, and
Ed Ed basically was he was smooth, and he was older.
He was about twenty seven or twenty eight, so he
had a lot of experience. So that's what they were
looking for, you know, to start developing, developing winning, winning
attitude right now, versus player development. So that's why they
(15:04):
let me go to the Braves.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
All right, So you leave Kansas City, you head to
Milwaukee a team in sixty two sixty three, which I
believe was managed by Bertie Tebbitts. Was that the manager
at the time, sixty two sixty three exactly?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yep, they have Bertie Tebbitts. And again the same situation there,
Pinch has filled in because when you have guys and
you're sitting on the bench, you're watching Eddie Matthews at
third and bowling at second, and Dad thought at first
and some guy by the name of Aaron in rightfield.
You didn't get many opportunities to play, and even the
(15:41):
fishing staff hit. You know, Spawn was such a good
pitcher and Vernette was such a good pitcher. We didn't
even pinchhit. We didn't even have pinch hitters.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
I think me and ty Klein was on that team.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
We went about twenty five days without even getting in
the ball game.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
But I mean, lou being in the presence of three
future Hall of Famers that you just mentioned, Spawn, Matthews
and Aaron, I mean, I mean, how good is that?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I had a pretty good seat watch, you know.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I wanted to ask you Eddie Matthews, Aaron and Spawn,
how did they treat you?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
How awesome? Very good in tect to get to know
Eddie probably better than the other two. Uh. But Hank
and I was very good friends because we played together
with his brother Tommy. Tommy and I played in the
mind of Leagues a couple of years. So Hank and
I are very very good and he very gracious and uh,
(16:45):
he would talk to you and because he was kind
of quiet. He didn't talk to you any guys, but
he kind of uh you know, take take in, talk
to you and visit with you. You know, nothing elaborate
or anything, but he is very social. Uh. Spawn pretty
much stuck to himself at that time. And although I
got to those spawning afterwards, because I used to do
(17:06):
a lot of alumni golf center minshere in Arizona, and
he used to come out and apart me quite a bit.
And I've got to know Eddie real well. Uh Eddie
wasn't afraid to excuse the expression again, you know, drink
a beer, so I you know, I had a couple
of beers with Eddie, and I learned more from these
guys after the game. You know that they did in
(17:28):
the clubhous, because when they're in the clubhous, you know,
they're concerned about who they are and what they're going
to be doing today. You get them and relaxed atmosphere,
this is when they'll talk baseball. So I learned that
at a pretty young age.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And when you when you travel to away games during
that those those years, who did you room with.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Uh in Kent?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Gosh? Uh in Milwaukee was mentioned? I climbed with my
roommate in Milwaukee. Getting back to Kansas City. Kansas City,
I had a right handed.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Picture by named of Ken Johnson. Well, we came to Kansas.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
City, and I think I went to Houston and really
did a good job for Houston down there, good knuckleball picture.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
And we're talking with Lou Klimpchok, who played for the
sixty three Washington Senators, Milwaukee Braves and the sixty six
New York Mets. And I want to ask you getting
traded to Washington and sixty three, Lou, that was an
odd year for the Senators. I believe that year sixty
three they had three managers, right. I think Gill Hodges
was one of them.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
That was a very interesting year. In the fall of
sixty two, Number one, I got married.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Married at that time, but this is UH, and then
I had I.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Had to complete my military obligation, so I had to
go into the SERVI was two weeks after my wedding.
So after my wedding, UH, the Senators bought me from
UH from the Braves conditionally. And the general manager now
at the at Washington was George Selker. Okay, and again
(19:18):
this is guy that I mentioned about Roger Merricks that
George always be friend of me and he wanted he
wanted to get me over there to.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Washington, so he didn't realize that I was in the service.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So I had no spring training at all. Uh, you know,
I put my six months in in the off season,
and I got the spring training about a week about
a week before the season start, get a uniform and
started getting in shape because they had purchased me conditionally,
they had to keep me. And this didn't make This
didn't make some of the ballfare a few happy that
(19:51):
were there for six seven weeks trying to make a
ball club. But anyhow, same thing when I got to Washington.
Mickey Vernon was the manager then, and I got a
couple of pinchhate appearances and a couple of filling but
that was that was about it. And then they sent
me back to the Braves and they ended up in
Triple A in Denver with the Denver Baar ball Club.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And then sixty six she played You're playing at cha
Stadium for West Western.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yes, And that's why I mentioned in sixty six I
was down there on a Triple A contract and I
had a real good spring training hit a couple of
penchiate home runs and you know, had a real good
and then thought I was going to get an opportunity
to play third base. Right halfway through spring training, they
(20:45):
made a deal and purchased Kenny Boyer, so that screwed
up my third baseman. And they were all set with
Crane for the first base and Hunt was playing second base,
so there was no spot for the other in the
fill in. So that's why I got four or five
pinch Yit appearances. And you know, back I was back
to Triple A and UH went to Triple A down
(21:08):
to Jacksonville and that was a Triple A club. And
on that team, the sixty six team in Jacksonville, I
hate to say this what we finished about twenty six
games out the first place. But our shortstop was the Harrison,
second baseman was Boswell. I played first base, and I
(21:28):
want to I want to silver God playing first base. Duh.
