Curt Welch

Curtis Benton Welch (February 10, 1862[1] – August 29, 1896) was a Major League Baseball center fielder for the Toledo Blue Stockings, St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and Louisville Colonels.

Curt Welch
1887 baseball card of Welch
Center fielder
Born: (1862-02-11)February 11, 1862
East Liverpool, Ohio, U.S.
Died: August 29, 1896(1896-08-29) (aged 34)
East Liverpool, Ohio, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 1, 1884, for the Toledo Blue Stockings
Last MLB appearance
May 23, 1893, for the Louisville Colonels
MLB statistics
Batting average.263
Home runs16
Runs batted in503
Stolen bases453
Teams

Career

Welch started his professional baseball career in 1883 with Toledo of the Northwestern League and stayed with the club when it moved to the American Association the following year. In 1885, he joined the St. Louis Browns (today's Cardinals). Welch scored the series-winning run in extra innings of game 6 of the 1886 World Series in a close play at the plate famous among baseball fans of his generation as the "$15,000 slide."[2]

After three seasons with St. Louis, Welch went to Philadelphia and had a career-high .282 batting average in 1888. He played for the Athletics until 1890 and then had short stints with the Orioles, Reds, and Colonels.[3] His major league career ended in 1893, and he spent the next two seasons with the Eastern League's Syracuse Stars.[4]

Welch led the AA in hit by pitches in 1888, 1890, and 1891, and he ranked third in stolen bases in 1886 and 1888.[3] He was regarded as one of the best defensive center fielders of the 19th century.[2] In the 2010 book The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James ranked Welch as the 83rd greatest center fielder of all time.[5]

Welch sometimes kept a case of beer in the outfield behind a billboard, taking a drink between innings.[6] Welch's career was damaged by his drinking, and he died in 1896.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Curt Welch Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. Nineteenth Century Stars (2012). SABR, Inc. pp. 274–275.
  3. "Curt Welch Statistics and History". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  4. "Curt Welch Register Statistics & History". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  5. James, Bill (2010). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Simon and Schuster. p. 773.
  6. Mitchell, Eddie (2018). Baseball Rowdies of the 19th Century. Jefferson, north carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-4766-6487-3.
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