Lou Kretlow

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1946-1956)

Lou Kretlow was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1956 for 5 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 11 seasons. Across 199 career appearances, he went 27-47 with a 4.87 ERA and 450 strikeouts. He also batted .114 with 0 home runs.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 27–47
ERA 4.87
WHIP 1.66
SO 450
Pitcher PIV -7071.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 185 lb
Born
6/27/1921 in Apache, OK, USA
Died
9/12/2007 in Enid, OK, USA
MLB Debut
1946-09-26
Last Game
1956-09-23

Full name: Louis Henry Kretlow

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Career Pitching Statistics

Lou Kretlow — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
27 47 199 104 22 3 1 785.1 781 425 62 522 450 4.87 -7071.0

Career ERA 4.87 vs. league average 3.99 across their career seasons — 22.2% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Lou Kretlow Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1946 DET AL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 7 3 2 4 3.00 3.59 (+16%) 0.0
1948 DET AL 2 1 5 2 1 0 0 23.1 21 12 11 9 4.63 4.10 (-13%) 76.0
1949 DET AL 3 2 25 10 1 0 0 76.0 85 52 69 40 6.16 4.12 (-50%) -1821.9
1950 SLA AL 0 2 9 2 0 0 0 14.1 25 19 18 10 11.93 4.36 (-174%) -1014.1
1950 CHA AL 0 0 11 1 0 0 0 21.1 17 9 27 14 3.80 4.36 (+13%) -703.5
1951 CHA AL 6 9 26 18 7 1 0 137.0 129 64 74 89 4.20 4.04 (-4%) 1796.8
1952 CHA AL 4 4 19 11 4 2 1 79.0 52 26 56 63 2.96 3.70 (+20%) -158.7
1953 CHA AL 0 0 9 3 0 0 0 20.2 12 8 30 15 3.48 4.14 (+16%) -1426.2
1953 SLA AL 1 5 22 11 0 0 0 81.0 93 46 52 37 5.11 4.14 (-24%) -544.0
1954 BAL AL 6 11 32 20 5 0 0 166.2 169 81 82 82 4.37 3.90 (-12%) 229.8
1955 BAL AL 0 4 15 5 0 0 0 38.1 50 35 27 26 8.22 4.00 (-105%) -212.5
1956 KC1 AL 4 9 25 20 3 0 0 118.2 121 70 74 61 5.31 3.96 (-34%) -3292.7
Career · 12 seasons 27 47 199 104 22 3 1 785.1 781 425 522 450 4.87 — -7,071

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Lou Kretlow — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
200 237 7 27 2 0 0 12 0 16 118 .114 .170 .122 .292 -918

Career AVG .114 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 56.3% below league average.

Career OBP .170 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 49.3% below league average.

Career SLG .122 vs. league average .385 across their career seasons — 68.2% below league average.

Career OPS .292 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — 59.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Lou Kretlow Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1946 DET AL 1 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .500 — — — — 0.0
1948 DET AL 5 8 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .500 — — — — 0.0
1949 DET AL 25 26 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 16 .000 — — — — 0.0
1950 SLA AL 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1950 CHA AL 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1951 CHA AL 26 48 1 4 0 0 0 5 0 2 24 .083 — — — — -552.9
1952 CHA AL 19 20 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 14 .050 — — — — 0.0
1953 CHA AL 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1953 SLA AL 22 25 2 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 14 .200 — — — — 0.0
1954 BAL AL 32 51 1 8 0 0 0 1 0 5 19 .157 .261 (-40%) .333 (-30%) .390 (-60%) .723 (-46%) -365.2
1955 BAL AL 15 11 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 .091 — — — — 0.0
1956 KC1 AL 25 33 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 19 .061 — — — — 0.0
Career · 12 seasons 200 237 7 27 2 0 0 12 0 16 118 .114 — — — — -918

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (399 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Lou Kretlow — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home10812141506.124
Away9211531206.104

Pitching — Home / Away

Lou Kretlow — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home107435.24282002642534.13
Away92350.23572242581985.75