And we had a pitcher that won't too bad either,
Tom Seaver Okay. So but again that was all young
and all development type of guys. UH, and I think
Tug Tug was even there for a while. And then eventually,
you know, three years later, three years later, these are
(21:50):
the sixty nine minutes.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yes, indeed, I know you. You you made five appearances
game appearances as a New York met player. But did
you did you enjoy the fans at Shaye Stadium in
sixty six?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Oh yeah, yes, there's no place in you know, speaking
about Shase Stadium, you know, and then you know, maybe.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Even getting back the Yankee Stadium in the americanly.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You know, New York is such a great town. And
I don't know who it was. It might have been
somebody like a Roger Mirrors or or a bob Server.
Bob Server because he was a real good friend of
mine too. He said, look, you can get a hit
in Kansas City.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
A couple of people know it. He said, you get
a hit, you can get.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
A base hit in New York. He said, the whole
world knows it. And that put things into perspective on
what New York City was. But the fans, you know,
the only the people that I see, you know reading
through the media that have a problem, you know, the
guys that I don't want to use it aren't hustling.
If you give one hundred percent, those New York people
(22:55):
are gonna love you regardless of what the results are.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
And I have a few minutes left with you, Lew
and then you know you're off to You end your
career sixty eight sixty ninety seventy with the Cleveland Indians.
So you leave the Mets off to Cleveland. How is
that transition for you? Like what happened there?
Speaker 2 (23:17):
That was pretty much the same thing. And as one
guy can really thank you that we mentioned Alvin Dark
And this is the time when there was a lot
of military call ups. So I was playing Triple A
in Portland and doing real well playing a triple A welfare.
So somebody would go to the service, they'd bring me
up for two weeks and they go back. Well a
(23:38):
couple of times, Alvin says, you know, I'm going to
bring you to spring training in nineteen sixty nine. So
he brought me to spring training in sixty nine, and
you know, I got off to a good start, broke
a hand and kept me out for about six weeks.
That he brought me back around Memorial Day and he
told me how he was going to use me. So
(23:58):
he got me into about one hundred ball games and
that's when I hit about to eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That he gave me the.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Opportunity to because the first time in my career somebody
played me every day in the big ligue. You know,
I could play in the minor leagues. That was easy.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Okay, what easy?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
But you know I had more success there. But somebody
giving you that opportunity and being successful at the major
league level. You know, I thank Alvin Dark for that
and plus big up me enough time, you know, to
qualify the five years, you know, for the pension benefits.
You know that I still reap right now now. Alvin
(24:35):
was a good friend.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, and then you know that's sixty eight sixty nineteen.
You know, they had some good pitching, pitching pitchers. You know,
you had Louis ti On, the young Louis Tian. You
had Sam mcdonwell, uh, these were you know, iconic names now,
but again you know, two really strong ballplayers and Sam
McDonald uh.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, and Sonny Sebert was pretty goo. And we mentioned
Steve Hargan, he was pretty good. Williams, right, Stan Williams
is there also, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Yeah, Eddie Fisher, Romo, there's a bunch.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah yeah, Hosts Kenya and Romo. Man, those two guys
could really bring it, you know, as far as the
Bullpennerson turn. They did to get a great job for us.
And then that's when FOSSi came up to and Murray
was my foss. Ray was my roommate uh in Cleveland,
and uh, you know he really handled him. Well you
(25:37):
know that pision.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Staff and I have one minute left, lou. Uh do
you still follow the game? What do you think of
the players of today compared to the playoff of the
sixties and seventies.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, I was involved in a lot of youth baseball.
In fact that a grandson, you know, played about ten
eleven years of minor league baseball. But anyhow, kids today
are bigger, stronger, quicker, and more talent. They just need
to develop more at the minor league level. If they
would take the Ted Williams theory, you give that hit
or fifteen hundred bats in the minor league before you
(26:16):
bring him up, because you're going to learn your mistakes
down there in the minor leagues, you know, versus learning
him at the major league. You know, the major leagues
is a doing league and it's not a trying leg
like the minor league. So I think that, But the talent,
I mean, I can't believe some of the players that
take to make diving for the ball some of the
way to hit the ball. I would just like to
(26:36):
see if you've got a guy he's from Arizona here.
I'm glad to see him back. And that's Cody. Cody Bellinger.
Dellinger is hitting now the way he hit is his
junior in high school, except now he weighs He weighs
two ten or two fifteen instead of one hundred and fifty.
He used to spray the ball the left center, right center,
(26:57):
and he didn't strike out much. You know, along Dong.
They wanted him to start pulling the ball, and that's
why I went downhill. No Cody and the dead Clay.
They did a pretty good job of making an adjustment
with all the things that are going on out there
with the metrics and hey, we want you to pull
and lost the ball and hit home runs. A hitter
has to decide which way he wants to go.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Lou, thank you so much for your time, great job.
Happy holidays so you and your family, and let's keep
in touch. Maybe we could do a part two.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
If yeah, exactly, if you ever get in the temporary
give me a call, yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Lou clipchock. Everyone, Lou clipchock until next week. Happy collecting too,
all
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