Le Roy Herbert Pfund (October 18, 1919 – June 2, 2016) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Early life

Pfund was born in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

Baseball career

On November 1, 1944 he was drafted by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

from the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

in the 1944 rule 5 draft, and played for the Dodgers in 1945. The 25-year-old

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

right-hander stood and weighed . Pfund was one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He made his major league debut in relief against the

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at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

on April 21, 1945, when professional baseball teams conducted spring training in the north. His first major league win came in his first start, on May 14, 1945, as the Dodgers defeated the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

4–1 at

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...

. Season and career totals for 15 games include a 3–2 record, 10

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is lis ...

, 2

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, 2

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, and an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

of 5.20 in 62.1

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Pfund went 4-for-22 (.182) in batting with a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

and 2 walks, had 4

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and scored 2 runs. Even though he pitched 62.1 innings in 1945, Pfund tied for ninth among

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

hurlers with 5

hit batsmen In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

. By contrast, it took the other five pitchers who were tied with him for ninth an average of 191.2 innings to hit the same number of batters. A knee injury curtailed hopes of returning to the majors.

College career

In 1948, Pfund was hired to coach the baseball team while still at the college studying for his bachelor's degree. He was hired to also coach the basketball program in 1951. He was employed at Wheaton College in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

for nearly 39 years, as a professor of physical education, baseball coach, basketball coach, and executive director of the Alumni Association (1975–87). He led the basketball team to a championship with the

1957 NCAA College Division basketball tournament The 1957 NCAA College Division basketball tournament involved 32 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA College Division college basketball as a culmination of the 1956-57 NC ...

, the first basketball tournament for the NCAA College Division (now referred to as

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

). Pfund was the winningest coach in Wheaton history for both men's basketball (362) and baseball (249) In 1977, he received the Distinguished Service to Alma Mater award from the Wheaton Alumni Association. In 1985, he was inducted into the Wheaton Athletics Department's Hall of Honor. In the opening weeks of each season every year since 1996, the Wheaton men's basketball program has hosted the Lee Pfund Classic basketball tournament. In 2000, Lee Pfund Gymnasium opened as a practice and recreation space in the Sports and Recreation Complex on the Wheaton campus. In April 2012, Lee Pfund Stadium – outfitted with lights, new dugouts, a new backstop, and artificial turf – opened in

Carol Stream, Illinois Carol Stream is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. Carol Stream was incorporated on January 5, 1959, and named after its founder's daughter. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,854. History In ...

, where it is the home of the Wheaton baseball program. On April 30, 2016, Pfund's jersey number 17 — the number he wore as skipper of the baseball team at Wheaton — was retired. Pfund was inducted into the Illinois State Basketball Coaches Association “Hall of Fame”. He died on June 2, 2016 at the age of 96. Pfund's son,

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

, was the head coach of the

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and later general manager of the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfund, Lee 1919 births 2016 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Illinois Brooklyn Dodgers players Albany Cardinals players Decatur Commodores players Knoxville Smokies players Mobile Bears players Columbus Red Birds players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Montreal Royals players Elmira Pioneers players Pueblo Dodgers players Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Wheaton Thunder baseball coaches Wheaton Thunder men's basketball coaches Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty Northwestern University alumni Sportspeople from Oak Park, Illinois People from Carol Stream, Illinois