Louis William Polchow (March 14, 1880 – August 15, 1912) was a

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 ...

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), ...

. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos in 1902. Polchow stood at ."Lou Polchow Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-17.

Career

Louis Polchow was born in

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

. He started his professional baseball career in 1900, at the age of 20, in the Western League. During the next two seasons, Polchow pitched for the Evansville River Rats of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

."Lou Polchow Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-17. He was acquired by the Cleveland Bronchos in late 1902 and made one start for them. Polchow allowed five earned runs in eight innings and took the loss; that was his only experience in the major leagues. Polchow played in several minor leagues after 1902. After stops in the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

and

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, he stayed in the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

from 1906 to 1910 as a starting pitcher. In 1908, he went 12–11 for the Utica Pent-Ups. Polchow went just 8–16 in 1910, however, and retired from organized baseball. He had a career minor league record of 58–73. Polchow died of

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...

in 1912. He is still the only person born in Mankato, Minnesota, to ever play in Major League Baseball."Major League Baseball Players Born in Minnesota"
''baseball-almanac.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-17.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polchow, Lou 1880 births 1912 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Bronchos players Des Moines Hawkeyes players Evansville River Rats players Montgomery Black Sox players Augusta Tourists players Macon Highlanders players Montgomery Senators players Scranton Miners players Utica Pent-Ups players Elmira Colonels players Baseball players from Minnesota Deaths from nephritis