In the view of contemporary players and sportswriters, Chicago Cub Johnny Kling was one of the greatest catchers of all time. A strong batter, Kling was even better behind the plate, where his strong arm, quick reactions, and even his chatter harried the opposition. He was by all accounts an indispensable part of Cubs teams that won four National League pennants and two World Series titles between 1906 and 1910. Yet today he is remembered by historians as a player at the center of two unresolved questions: Was Johnny Kling’s absence from baseball in 1909—during the prime of his career—the result of a salary holdout? And was he Jewish? This heavily researched biography ends the debate over those questions while restoring Kling to his place among the greats at his position. It covers in detail his exploits on and off the field (which included a world billiards championship in 1909) and his life after his playing career ended, when he became a philanthropist and gentleman farmer. The foreword is provided by Ernie Banks.
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About the Author
SABR member Gil Bogen is a retired psychiatrist. He is also the author of Tinker, Evers, and Chance: A Triple Biography (2003) and lives in Highland Park, Illinois.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
major league disappointment,
This review is from: Johnny Kling: A Baseball Biography (Paperback)
Kling was one of the top catchers of the deadball era, but Bogen pushes how important he was to the Cubs beyond anything reasonable. He continually writes that any game the Cubs lost was due to Kling's absence, and that any success was due solely to Kling's great catching, batting, and running of the game (forget team captain/manager Chance calling plays from First Base). This attitude gets overheated frequently. Bogen says that Chicago sorely missed Kling while he was out eight days for his father's funeral in 1906. A check reveals that the Cubs won all six games they played in Kling's absence. He blames Frank Chance for the 1-0 loss on April 18, 1907, due to the centerfielder's error. Why is the loss Chance's fault? Because he rested Kling that day.
Bogen blasts Chance continually. Chance purposely keeps Kling from catching 100 games in 1908 out of spite for his (perennial) early season holdout. He gives no credit to Pat Moran, the backup, for also being a premier catcher in this era, nor to Chance for wanting to rest Kling a little late in a season the Cubs won the pennant by 20 games. BTW, the Cubs were 6-1 during the period of Bogen's chart with Moran behind the plate, and 5-2 with Kling. Bogen repeatedly states that Cubs owner Murphy deliberately "ruined" Kling's chance to open a successful pool hall in Cincinnati by refusing to trade him. Kling's business interests seemingly should be more important to the Cubs than winning a pennant, since Bogen repeatedly tells us that the Cubs could hardly win a game with Kling, much less a pennant, but that Murphy "unfairly" kept him in Chicago. Bogen wants it both ways. This book makes me think Kling shared that all-for-me attitude, making it less a wonder why he was not popular among his own teammates. Yet Bogen claims several times that only bad PR (such as a reporter calling Kling a "truant" after he tended his KC pool hall in 1909 rather than playing for the Cubs- what else should he be called?) and his religion kept Kling out of the HOF. After reading this book, I like Kling less than I did before, and that is probably not fair. Despite writing two books about the period, Gil Bogen doesn't seem to know the players of the period - he spells Delahanty and McQuillan, with "e"s instead of "a"s, and inserts unwanted "e"s in Mike "Kelley", and "Leache". When an "e" is called for in Mike Mowrey, he omits it. He doesn't seem to realize that "Koney" was just a nickname for Ed Konetchy, rather than his name. He doesn't know the rules, saying that Kling got an "assist" when he tagged out a runner. He gets the date of Kling's dramatic (and only) home run in 1907 wrong, and then misses pointing out why it was so dramatic, a spot where lauding Kling would be expected. Just a couple very short examples of poor writing. Bogen begins paragraphs with sentences such as these: "It's now time for the World Series." "The season moved forward." "Game One began." Kling is called a "potent factor" to the Cubs' 1907 hopes twice within five lines of text. Poor writing style, unreliable factual research, a pushy, relentless overstatement of Kling's rightfully considerable merits, and one-sidedness in all stories. Thank goodness for the new bio of Kling's battery mate, Three Finger Brown, which is everything this book should have been.