Last 10 Games — Batting

Lou Kretlow — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1956-09-23 KC1CHWL 000000000
1956-09-21 KC1CHWL 000000000
1956-09-09 KC1DETL 000000000
1956-09-07 KC1DETL 000000010
1956-09-01 KC1DETL 201000000
1956-08-24 KC1MINW 200000002
1956-08-19 KC1CLEL 000000000
1956-08-18 KC1CLEL 010000010
1956-08-12 KC1CLEL 300000003
1956-08-07 KC1CHWL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Lou Kretlow — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1956-09-23 KC1CHW — 3.0511010
1956-09-21 KC1CHW — 1.0100000
1956-09-09 KC1DET — 1.0100110
1956-09-07 KC1DET L 2.1555410
1956-09-01 KC1DET L 6.0844331
1956-08-24 KC1MIN — 4.2644540
1956-08-19 KC1CLE — 1.0100000
1956-08-18 KC1CLE L 2.1354330
1956-08-12 KC1CLE L 9.0865563
1956-08-07 KC1CHW — 4.2433810

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Lou Kretlow — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 199 45 24 133 11 9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Lou Kretlow — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1946 DET P 1 0 0 1 0 0
1948 DET P 5 0 0 5 0 0
1949 DET P 25 0 2 23 2 1
1950 SLA P 9 0 0 2 0 0
1950 CHA P 11 0 0 1 0 0
1951 CHA P 26 0 5 22 3 2
1952 CHA P 19 0 1 9 0 2
1953 CHA P 9 0 3 6 1 1
1953 SLA P 22 0 3 7 3 0
1954 BAL P 32 20 4 30 0 2
1955 BAL P 15 5 1 11 0 0
1956 KC1 P 25 20 5 16 2 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Lou Kretlow Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 199

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Lou Kretlow (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Jake Wade
    27-40, 5.00 ERA
  2. 89
    Joe Krakauskas
    26-36, 4.53 ERA
  3. 86
    Mel Queen
    27-40, 5.09 ERA
  4. 70
    Tim Conroy
    18-32, 4.69 ERA
  5. 67
    Daniel Cabrera
    48-65, 5.10 ERA
  6. 65
    Emmett O'Neill
    15-26, 4.76 ERA

Lou Kretlow: the record in brief

Between the debut on September 26, 1946 and the final game on September 23, 1956, Lou Kretlow built the record summarized on this page. The team column moves through the Detroit Tigers (1946 to 1949), the St. Louis Browns (1950 through 1953), the Chicago White Sox (1950 through 1953), the Baltimore Orioles (1954 through 1955), and the Kansas City Athletics (1956). Born on June 27, 1921, in Apache, OK, USA, Kretlow is listed as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Size on record: 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds. Kretlow died on September 12, 2007, in Enid, OK, USA. Lou Kretlow was the playing name; the full given name is Louis Henry.

Kretlow went 27-47 with a 4.87 ERA in 199 games, 104 of them starts. The same table counts 450 strikeouts and 22 complete games. The league ERA over Kretlow's seasons was 3.99, so the 4.87 figure ran 22.2% worse than average. The best win total was 6, in 1951.

Frequently Asked Questions about Lou Kretlow

What years did Lou Kretlow play?
Lou Kretlow played in Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1956.
Was Lou Kretlow a pitcher?
Yes. Lou Kretlow pitched in the major leagues, recording 27 wins and 450 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Lou Kretlow hit?
Lou Kretlow hit 0 career home runs with 27 hits.
What teams did Lou Kretlow play for?
Lou Kretlow played for 4 teams: the Detroit Tigers (1946, 1948–1949), the Baltimore Orioles (1950, 1953–1955), the Chicago White Sox (1950–1953), and the Kansas City Athletics (1956).
What were Lou Kretlow's career stats?
In 199 games, Lou Kretlow went 27-47 with a 4.87 ERA, 450 strikeouts, 785.1 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 27 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Lou Kretlow play?
Lou Kretlow played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Lou Kretlow and how much did he weigh?
Lou Kretlow was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 185 pounds.
What was Lou Kretlow's career ERA?
Lou Kretlow finished with a 4.87 career ERA, going 27-47 with 450 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Lou Kretlow have?
Lou Kretlow recorded 450 career strikeouts.
Is Lou Kretlow in the Hall of Fame?
No. Lou Kretlow has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.