Le Roy Herbert Pfund (born October 18, 1919) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois. On November 1, 1944 he was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1944 rule 5 draft, and played for the Dodgers in 1945. The 25-year-old rookie right-hander stood 6'1" and weighed 185 lbs.
Pfund is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. He made his major league debut in relief on April 21, 1945 against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. His first major league win came in his first start, on May 14, 1945, as the Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 at Ebbets Field.
Season and career totals for 15 games include a 3-2 record, 10 games started, 2 complete games, 2 games finished, and an ERA of 5.20 in 62.1 innings pitched. Pfund went 4-for-22 (.182) in batting with a double and 2 walks, had 4 runs batted in and scored 2 runs.
Trivia
- Even though he pitched 62.1 innings in 1945, Pfund tied for ninth among National League hurlers with 5 hit batsmen. By contrast, it took the other five pitchers who were tied with him for ninth an average of 191.2 innings to hit the same number of batters.
- His son, Randy, was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and later general manager of the Miami Heat.