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is sure to turn on its head everything, the smart guys thought they knew about Johnny Kling.,
By
This review is from: Johnny Kling: A Baseball Biography (Paperback)
In Johnny Kling, a Baseball Biography, Gil Bogen has written an important book. It is sure to turn on its head everything, the smart guys thought they knew about Johnny Kling. The book's aim is to restore Johnny Kling to his place among the baseball greats and to open the door to the HOF to this neglected and forgotten star. Some of the conclusion this books reaches will shake up the baseball world. It will refuel the debates about whether Kling was or was not the first great Jewish baseball star. The undeniable fact is that when Kling played and lived, he was thought to a Jew. Only after his death did this aspect of the man's life come under question. Surprisingly, Johnny's wife was the one who denied his Jewish background in a series of baffling letters throughout a long period of time. This new, compelling biography will raise new questions about why Johnny's wife, Lillian, wrote the contradictory and mysterious letters that denied him his Jewish background. Before this book, only a few, mostly in private letters, have dared to questioned Lillian on those letters, or have tried to explain or reconcile her motivations. Most have taken her letters at face value, even though they were obviously contradictory, and contained questionable statements. The writer explains those curiosities of so long ago that changed baseball history for Johnny Kling but did nothing to help his wife achieve her goal of getting Johnny in baseball's Hall of Fame. Along the way, Bogen points out that Kling has gotten a raw deal from baseball historians about the year he supposedly held out. He tells how the incident has been distorted and falsified since then. Perhaps most revealingly, he points out that this event caused ill feelings with his fellow teammates and other baseball people. How it caused Frank Chance not to trust Kling and to blame him for their Cubs' failure to win the World Series against the A's. He also points out that Kling caused bad feelings, again, among baseball people when he allowed blacks to attend Kansas City Blues games in the 1930's. After the Yankees bought the club from Johnny, they reinstated to old discriminatory policy to excluded blacks from the games. Bogen hints that Kling's open door policy riled up the KKK in Kansas City, and certainly implies that they may have burned down one of Johnny's property, the Dickinson Theater, about two weeks after the policy was in place. Apparently, this incident was not thoroughly investigated at the time. On a hopeful note, He concludes, "If that ain't great, what is? And if that doesn't entitle him to entry into the Hall of Fame, what will?" One hopes that this book finally opens the doors to the HOF for this important and great player.
3 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A book of Fiction with the Sprinking of a few Facts in his Stories,
This review is from: Johnny Kling: A Baseball Biography (Paperback)
As to being Researched? The names were listed under Cling, not Kling. John Cling, born in Ohio, age six, is listed in the 1880 census, used by the author, but not mentioned in the book. Gear's letter in stated Fast horse, not a RACE Horse, he should have researched Gambling and transportion in the State of MO in 1907, Kling's parent's deaths were both listed in the KC Times and KC Journal, plus the days between their death's and funeral's, and being buried in KCMO at Union Cemetery. As to being Jewish?. The KCFD records only went back to 1912, why didn't the book pointed this out, their Historian told the author this. The listing as to the Jewish books and authors used in this book seems to have major problems as to facts, for more than 43 years, a few never knew the Kling name, it's listed as his real name being John Kline! as to one other written in 1965, four years before, Mr. Lee Allen had checked in 1969 as to Johnny being really jewish with his wife Lillian, why didn't the author show Mr. Allen's reply back to her on Feb 18,1965, thanking her for straighting out the mess at the HOF and that he's was taking her information to Roy Silver in NY so he could make corrections within the Jewish records. I will also point out the author failed to mention the 1970s phone call made by Mr, Joe Siegman with the International Jewish HOF to Mr. Jocobson, Johnny's jewish son in-law, who also stated that Lillian was Jewish, Johnny wasn't. As to a few of the credits listed in the book? Seems some are non existence, including at the HOF and KCMO. the Public library. The May, 2000, Frank Kling letter in the book, as to it's contents has changed, from the one sent to the HOF in 2003 to be put into Kling's Files also. The 92 year old lady, Mrs. Allen's conversation with author, I can't believe, her mother didn't tell her that her own father in-law was Jewish, Bennie Allen. The author's research should have found the facts, that two of Johnny's sister's son's were also World Champions, making them also Jewish Star's, Carl Schutte and Bennie Allen. So the book's use of calling John in 1909 based on a reported fire, a liar in so many words, Plus, Lillian later in the Book as a questionable liar, Then supported by their own Johnny on the spot,Chicago grandson, who's own mother was baptisted, Lutheran, years before he was born, is a disgrace. The hold out issue was covered in 1910 thru the media, why is this Great man's name in baseball, still being targeted andused for decades, by fiction writers? So I'd say, this book contains a lot more than the smelling of Fresh bread for starters, Plus lack's Major key area's of research, before it's being considered a Biography , The finding of Johnny being Jewish might be rewarding to a few under the age of 12,once again? At least it was in the 1963 in jewish fun stamp history book for kids, but even they were told his Real name was KLINE.
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