---

Ken Keltner is remembered today for his sparkling defensive plays at third base that helped stopped Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak at 56 games in 1941. To reduce the career of the 7-time All Star to just one game is a crime.

Keltner broke into the big leagues in 1937 with the Indians, playing in just one game. The following year he solidified himself as one of the most reliable and productive players in the American League. In ’38 and ’39, Keltner received consideration in MVP balloting, then in 1940, he started a streak of six straight All Star appearances and seven in eight years.

In the collection is this card signed by Keltner and mailed from Cleveland on August 18, 1948. That season was Keltner’s finest. The Indians won the World Series for the first time since 1920 while Keltner set career highs in homers, RBI, total bases, OPS, and WAR, playing in the last of his seven All Star games.

---

The beauty of government postcards is the US Postal Service’s date and location stamp. This card was sent from Cleveland on August 19, 1948, during the second championship season in Indians history.

Cleveland was in the midst of a six-game homestand, having just beaten the Browns 3-0 on the day before. In that game of August 18, Keltner reached base safely four times, hitting a triple and getting walked three times – twice intentionally – helping the Indians sweep the Browns in the two-game series.

August 19th was an off day for Keltner and the Indians as the White Sox traveled in for a weekend series that started on Friday, August 20th. Keltner signed the card and dropped it in a Cleveland mailbox to be delivered to the autograph collector, a Mr. Lowell Jenkins.

Other cards from Jenkins’ collection can be found on the page of Dale Mitchell, the last out in Don Larsen’s perfect game, 1947 NL MVP Bob Elliott, Johnny Pesky of Pesky Pole fame, Carl Erskine from his rookie year with the Dodgers, Burt Shotton the Dodger manager during Jackie Robinson’s first season, Tommy Holmes who had a 37-game hit streak, and 1944 NL MVP Marty Marion.

---

Ken Keltner made his debut with the Indians as a 20-year old in 1937. One of his teammates was Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. The pair played together for 9 seasons, though it would’ve been 13 if not for each serving in the military during World War II.

Shown here is the first page of a four-page letter along with the envelope it came in. Feller writes to his wife, Virginia who her refers to as “Doll”.

The postmark shows it was mailed in Detroit on September 21, 1947. In the first page, Feller writes in part, “I am all excited about driving home a week from tonight to be with Doll and see our elf #2.”

The “elf” Feller writes about is his son Marty born eight days earlier. Because of the baseball schedule, Feller would first see Marty only after the conclusion of the season.

In the ensuing pages, Feller describes the game the Indians played the day before at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Keltner played a big role in the Indians walk-off defeat in which Feller took the tough-luck loss.

---

Bob Feller took the hill in the first game of a doubleheader on September 20th against the Tigers. He and Tigers hurler Fred Hutchinson faced off in a pitcher’s duel. Through the first 9 innings, each pitcher allowed just two earned runs.

Feller ran into a jam in the bottom of the tenth. With one out and runners on first and second, pinch hitter Doc Cramer looked to walk off the Tigers. Instead Cramer hit a routine grounder that might end the game.

The pitcher tells the story in this page and the one shown in the next image.

“Keltner fumbled a ground ball yesterday – a double play ball with two on and [it] loaded the bases…,” Feller writes.

The error forced outfielders took a few steps in, shallow enough to catch a fly ball and hold the potential winning run at third.

Tigers second baseman Eddie Mayo came to bat with the game on the line. As Feller explains, Mayo decided the outcome. “…they won the game on a hit which would’ve been out but our outfielders were playing in close…”

In addition to the error, Keltner was 0-for-4 at the plate. Feller took the loss on the unearned run. Vintage letters from the 1940s with such specific game content are seldom seen.

---

Ken Keltner had a long and prosperous run with the Indians. Along the way he had many highlights.

The third baseman is perhaps best known for making defensive gems that helped stop Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941. He did much more than that.

In his first full season of 1938 Keltner hit 26 homers with 113 RBI as a 21-year old. The next season he played in all 154 games and hit .325. In 1940 he began a streak of five-straight All Star Game appearances that was stopped when he left for WWII.

After a year of military service in ’45, Keltner made the All Star team again in 1947. His seventh and final selection to the Mid Summer Classic came in 1948.

Shown here is the third page of the letter from Feller to his wife.

---

Every big leaguer dreams of winning the World Series. For Ken Keltner, that dream came true in 1948.

With career best numbers in homers (31), RBI (119), on-base percentage (.395), and WAR (6.1), Keltner helped the Indians win the American League pennant.

The Cleveland offense was aided by second baseman Joe Gordon‘s 32 homers and 124 runs batted in. Player/manager Lou Boudreau had 106 RBI of his own to go along with his .453 on-base percentage and 166 OPS+. Outfielder Dale Mitchell chipped in with a team-leading 204 hits and .336 batting average.

The pitching staff was led by 20-game winner Bob Lemon who also tallied a .286 batting average, 5 homers, 21 RBI and a 116 OPS+. Bob Feller added 19 wins while leading the AL in strikeouts.

Shown here is the fourth and final page of the letter Feller wrote to his wife. Two other letters handwritten by Feller from 1947 can be seen on Feller’s page. In one, Feller writes about the Indians historic signing of Larry Doby who broke the AL’s color barrier. The other letter Feller expresses his dismay of Boudreau yanking him in favor of a pinch hitter.

---

The modern-day father of SABRmetrics is stat guru Bill James. In his 1995 book Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame, James devised the Keltner List to help identify players who had Hall of Fame careers.

About the list, James wrote, “It’s actually my favorite way of trying to figure out how a guy ranks, but, because it involves a series of subjective questions, it doesn’t necessarily work as a formal methodology. You can’t total up the score and say that everybody who is at eight or above should be in, or anything like that. Its purpose is more to help you clarify your own thinking on the issue, by breaking the great question into smaller questions.”

Below are the questions of James’ Keltner list

1. Was he ever regarded as the best player in baseball?
2. Was he the best player on his team?
3. Was he the best player in baseball (or in the league) at his position?
4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races?
5. Was he a good enough player that he could continue to play regularly after passing his prime?
6. Is he the very best player in baseball history who is not in the Hall of Fame? (Remember, this was written before the heart of the PED era)
7. Are most players who have comparable career statistics in the Hall of Fame?
8. Do the players numbers meet Hall of Fame standards? (“Hall of Fame standards” are another James invention, the results are listed on every player page on Baseball Reference, you can see what the numbers are by which James calculates those “standards” by visiting Baseball Reference here)
9. Is there evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics?
10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame but not in?
11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close?
12. How many All-Star-type seasons did he have? How many All-Star games did he play in? Did most of the other players who played in this many go into the Hall of Fame?
13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant?
14. What impact did the player have on baseball history? Was he responsible for any rule changes? Did he introduce any new equipment? Did he change the game in any way?
15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

Shown here is an Exhibit Card from 1947 signed by the Indians third baseman. Notice the misspelling of his first name on the card.