Phil Klimas

Philip Edmund Klimas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• School Southern Illinois University, St. Xavier College
• High School Hubbard High School

• Born May 20, 1956 in Chicago, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Phil Klimas player seven seasons as a third baseman and first baseman in the minor leagues after being a 2nd-round pick by the Houston Astros in the 1976 amateur draft out of St. Xavier College. He had been on the radar screen of scouts for a while already, as the Chicago White Sox had made him their 39th round selection in the 1973 amateur draft when he had graduated from a high school that won the Illinois state title.

The first four seasons of his career were in the Astros' system, starting with the Covington Astros of the Appalachian League in 1976., where he hit .296 in 70 games. In 1977, he batted. 285 in 110 games for the Cocoa Astros of the Florida State League, and in those first two seasons, his OBP was over .400 both years. In 1978, he was playing regularly in AA with the Columbus Astros of the Southern League, and he started to develop power as well, belting 12 homers in 134 game, his first of four out of five seasons in double figures (he missed that by one in his other season). However, his batting average fell to .234, so he returned to Columbus in 1979, where he improved to .254/.357/.415 in 122 games, with 13 homers and 59 RBIs.

He moved to the Texas Rangers organization after that and spent all of 1980 and 1981 with the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Texas League. He hit very well both seasons - .315/.411/.496 in 126 games the first one, and .303/.370/.442 the second, the one in which he hit only 9 homers. Still, it's pretty inexplicable why he was not given even a brief look in AAA as he clearly had mastered the art of hitting AA pitching. He played one final season in 1982 - but was again in AA, this time with the Glens Falls White Sox, making him the rare player to play a full season in each of the three AA circuits, as he was now in the Eastern League. He had his best season yet, as he batted .311 with 24 homers and 95 RBIs in a venue that was considered pitcher-friendly, but at 26, he was old for the level, and he retired after the season. It seems like he would have deserved a shot at the big leagues at some point, but it never came.

On July 3, 1980, playing for Tulsa against the Jackson Mets, he was inadvertently involved in a bizarre play that saw three baserunners score on what should have been a routine sacrifice fly. He was the on-deck hitter when Ron Gooch lifted a ball to OF Archie Amerson, who tried to cut off Mike Jirschele at the plate. His throw bounced away from C Stan Hough and George Wright attempted to score as well. As pitcher Tom Thurberg rushed in to cover home plate, Hough's throw hit him and rolled away, allowing not only Wright to score, but Mel Barrow to make it all the way from first base. Tulsa won the game, 7-1.

After baseball, he settled down in Tulsa, OK. His son Chris Klimas became an assistant baseball coach at Oklahoma Baptist University and later a coach, and his daughter played softball there.

Further reading

• Bill Jauss: "Been a long time", Chicago Tribune, June 6, 2003. [1]