Mickey Welch
Michael Francis (Mickey) Welch (
July 4,
1859 -
July 30,
1941) was a
19th century Major League Baseball starting pitcher. He was the third big league pitcher to accumulate 300 career victories (after
Pud Galvin and
Tim Keefe).
Born in
Brooklyn, New York, Welch made his major league debut in
1880, winning 34 games and losing 30. Welch started fewer games the following two seasons, winning 21 in
1881 and 14 in
1882, but resumed a heavy workload in
1883 when he moved to the
New York Gothams (renamed the Giants in
1885). His two finest individual seasons came in
1884, when he went 39-21 with 345
strikeouts and a 2.50
ERA, and 1885, when he went 44-11 with 258 strikeouts and a 1.66 ERA.
Welch's career slowed down after the Giants won the
National League pennant in
1888 and
1889. He retired after one start in the
1892 season having compiled 307 victories, 210 losses, 1850 strikeouts and a career 2.71 ERA.
Welch holds the record for most consecutive batters struck out to begin a game, with 9, set
August 28, 1884. He is also credited with being the first pinch hitter in the league's history, doing so on
August 10, 1889.
Welch was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in
1973.
Mickey Welch is interred (the tombstone is marked Walsh) in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York.
*
List of most winning pitchers of all time* Mickey Welch's career statistics at
Baseball-Reference.com*
Baseball Hall of Fame Biography
