| Charlie Keller |
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CAREER baseball card - 1949 Series, #209]] For much of ten American League seasons, Keller formed with Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich one of the finest Outfield s in New York Yankees history. A splendid all-round athlete at the University Of Maryland , where he earned a degree in agricultural economics in 1937, Keller joined the Yankees in 1939 and quickly became the regular left fielder, with Henrich patrolling Right Field and DiMaggio at Center . Through of his career, Keller was a feared Slugger and a competent fielder. In his Rookie season he hit .334 with 11 Home Run s and 83 RBI in 111 Games . He topped his splendid major league debut by crashing three homers and batting .438 as the Yankees swept four games from the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series . In his sophomore season, Keller hit .286 with 21 home runs, 93 RBI, 18 Doubles and 15 Triples . His most productive season came in 1941 , when he hit .298 and posted career-highs in home runs (33), RBI (122), doubles (24) and triples (15), becoming the second major leaguer since Ted Williams in 1939 to hit 30 HR-20 doubles-10 triples in a regular season. Besides Williams and Keller, only DiMaggio in 1948 and 1950 , Mickey Mantle in 1955 , and Jim Rice in 1977 , had reached those levels in major league history. After serving during 1944 and much of 1945 in the Merchant Marine , Keller returned as a regular with the Yankees. In the 1946 season, he collected 30 home runs, 29 doubles and 10 triples, joining DiMaggio as the only two bigleaguers with two 30-20-10 seasons. Keller played part time from 1947-49 when he was troubled by a ruptured Disc in his back. He was released by the Yankees before the 1950 season and signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Tigers, serving mostly as a Pinch-hitter . In 1952 he came back to New York for a final season. In a 13-season career, Keller was a .286 hitter with 189 home runs and 760 RBI in 1170 games. A five-time All-Star selection, he collected a career .410 On Base Percentage and a .518 Slugging Average for a combined .928 OPS . In four World Series appearances, he batted .306 with five home runs 18 RBI in 19 games. Following his retirement as a player, Keller founded Yankeeland Farm and had a successful career as a s, which entitled him to free Stud fees. Charlie Keller died in Frederick, Maryland , at age of 73. FACTS
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