Lou Sleater

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Louis Mortimer Sleater

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Biographical Information[edit]

Well-traveled pitcher Lou Sleater played for five different clubs during a seven-year big league career. Additionally, he played in several other organizations in the minors.

Born in St. Louis, Sleater moved to Baltimore as a child (much like the Browns/Orioles franchise for which he later played). There he attended Mount Saint Joseph High School, for whom we played baseball and also excelled at ice hockey. After a stint at the University of Maryland, Sleater was signed by the Boston Braves in 1946. He moved on to the Chicago Cubs before the 1947 season and was sold to the New York Giants prior to the 1949 campaign.

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Before the 1950 season, Sleater was selected off waivers by the St. Louis Browns. He made his big league debut with the club on April 25th that year at the age of 23. In his first game, he pitched one inning, striking out a batter and allowing no hits, no walks, and no runs. That would be his only major league game in 1950.

His five hit batsmen were ninth most in the league in 1951. On July 31st of that year, he was either purchased by the New York Yankees, or traded to them. One source ([1]) lists him as being purchased, while another source ([2]) says he was traded with Bobby Hogue, Kermit Wahl and Tom Upton for Cliff Mapes. Either way, he never pitched for the Yankees. He was returned to the Browns on September 16th.

He began the 1952 season with the Browns, but lasted only four games, going 0-1 with a 7.27 ERA. On May 12th, he was traded with Fred Marsh to the Washington Senators for Cass Michaels. He finished the season with the Senators, going 4-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 57 innings. Overall, Sleater went 4-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 1952. That year is notable for Sleater because he halted Walt Dropo's big league record streak of reaching base via hit in 12 straight at-bats that season (he had allowed his 12th hit earlier in the game).

Sleater did not play in the big leagues in 1953 or 1954. In May of 1954, Sleater was purchased by the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. He was purchased by the Yankees from Toronto on October 16th that same year. Once again, he would be in the Yankees organization, but would not play for the major league team, because he was purchased by the Kansas City Athletics from the Yankees on April 28, 1955. He found his way back to the major leagues, going 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in 16 games (one start). In 25 2/3 innings, he walked 21 batters and struck out only 11.

On November 27th, Sleater was drafted by the Milwaukee Braves from the Athletics in the 1955 Rule V Draft. He played 25 games for the Braves in 1956, going 2-2 with a 3.15 ERA in 45 2/3 innings of work. He was released by the Braves on April 11, 1957. Later that month, he was signed by the Detroit Tigers. He made 41 relief appearances for the Tigers in 1957, going 3-3 with a 3.76 ERA. On May 30th of that year, he hit a game-ending home run – one of the few pitchers to accomplish that feat. [3]

Sleater played his final season in 1958. He started the year with the Tigers, but after posting a 6.75 ERA in four games with them he was purchased by the Baltimore Orioles on June 2nd. He appeared in six games with the Orioles, going 1-0 with a 12.86 ERA. Overall, Sleater went 1-0 with a 10.22 ERA in 10 relief appearance that year. He played his final major league game on September 28th, and was released by the Orioles on October 16, 1959.

He was a solid batter, hitting .204 in 103 career at-bats. He hit four career home runs – including three in 1957 – and he struck out only 11 times. He was a lackluster fielder, with a fielding percentage of only .906.

He also played for 12 different minor league teams, winning 12 or more games three times in a season ([4]).

Statistically, Sleater is most similar to Jack O'Connor, according to the Similarity Scores.

Related Sites[edit]

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