Kiki Cuyler

Played For
Pittsburgh Pirates (1921-1927)
Chicago Cubs (1928-1935)
Cincinnati Reds (1935-1937)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1938)

All-Time Rankings
Kiki Cuyler ranks #44 among the Top 50 all-time at RF. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1925
This is without question the best season of Cuyler's career. He batted .357 with a .598 slugging mark, a .423 OBP, 220 hits, 144 runs scored, 43 doubles, 26 triples, 18 homers, 102 RBI, 41 steals, and 369 total bases. He led the National League in games played and triples, and finished in the top ten in 16 offensive categories. Only Rogers Hornsby's triple crown stopped Cuyler from winning a deserved MVP award.

Cuyler vs. The Pirates
Cuyler won a bitter contract dispute with Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss in the spring of 1927, which placed the popular outfielder on shaky ground. In August, he failed to slide into second base on an apparent force play and was benched by manager Donie Bush (who didn't really like Cuyler anyway), for the remainder of the season, even though Pittsburgh was in first place. The feisty skipper refused to place Cuyler in the lineup for the World Series loss against New York and at season's end, Cuyler was shipped to the Cubs. Cuyler lasted eleven more years in the big leagues, batting .315 with more than 1,600 hits and 198 steals (the most in the loop) over that stretch.

Where He Played
Right field (796 games), center (700), left (331). The statistical evidence suggests that Cuyler was an average, at best, defensive player.

Born
Hazen Shirley Cuyler was born on August 30, 1898, in Harrisville, MI.

Died
February 11, 1950, Ann Arbor, MI

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  OF

Primary Team:  CHN

Major League Debut
September 29, 1921

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1921
Goose Goslin
Kiki Cuyler
Bing Miller
Luke Sewell
Riggs Stephenson
Lu Blue
Earl Sheely
Ray Kolp
Lew Fonseca

He was born Hazen Shirley Cuyler. The first name was pronounced "Cuy Cuy" not "Kee Kee," and it was given to him by teammates who would yell "Cuy Cuy" when the ball was hit in his direction, to make sure everyone knew the play was his.

Uniform Numbers
#3 (1932-1935), #8 (1935 Reds), #4 (1936-1937), #25 (1938)

Similar Players
Enos Slaughter

Related Players
Chick Hafey, Bill Terry, Jim Bottomley, Donie Bush

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1948 BBWAA 3 2.5% 1949 BBWAA 4 2.6% 1950 BBWAA 11 6.5% 1951 BBWAA 8 3.5% 1952 BBWAA 10 4.3% 1953 BBWAA 18 6.8% 1954 BBWAA 20 7.9% 1955 BBWAA 35 13.9% 1956 BBWAA 55 28.5% 1958 BBWAA 90 33.8% 1960 BBWAA 72 26.8% 1962 BBWAA 31 19.4% 1968 Veterans %

Post-Season Appearances
1925 World Series
1929 World Series
1932 World Series

Feats
In 1925, Cuyler collected hits in ten consecutive at-bats in September, to set a National League record.

Batting Feats

• August 9, 1924: 6 Hits...


• June 4, 1925: Cycle...

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Piratre skipper Donie Bush, who played with Ty Cobb and learned a tging about being ornery, benched Cuyler in August of 1927, after Kiki reportedly failed to slide to break up a double play at second. Another story has it that Bush asked Cuyler to hit second in the lineup, and Kiki refused because he had a superstition about hitting third.

Hitting Streaks
22 games (1926)

Transactions
November 28, 1927: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Chicago Cubs for Sparky Adams and Pete Scott.

All-Star Selections
1934 NL

Replaced
After waiting in the Pirate system for more than three seasons, Cuyler was finally given a job as the right-handed part of a platon in left field in 1924. The other half of the arrangement was Skeet Bigbee, who had been the Bucs starting left fielder for four seasons. After a year as a pltoon player, Cuyler was the starting right fielder in 1925, replacing Clyde "Pooch" Barnhart, who switched to left.

Replaced By
Cuyler's last regular job was as Brooklyn's right fielder in 1938, at least on a semi-regular basis. After he retired, in 1939, Brooklyn replaced him with "Rowdy" Moore, the beer-drinking Texan.

Best Strength as a Player
Many contemorary accounts cite Cuyler as the fastest man in the National League during his prime.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Kiki was rarely healthy and he always seemed to wear out his welcome, no matter where he played. As a player he was always one hard slide or swing away from injuring a leg or pulling a muscle. In some ways he was like Steve Kemp: he swung so hard that he'd corkscrew himself into the ground when he missed. In the field, ala Ken Griffey Jr., Cuyler frequently ran into teammates or walls, and he had a knack for throwing over the heads of his cutoff men.

Learn More about Kiki Cuyler
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