Charles (Chuck) Klein was dubbed “Babe Ruth of the National League” by some Philadelphia sports writers. The slugging right fielder put up Ruthian numbers while wearing a Phillies uniform from 1928-33.

His first five years in the Majors rank among the best for a hitter in baseball history with four home run titles, an MVP Award and a Triple Crown. He averaged 46 doubles, nine triples, 36 homers, 138 RBIs and a .359 average, one of the game’s premier power hitters.

Klein had a bushel basket of nuggets during those five seasons.

• Phillies alumni

1929
League-leading 43 homers, setting a club record that stood until Mike Schmidt’s 48 in 1980. … Only Ruth (46) had more homers that season. … Set a new club record for longest hitting streak, 25 games (50-107, .467). Streak ended July 28. Next day he started a 22-game streak. … Unnoticed, Klein only struck out 61 times.

1930
League-leading 158 runs (modern NL record), 59 doubles, 445 total bases (three club records that still stand). … Oh, also a club record 170 RBIs, second to Hack Wilson’s all-time mark (191) that season; Klein’s number remains the most for a left-handed hitter in baseball history. … He had TWO 26-game hitting streaks (49-113, .486) and (53-109, .434). It gets even better. In between, he hit in 19 of 23 games. So overall, he hit safely in 71 of 75 games at one point, batting .425. Insane. … Defensively had 44 assists, a record that still stands.

1931
League-leader in runs (121), RBIs (121), homers (31), slugging percentage (.584) and total bases (347). Finished second in first year of MVP voting by writers.

1932
With 98% of the votes, Klein won the MVP Award, a first in Phillies history. … The Phillies finished fourth, proving an MVP doesn’t need to come from a winning team. … League leader: runs (151) for third straight season, hits (226), homers (38), stolen bases (20), slugging (.646), OPS (1.050) and total bases (420). ... Only year in which the Phillies had a winning season (78-76).

1933
Topped the five-year run with the fourth triple crown in NL history (.368 average, 28 homers, 120 RBIs). … NL leader: hits (223), doubles (44), OBP (.442), slugging (.602), OPS (1.025), OPS+ (176) and total bases (365). … Runner-up in MVP race. ... Starting NL right fielder in first All-Star Game. … Because of financial difficulties, Klein was sent to the Chicago Cubs for three players and $65,000 after the season.

Other Nuggets
Klein returned to the Phillies as part of a four-player trade with the Cubs on May 21, 1936. On July 10, he became the first National Leaguer to hit four home runs in a game in the modern era. He remained in Philly for the rest of his career, except for a brief stint with the 1939 Pirates.

His 300th and last home run came as a pinch hitter on Aug. 18, 1941, in the second game of two against Cincinnati at Shibe Park. His final at-bat came against the Giants on June 11, 1944, when he singled to right field. He was a player-coach from 1942-44 and a coach in 1945.

Klein made his Phillies debut, July 30, 1928, as a 23-year-old. Starting in the second game of a doubleheader the next day he got his first hit, a first-inning RBI double at Baker Bowl against a 41-year righthander considered the Phillies greatest pitcher, Grover Cleveland Alexander then of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Klein wore seven different numbers with the Phillies, 1, 3, 8, 26, 29, 32 and 36. … He was elected by the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee in 1980 and posthumously inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame the same summer. A Phillies jersey of his era was retired in 2001.

Critics argued his extravagant statistics were due because he played at Baker Bowl where the right-field foul pole was 280 feet from home plate and the right-center alley was 300 feet. Meanwhile the Giants' Mel Ott piled up numbers playing at the Polo Grounds where it was 258 to the right-field corner. Ruth at Yankee Stadium faced a 295-foot right-field foul pole. Baker Bowl’s right-field fence was 60 feet high, much higher than the two New York ballparks.

Let the record show Klein hit 164 of his 300 home runs at Baker Bowl; Ott, 323 of his 511 at Polo Grounds; Ruth, 259 at Yankee Stadium and 59 at Polo Grounds of his 714.

From 1942-44, Klein also served as a player-coach for the Phillies. He last wore a uniform as a coach in 1945.

Klein was born Oct. 7, 1904, in Indianapolis, Ind., and died there, March 28, 1958, at age 53.