Louis William Polchow was a pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe 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 a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 in 1902. Polchow stood at 5' 9".

Career

Louis Polchow was born in Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

. He started his professional baseball career in 1900, at the age of 20, in the Western League

Western League (defunct minor league)

The Western League is a name given to several circuits in American minor league baseball. Its earliest progenitor, which existed from 1885 to 1899, was the predecessor of the American League...

. During the next two seasons, Polchow pitched for the Evansville River Rats

Evansville River Rats

The Evansville River Rats were a professional minor league baseball team based in Evansville, Indiana. They played from 1901 to 1902 in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League and from 1903 to 1910 and 1914 to 1915 in the Central League...

 of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. 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

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 , Class A1 and Class AA...

 and South Atlantic League

Southern League (baseball)

The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

, he stayed in the New York State League from 1906 to 1910 as a starting pitcher. In 1908, he went 12-11 for the Utica Pent-Ups

Utica Pent-Ups

The Utica Pent-Ups were a minor league baseball team based in Utica, New York that played in the New York State League from 1901 to 1909. Many major league baseball players played for the team, perhaps most notably George Burns....

. 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

Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....

in 1912. He is still the person born in Mankato, MN, to ever play in Major League Baseball.

External links