All-Time Indians: Ed Klieman

In the middle of the 20th century, good pitchers were rarely used in the bullpen, but Ed Klieman, nicknamed Specs after the fact that he wore glasses, was one who excelled in both the rotation and the bullpen for the Indians.

Klieman was originally signed as an amateur by the Cincinnati Reds in 1937 and while he looked promising, particularly after a solid 1940 season, he wouldn’t make it to the Major Leagues until after he was traded to the Indians in 1940. From there, he had great minor league seasons from 1941 through 1943 and finally made his MLB debut in late September of 1943, throwing 9+ innings in a ten inning 1-0 loss against Boston.

While this wasn’t enough to get him another start in 1944, it was enough to push him onto the roster finally in 1944, eight years after he began his minor league trek. That season, he replaced Jack Salveson in an in-between role, both starting and relieving throughout the season. In all, he pitched 178.1 innings, more than he ever would again in the future, with a 3.38 ERA. He made his first appearance of the season as a starter that year, then was mostly used as a reliever until becoming a spot starter in June and a regular in July for the rest of the season. In the end, he made 19 starts with only Mel Harder, Steve Gromek, Allie Reynolds and Al Smith making more.

In 1945, Bob Feller returned from the war for his first full season and the increased stability in the rotation pushed Klieman further into the bullpen. He still made 12 starts and like the year before, was used to finish quite a few games and saved four games after five in 1944. While his ERA rose to 3.85, he still pitched over 125 innings in his combination role and slightly increased his strike out rate (2.4) while decreasing his WHIP.

After spending almost all of 1946 in the minor leagues with Indianapolis, Klieman came back in 1947 and would never pitch as a starter again. He made 58 appearances out of the bullpen that year, not just the most on the Indians, but the most in the American League. Klieman also lead the league in saves, converting 17 of 22 chances with a 3.04 overall ERA. At the time, this kind of usage was nearly unheard of and Klieman’s games played were the second highest in Indians history behind Joe Heving‘s 62 in 1944. It was also a number that wouldn’t be matched or surpassed again until Ray Narleski became the closer in 1955.

After pitching 92 innings in 1947, Klieman was set to be the Indians primary reliever again in 1948 and with a rotation of Feller, Bob Lemon and Gene Bearden he wasn’t needed often. He would make just 44 appearances for 79.2 innings this time around, but would lower his season ERA to 2.60 and his average allowed to a career low .229. Russ Christopher, who had been the closer for the Philadelphia Athletics the year before, took over the more prominent role, but Klieman still got four saves, pushing his career total to 30 in his final year with the Indians. At the time, this number tied Willis Hudlin just one below Heving although many have surpassed this number in a single season since and he now ranks just 20th on the career list.

Klieman pitched just once in the 1948 World Series, allowing three runs without recording an out in the Indians 11-5 game five loss. The fact that he didn’t pitch much shouldn’t be considered a lack of confidence in him, however, as Indians starters pitched complete games in each of the first four matches with Boston.

It was after winning the World Series that Klieman was involved in one of the greatest trades in Indians history, sending Ed, Joe Haynes and Eddie Robinson to the Washington Senators for All-Star Mickey Vernon and future Hall of Famer Early Wynn. While Wynn would become one of the greatest pitchers in Indians history, Klieman would pitch just 25 more games in his career, only two of those with Washington. After those two games and six runs allowed, Klieman was released and selected off waivers by the White Sox where he pitched 33 innings in relief at a respectable level. At the end of the year, he was traded to the Athletics for Hank Majeski in another lopsided deal. At 32 years old, he was able to pitch just 5.2 innings with a 9.53 ERA in his final Major League season. He did try a comeback with the White Sox in 1951, but didn’t fair well in AAA and was out of baseball by the end of the season.

While Klieman was born in Ohio, he retired to Florida where he died in 1979 at the age of just 61 years old.