Chet Laabs

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Chester Peter (Chet) Laabs (April 30, 1912 - January 26, 1983) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. From 1937 through 1947, Laabs played for the Detroit Tigers (1937-1939), St. Louis Browns (1939-1946) and Philadelphia Athletics (1947). He batted and threw right-handed.

Laabs was a .262 hitter with 117 home runs and 509 RBI in 950 games.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Laabs played 11 major league seasons. In the mold of Mark Bellhorn, he was a moneyball player taken to an illogical extreme. Laabs produced a strikeout, walk or home run every 3.48 plate appearances; his career on-base percentage (.346) was almost 100 points higher than his batting average, and he posted a 0.653 walk-to-strikeout ratio (389-for-595). His career statistics were modest, but he left his mark in baseball history on October 2, 1938, when he struck out for the fifth time that day. His fifth strikeout was the 18th of the game for Bob Feller, the future Hall of Fame pitcher of the Cleveland Indians, and it gave Feller a nine-inning game major league record. The current record of 20 is shared by Roger Clemens (twice, in 1986 and 1996) and Kerry Wood (1998).

Laabs enjoyed his most productive season in 1942, when he posted career-highs in RBI (99) and runs (90), and finished second in the American League with 27 home runs (also a career-high), behind Ted Williams (36) and ahead of Charlie Keller (26), Joe DiMaggio (21) and Rudy York (21).

An All-Star in 1943, Laabs helped the Browns when they won their only pennant in 1944, after hitting two home runs against the Yankees to clinch the pennant on the season's last day.

Laabs died in Warren, Michigan at age 70.