Lou Knerr

Wallace Luther Knerr

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 210 lb.
• School Muhlenberg College
• High School Denver (PA) High School
• Debut April 17, 1945
• Final Game June 7, 1947
• Born August 21, 1921 in Strasburg, PA USA
• Died March 23, 1980 in Denver, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Right-hander Lou Knerr was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Athletics before the 1941 season. He pitched in ten seasons of professional baseball (1941-1950), with eight of those years coming in the minors and two full seasons plus one with just six appearances (1945-1947) in the majors. After four years in the minors (1941-1944), all being double-digit winning seasons, he got his chance in the big leagues with the Athletics at the start of the 1945 season.

Knerr found a short-term home in the big leagues. Pitching in 27 games for the Athletics in 1945, he had a 5-11 record and a 4.22 ERA while pitching 130 innings. He showed a poor record in the following season, 1946, still with the Philadelphia club as he chalked up a 3-16 record, leading the American League in losses in 30 appearances with a 5.40 ERA. This kind of action usually leads to a change of scenery and it did, on February 14, 1947 (Valentine's Day), Lou was traded by the Athletics to the Washington Senators for George Binks.

Knerr started the 1947 year with the Senators, made 6 appearances, pitching 9 innings with a 11.00 ERA, but had no decisions. On June 7th, the Pennsylvania native made his last pitch in the big leagues. Lou left the show, permanently, with a 8-27 record and a 5.04 ERA, while appearing in 63 games.

It was back to the minors for Lou and he finished up the 1947 season with a 6-10 record and a 4.28 ERA in 21 appearances for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the AA Southern Association. Lou finished out his minor league run with not much success, pitching for three clubs with just five wins over the three-year run - the Jersey City Giants in 1948, the Albany Senators in 1949 and the Shreveport Sports in 1950. He left the game at the age of 28. This gave him career minor league totals of 63 wins and 58 losses in 195 games while pitching 1,006 innings.

After baseball, Lou (who was an avid golfer), worked for a service station in Denver, PA from 1951 until he died suddenly from a heart attack at his home in Reading, PA on March 27, 1980. Wallace Luther Knerr was 58 years of age.

Related Sites

• Lou Knerr at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page