Lou Kretlow

Who was Lou Kretlow?

Louis Henry Kretlow was an American baseball pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Athletics.

A native of Apache, Oklahoma, Lou Kretlow had, in ten seasons, a 27–47 Win-Loss record, 199 Games, 22 Complete Games, 3 Shutouts, 43 Games Finished, 1 Save, 785 ⅓ innings Pitched, 781 Hits Allowed, 479 Runs Allowed, 425 Earned Runs Allowed, 62 Home Runs Allowed, 522 Walks, 450 Strikeouts, 10 Hit Batsmen, 25 Wild Pitches, 3,586 Batters Faced, a 4.87 ERA and a 1.659 WHIP.

Before professional baseball, he attended the University of Oklahoma and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. After his baseball career Kretlow owned an Oklahoma oil company and became a golf pro at Meadowlake Golf Course in Enid, Oklahoma. In 1961, Lou set a world record when he scored a hole-in-one on a 427-yard par 4 at Lake Hefner Golf Club in Oklahoma City. This shot on a straight-away hole with an actual wooden wood and old style ball prompted Duffy Martin, the developer of Guthrie's Cedar Valley Golf Club, to say “If Lou had the kind of equipment they are using now, Tiger Woods couldn’t carry Lou’s jock strap,”.