Peter John Kilduff (April 4, 1893 – February 14, 1930), was a professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player who played
second base from 1917 to 1921, with the Giants, Cubs, and Brooklyn Robbins, and as a player / manager in the minors for several years after. Starting 2B for the pennant winning 1920 Brooklyn Robbins, hitting .272/.351/.360 with good defense, good for 3.4 fWAR at the age of 27. He appeared in the
1920 World Series with the
Brooklyn Robins
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...
where he was one of three outs in
Bill Wambsganss
William Adolf Wambsganss (March 19, 1894 – December 8, 1985) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1914 in baseball, 1914 through 1926 in baseball, 1926, Wambsganss played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia ...
's
unassisted triple play
In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) under ...
. Still currently the only unassisted triple play ever in post season play. He was again a solid contributor in 1921 at the age of 28 but was optioned down to the minors for the 1922 season.
Kilduff was one of three players from tiny Weir City, Kansas to come to the majors in the early twentieth century. He played for Oklahoma City from 1914-1916 and for Omaha in 1917. When Buck Herzog was injured, the 1917 New York Giants called Kilduff up to play second base.
He was soon traded to the 1917 Chicago Cubs and the next year was part of their pennant-winning team. However, he was not in the 1918 World Series as he was serving in the Navy at the time. He was again traded to the Brooklyn Robins where he finished his major league career.
Over his ten seasons in the minors, he also played five with the San Francisco Seals (1022-1926) in the Pacific Coast League with 487 RBI's and 57 home runs, and winning the PCL championship in 1922, 1923 and 1925, winning the 1923 Pennant and came within a game and a half of the 1924 pennant. He was a teammate the whole time with Babe Ellison. He also played in the 1925 PCL All-Star team, and as 2B for what was considered the best infield in PCL history from 1922-1925.
He was scheduled to be the manager for the
San Francisco Seals when he died of
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...
just before the 1930 season.
In 428 games over five seasons in the majors, Kilduff posted a .270
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
(374-for-1384) with 163
runs, 62
doubles, 28
triples, 4
home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
, 160
RBIs
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
, 28
stolen bases
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
, 134
bases on balls
A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...
, .338
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
and .364
slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. He finished his MLB career with a .952
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
playing at second, third base and shortstop.
External links
1893 births
1930 deaths
Deaths from appendicitis
Major League Baseball second basemen
Brooklyn Robins players
New York Giants (NL) players
Chicago Cubs players
Minor league baseball managers
Baseball players from Kansas
Oklahoma City Boosters players
Omaha Rourkes players
San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Shreveport Sports players
People from Cherokee County, Kansas
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