Ron Kline
Born: 3/9/1932 in Callery, PA, USA
Died: 6/22/2002 in Callery, PA, USA
MLB Debut: 1952-04-21 | Final Game: 1970-06-13
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 205 lbs
Full name: Ronald Lee Kline
Biography
Ron Kline was a professional baseball pitcher who played from 1952 until 1970, leaving an indelible mark on the game during a transformative period in Major League Baseball. Born in 1932, Kline made his debut in the early 1950s, a time when the sport was beginning to embrace a more modern approach to pitching and hitting. Over the course of his career, he compiled a record of 114 wins and 144 losses, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.75. His career was marked by his ability to strike out batters, amassing a total of 989 strikeouts, alongside securing 108 saves that underscored his role as a reliable late-inning option.
Kline's playing style was characterized by his versatility on the mound, often adapting to the needs of his team while contributing as both a starter and reliever. He was known for his consistent performance and durability, qualities that were particularly valuable during his era, which saw the rise of power hitting and increased offensive production. As a respected figure in the game, Kline's contributions in the 1950s and 1960s helped shape the role of the modern pitcher, influencing future generations while navigating the challenges of a competitive league. His legacy remains a testament to the evolution of baseball during a pivotal time in its history.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 114 | 144 | 736 | 203 | 44 | 8 | 108 | 2078.0 | 2113 | 866 | 218 | 731 | 989 | 3.75 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | PIT | NL | 0 | 7 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78.7 | 74 | 48 | 66 | 27 | 5.49 | -2486.3 |
| 1955 | PIT | NL | 6 | 13 | 36 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 136.7 | 161 | 63 | 53 | 48 | 4.15 | -622.3 |
| 1956 | PIT | NL | 14 | 18 | 44 | 39 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 264.0 | 263 | 99 | 81 | 125 | 3.38 | 1985.3 |
| 1957 | PIT | NL | 9 | 16 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 205.0 | 214 | 92 | 61 | 88 | 4.04 | -2397.5 |
| 1958 | PIT | NL | 13 | 16 | 32 | 32 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 237.3 | 220 | 93 | 92 | 109 | 3.53 | -1426.2 |
| 1959 | PIT | NL | 11 | 13 | 33 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 186.0 | 186 | 88 | 70 | 91 | 4.26 | -2076.8 |
| 1960 | STL | NL | 4 | 9 | 34 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 117.7 | 133 | 79 | 43 | 54 | 6.04 | - |
| 1961 | DET | AL | 5 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 56.3 | 53 | 17 | 17 | 27 | 2.72 | 1158.7 |
| 1961 | LAA | AL | 3 | 6 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 104.7 | 119 | 57 | 44 | 70 | 4.90 | -1302.0 |
| 1962 | DET | AL | 3 | 6 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 77.3 | 88 | 37 | 28 | 47 | 4.31 | -241.8 |
| 1963 | WS2 | AL | 3 | 8 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 93.7 | 85 | 29 | 30 | 49 | 2.79 | 1319.6 |
| 1964 | WS2 | AL | 10 | 7 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 81.3 | 81 | 21 | 21 | 40 | 2.32 | 974.7 |
| 1965 | WS2 | AL | 7 | 6 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 99.3 | 106 | 29 | 32 | 52 | 2.63 | 217.0 |
| 1966 | WS2 | AL | 6 | 4 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 90.3 | 79 | 24 | 17 | 46 | 2.39 | -706.4 |
| 1967 | MIN | AL | 7 | 1 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 71.7 | 71 | 30 | 15 | 36 | 3.77 | -1299.3 |
| 1968 | PIT | NL | 12 | 5 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 112.7 | 94 | 21 | 31 | 48 | 1.68 | 646.0 |
| 1969 | BOS | AL | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17.0 | 24 | 9 | 17 | 7 | 4.76 | -1761.8 |
| 1969 | PIT | NL | 1 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31.0 | 37 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 5.81 | 181.9 |
| 1969 | SFG | NL | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4.09 | - |
| 1970 | ATL | NL | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6.3 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7.11 | 0.0 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 743 | 491 | 14 | 45 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 221 | 0.092 | 0.122 | 0.100 | 0.222 | -3360.7 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | PIT | NL | 27 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1955 | PIT | NL | 37 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 0.132 | 0.0 |
| 1956 | PIT | NL | 44 | 79 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 0.127 | -830.9 |
| 1957 | PIT | NL | 40 | 66 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 0.061 | -905.6 |
| 1958 | PIT | NL | 33 | 74 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 42 | 0.027 | -1027.2 |
| 1959 | PIT | NL | 38 | 59 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 0.136 | -597.0 |
| 1960 | STL | NL | 34 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.143 | 0.0 |
| 1961 | DET | AL | 10 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
| 1961 | LAA | AL | 26 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.097 | 0.0 |
| 1962 | DET | AL | 36 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.125 | 0.0 |
| 1963 | WS2 | AL | 62 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.091 | 0.0 |
| 1964 | WS2 | AL | 61 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
| 1965 | WS2 | AL | 74 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1966 | WS2 | AL | 63 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
| 1967 | MIN | AL | 54 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1968 | PIT | NL | 56 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | BOS | AL | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | PIT | NL | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | SFG | NL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1970 | ATL | NL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | 736 | 192 | 147 | 319 | 20 | 24 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | PIT | P | 27 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 1955 | PIT | P | 36 | 19 | 20 | 30 | 2 | 2 |
| 1955 | PIT | 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1956 | PIT | P | 44 | 39 | 17 | 42 | 4 | 3 |
| 1957 | PIT | P | 40 | 31 | 18 | 27 | 1 | 2 |
| 1958 | PIT | P | 32 | 32 | 20 | 40 | 3 | 4 |
| 1959 | PIT | P | 33 | 29 | 15 | 27 | 2 | 1 |
| 1960 | SLN | P | 34 | 17 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 1961 | DET | P | 10 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 1961 | LAA | P | 26 | 12 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 1 |
| 1962 | DET | P | 36 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| 1963 | WS2 | P | 62 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 2 |
| 1964 | WS2 | P | 61 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| 1965 | WS2 | P | 74 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 1966 | WS2 | P | 63 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 1967 | MIN | P | 54 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 | PIT | P | 56 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | BOS | P | 16 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1969 | PIT | P | 20 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | SFN | P | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | ATL | P | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 736 |
| Third Base | 1 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 29th | 2.0 | 280 | 0 |