Lefty Sloat
{{Short description|American baseball player (1918–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Lefty Sloat
|image=Lefty Sloat.jpg
|position=Pitcher
|birth_date={{Birth date|1918|12|1}}
|birth_place=Nokomis, Illinois
|death_date={{death date and age|2003|4|18|1918|12|1}}
|death_place=Saint Paul, Minnesota
|bats=Right
|throws=Left
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 24
|debutyear=1948
|debutteam=Brooklyn Dodgers
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 13
|finalyear=1949
|finalteam=Chicago Cubs
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value=0–1
|stat2label=Earned run average
|stat2value=6.61
|stat3label=Strikeouts
|stat3value=4
|teams=
- Brooklyn Dodgers ({{mlby|1948}})
- Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|1949}})
}}
Dwain Clifford Sloat (December 1, 1918 – April 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in nine Major League Baseball games during the {{mlby|1948}} and {{mlby|1949}} seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. The southpaw batted right-handed, stood {{convert|6|ft|2}} tall and weighed {{convert|168|lb}}. He was born in Nokomis, Illinois.
Baseball career
Sloat's eleven-season professional career began in the minor leagues in {{baseball year|1938}} and was interrupted for four years during the World War II period, when he served in the United States Army.{{cite web |url=https://www.baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served.htm |title=Those Who Served |last=Bedingfield |first=Gary |date= |website=Baseball in Wartime |publisher= |access-date=2 June 2023 |quote=}}
Sloat's contract was acquired by the Brooklyn Dodgers during the war when they purchased the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. He debuted in the major leagues at age 29 in April 1948, during a four-game, early-season stint with the Dodgers. In his lone start, on May 8 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, he allowed four earned runs in 4{{fraction|2|3}} innings pitched and was tagged with the 6–0 loss.{{Cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1948/B05080CHN1948.htm |title=Chicago Cubs 6, Brooklyn Dodgers 0 |publisher=Retrosheet |date=8 May 1948 |access-date=July 25, 2023}}
After he returned to the minors for the balance of 1948, he was selected by the Cubs in the off-season Rule 5 Draft. As in Brooklyn the year before, Sloat was given an early-season audition, appearing for the Cubs in five contests in April and May 1949. In his only start in a Chicago uniform, Sloat earned a no-decision on April 24 at Sportsman's Park against the contending St. Louis Cardinals, going four innings and permitting two earned runs in a game St. Louis ultimately captured 5–4 in their final at bat in the ninth frame.{{Cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1949/B04240SLN1949.htm |publisher=Retrosheet |date=24 April 1949 |title=St. Louis Cardinals 5, Chicago Cubs 4 |access-date=July 25, 2023}}
In his nine big-league appearances, Sloat posted a won–lost record of 0–1 and an earned run average of 6.61, with two games finished in relief. In 16{{fraction|1|3}} innings pitched, he permitted 21 hits and 11 bases on balls, and was credited with four strikeouts.
He retired from baseball after the 1952 season.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Baseballstats |mlb=122327 |espn= |br=s/sloatle01 |fangraphs= |brm=sloat-001dwa |retro=S/Psloal101}}
- {{Find a Grave|8863086}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160106094404/http://history.montgomeryco.com/Towns/Nokomis/tabid/386/Default.aspx Nokomis Illinois], Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloat, Lefty}}
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Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:Baseball players from Montgomery County, Illinois
Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players
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Category:Grand Forks Chiefs players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
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Category:People from Nokomis, Illinois
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Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players