Kiki Cuyler

Hazen Shirley Cuyler died 18 years before his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the player nicknamed "Kiki" posted achievements on the diamond far too great to be obscured by history. Cuyler was born Aug. 30, 1898, in Harrisville, Mich. He died on Feb. 11, 1950. And for nearly half of his 51 years, Cuyler was one of Major League Baseball's greatest hitters. "Cuyler can hit, run, field and throw with the best of 'em," said broadcaster Fred Hoey.

Hazen Shirley Cuyler died 18 years before his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the player nicknamed "Kiki" left an imprint on the National Pastime still felt more than 75 years after his final big league game.

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When Kiki Cuyler debuted with the Pirates, he had one of the finest rookie seasons in history. Find statistics for this Hall of Fame outfielder.

Kiki Cuyler baseball stats with batting stats, pitching stats and fielding stats, along with uniform numbers, salaries, quotes, career stats and biographical data presented by Baseball Almanac.

Though contemporary newspaper reports typically referred to Hall of Fame outfielder Hazen Cuyler by his given name, the right-hander is more easily recognized by one of the most unique, yet most often mispronounced nicknames in baseball history: Kiki. "It came from shortening my name," Cuyler explained about acquiring the moniker (which rhymes with "eye-eye") as a minor leaguer in 1923. "Every time I went after a fly ball, the shortstop would holler ‘Cuy’ and the second baseman would echo ‘Cuy’ and pretty soon the fans were shouting ‘Cuy Cuy.’ The papers shortened it ‘Kiki.’"1 According to another story, the sobriquet had less glamorous origins: It arose as a way to mock Cuyler, who struggled to overcome his stuttering.

Hazen Shirley "Kiki" Cuyler (/?ka??ka? ?ka?l?r/; August 30, 1898 – February 11, 1950) was a Major League Baseball right fielder from 1921 until 1938 who later was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cuyler established a reputation as an outstanding hitter with great speed. He regularly batted .350 or higher and finished with a .321 lifetime batting average. In 1925 Cuyler hit 18 home runs and 102 RBI. Cuyler's Pirates won the World Series that year, the only time in his career that he contributed to a World Series winner.

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Career: 128 HR, .321 BA (48th), 1065 RBI, OF, HOF in 1968, AllStar, Cubs/Pirates/... 1921-1938, b:R/t:R, 4x SB Leader, born in Unite. 1898, died 1950