As coach Theodore Bernard Kluszewski (September 10, 1924 – March 29, 1988), nicknamed "Big Klu", was an American professional baseball player, best known as a power-hitting first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1950s.

He played from 1947 through 1961 with four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending 11 of those 15 seasons with the Reds, and became famous for his bulging biceps and mammoth home runs.

On August 25, 1959, the Chicago White Sox acquired Kluszewski from the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for pitcher Robert Sagers and outfielder Harry Simpson.

Kluszewski was born of Polish descent in Summit, Illinois, 14 miles (23 km) west of Comiskey Park in Chicago, where he played with the White Sox in the 1959 and 1960 seasons.

Team scouts were similarly impressed, but Kluszewski, who also was a standout tight end on the Hoosiers football squad, was reluctant to sign a contract because he did not want to jeopardize his collegiate eligibility.

Not long after the 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 225-pound (102 kg) Kluszewski became a regular early in the 1948 season, his immense strength already was the talk of major league baseball.

Asked to name five of the strongest players in baseball, Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher conspicuously left the big first baseman off his list.

Kluszewski recorded his first hit on Sept. 23 at Crosley Field, an RBI single off Chicago Cubs starter Hank Wyse in the fifth inning.

It wasn't long before Kluszewski gained the reputation as one of the most unique hitters of his time, one who combined immense power with the ability to make contact on a consistent basis.

Only three other major leaguers achieved the feat even twice: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Mize, all Hall of Fame members.

When the veteran was traded after the season, he was widely considered to be the greatest left-handed hitter and among the best fielding first baseman in Reds history.

[4] When Kluszewski arrived in Chicago, the White Sox had a tenuous two-game lead on the Cleveland Indians in the AL pennant race.

Their primary concern was a chronic lack of power, particularly at the left side, where rookie Norm Cash and veteran Earl Torgeson were the only threats to hit an occasional long ball.

“We didn't have a regular first baseman,” White Sox pitcher Billy Pierce told Paul Ladewski in a story for the Society for American Baseball Research.

He triggered a seven-run onslaught two innings later with a towering drive that landed in the lower deck in right field, a three-run homer which knocked Craig out of the game.

In the fourth, Kluszewski launched his second two-run homer in as many innings, a monstrous shot off reliever Chuck Churn that completed an 11–0 rout.

Before the series, local automobile mogul Jim Moran offered a free car to any White Sox player who hit a home run.

In 1960, Kluszewski was the Opening Day starter at first base, although the veteran was unable to discover his magic of the previous postseason and served primarily a pinch-hitter in the final four months of the season.

Kluszewski continued to be slowed by back and leg problems in the 1961 season, but his last hurrah produced several historic firsts.

Don Wells called the home run on the Angels radio broadcast: Big Klu stands in ... On this chilly day, he has that heavy sweatshirt on, no muscles bare here this afternoon...

It was under his tutelage that the so-called Big Red Machine became one of the most potent offenses of the expansion era and won consecutive World Series titles in the 1975 and 1976 campaigns.

"There are a lot of coaches who have received more notoriety than Klu, but I don't think anyone's had more success," said three-time batting champion Pete Rose, one of his prized pupils.

He served in the position until 1986, when a massive heart attack resulted in emergency bypass surgery that prompted him to leave baseball permanently.

His widow, Elenor Guckel, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.

Statues of Crosley Field era stars Ernie Lombardi, Joe Nuxhall, Frank Robinson, and Pete Rose were erected later.