Happy Belated Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame Willie Keeler. Playing in the Dead Ball Era during the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s, Keeler is one of the greatest forgotten players in baseball history. Despite only 5ft 4in and 140 pounds for most of his career, Keeler fit the bill as one of the greatest contact hitters of his time, playing for the New York Giants, Brooklyn Grooms, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Superbad, and the New York Highlanders throughout 18 seasons.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1892-1910)

.341 BA 2,932 HITS 33 HR 810 RBI 1,719 RUNS .388 OBP

As a Hitter

As a left-handed hitter and as small as he was, Keeler was arguably the toughest out of his time. Yes, Keeler had 16 seasons of batting .300 or higher. Yes, Keeler recorded 200-plus Hits in eight consecutive seasons. But here are a couple of things about Keeler: 1) Keeler was the master at making the pitcher work, being able to foul off pitches like no other. 2) Most important, HE NEVER STRUCK OUT. Career-wise, Keeler recorded 524 Walks and only 136 Strikeouts, never striking out more than 13 times in a season. For a career, Keeler averaged only one Strikeout per every 71 Plate Appearances. 

Once on base, Keeler could be a threat, stealing 495 bases in his career, a high of 67 in 1896. As well as having eight seasons with 200-plus Hits, he also scored 100 or more RUNS in all of those eight seasons. As well as having seven seasons recording Triples in the double digits, a high of 22 in 1894.

As a Fielder

Despite being a left-handed thrower, Keeler spent 521 Innings between Second Base, Shortstop, and Third Base during his career. However, he primarily played in the Outfield in Right Field. Keeler spent 1,102 of his 2,039 games in Right Field, where he recorded a Fielding Percentage of .963, .13 above the league average. In all honesty, given his size, and speed, had Keeler been able to throw right-handed, perhaps he could’ve been better suited as a middle infielder.

Best Years

What were Keeler’s best years? Well, as I said, he had an eight-year span from 1894 to 1901, during which he recorded over 200 hits and scored 100 runs. If I had to pick out a particular season, I guess you have to say 1897 was Keelers’ best one. Not only did Keeler have career highs in Hits, Batting Average, and On Base Percentage that year. He had what would be a record 44-game hitting streak. I understand that he played well over 100 years ago and that the game was completely different back then, but to me, it’s still mind-blowing that for an eight-year peak, Keeler hit no lower than .339 and only struck out 47 times during those eight years. 

1894: .371 BA 219 HITS 5 HR 94 RBI 165 RUNS .427 OBP (129 Games)

1895: .377 BA 213 HITS 4 HR 78 RBI 162 RUNS .429 OBP (131 Games)

1896: .386 BA 210 HITS 4 HR 82 RBI 153 RUNS .432 OBP (126 Games)

1897: .424 BA 239 HITS 0 HR 74 RBI 145 RUNS .464 OBP (129 Games)

1898: .385 BA 216 HITS 1 HR 44 RBI 126 RUNS .420 OBP (129 Games)

1899: .379 BA 216 HITS 1 HR 61 RBI 140 RUNS .425 OBP (141 Games)

1900: .362 BA 204 HITS 4 HR 68 RBI 106 RUNS .402 OBP (136 Games)

1901: .339 BA 202 HITS 2 HR 43 RBI 123 RUNS .369 OBP (136 Games)

Legacy

Forget Tony Gwynn; Willie Keeler has to be the master of avoiding the strikeout. In 1939, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his fourth ballot, as he was so deserving. In 1999, he was ranked #75 on The Sporting News list of 100 Greatest Players in baseball history.

References:

  1. Willie Keeler via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Keeler#
  2. Willie Keeler Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/keelewi01.shtml