Lou Sleater

Who was Lou Sleater?

Louis Mortimer Sleater was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1950 to 1952 and from 1955 to 1958 for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles. He was 5’10” and he weighed 185 pounds. He attended the University of Maryland.

A knuckleball specialist, Sleater was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Braves in 1946. Before the 1947 season, the Braves released him and he was signed by the Chicago Cubs. Before the 1949 season, the New York Giants purchased him from the Cubs. On April 1, 1950, the Browns selected him off waivers from the Giants. Even before reaching the big leagues, Sleater was a well-traveled player.

He made his big league debut with the Browns on April 25, 1950, 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.

Pitching for the 52-102 Browns in 1951, Sleater went 1-9 with a 5.11 ERA. In 81 innings, he walked 53 batters and struck out only 33, while allowing 88 hits. His five hit batsmen were ninth most in the league. On July 31 of that year, he was either purchased by the New York Yankees or traded to them. One source lists him as being purchased, while another source says he was traded with Bobby Hogue, Kermit Wahl and Tom Upton for Cliff Mapes. Either way, he never pitched for the Yankees, as he was returned to the Browns on September 16.